Design and development of proton exchange membrane fuel cell using open pore cellular foam as flow plate material

This paper reports the design and development of a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell using open pore cellular metal foam as the flow plate material. Effective housing designs are proposed for both hydrogen and oxygen sides and through the application of Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) modelling and analysis techniques the flow regime through the open pore cellular metal foam flow plate are identified.

Based on the CFD results the best anode housing design was selected and manufactured. The fuel cell was assembled and tested and the findings are reported.