Study of performance of PEMFC stack in different electrode positions

Proton exchange membrane(PEM) fuel cell is an electrochemical generating device which has great potential of development,particularly suitable for a new generation of portable power and electric vehicle power source.Water is the key factor of affecting fuel cell performance.Water management plays an important role in PEM fuel cell for safe and steady operation.The stack uses an air fan in the edge of the cathode,combining high oxidant supply and stack cooling purposes.In this paper,the performance of a PEM fuel cell and mass transport was observed in different electrode relative position.The results show,the different electrode relative positions do not affect the performance of PEM fuel cell in low current density.When PEM fuel cell is placed anode-upward,gravity is advantageous to discharge the liquid water in PEM fuel cell cathode in high current density.