FUEL CELL WITH METAL SCREEN FLOW-FIELD

摘要

A polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell (10) is provided with electrodes supplied with a reactant on each side of a catalyzed membrane assembly (CMA) (18). The fuel cell (10) includes a metal mesh (48) defining a rectangular flow-field pattern having an inlet (44) at a first corner and an outlet (46) at a second corner located on a diagonal from the first corner, wherein all flow paths from the inlet (44) to the outlet (46) through the square flow-field pattern are equivalent to uniformly distribute the reactant over the CMA (18). In a preferred form of metal mesh (48), a square weave screen forms the flow-field pattern. In a particular characterization of the present invention, a bipolar plate (82) electrically connects adjacent fuel cells (60), where the bipolar plate (82) includes a thin metal foil having an anode side and a cathode side; a first metal mesh (12) on the anode side of the thin metal foil; and a second metal mesh (14) on the cathode side of the thin metal foil. In another characterization of the present invention, a cooling plate assembly cools adjacent fuel cells (10), where the cooling plate assembly includes an anode electrode (34) and a cathode electrode (36) formed of thin conducting foils; and a metal mesh flow field (16) therebetween for distributing cooling water flow over the electrodes to remove heat generated by the fuel cells (10).