Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Michael Allen DeBolt

Zijie Lu

William Frederick Sanderson

Daniel Edward Wilkosz

James Waldecker

Craig Michael Mathie

Brian Gillespey

Benjamin Pence

Valerie Anne Nelson

Donald Paul Alessi

A fuel cell assembly includes a fuel cell arrangement having first and second plates sandwiching a membrane electrode assembly. The arrangement defines first and second header regions that each include supply and return headers. The first plate defines coolant channels that extend between the header regions and connect to the return header in the first region. The second plate defines coolant channels that extend between the header regions and connect to the supply header in the first region.

Fuel cell assembly with cooling system

A fuel cell assembly including a plate assembly having an anode inlet, a cathode inlet, a first coolant inlet, and a second coolant inlet is provided. The first coolant inlet is located adjacent the anode inlet on a first plate side. The second coolant inlet is located adjacent the cathode inlet on a second plate side. The inlets are arranged such that coolant influences reactant temperature at the anode and cathode inlets to encourage formation of a membrane uniform hydration distribution during fuel cell operation. The fuel cell assembly may include a hydrogen channel, an oxygen channel, and a coolant channel. The coolant channel may extend between the hydrogen channel and the oxygen channel to draw heat from hydrogen and oxygen flowing therethrough and such that the hydrogen and oxygen are close enough to one another for chemical reaction therebetween.

Assembly for thermal management of a fuel cell

In at least one embodiment, a fuel cell is provided comprising a positive electrode including a first gas diffusion layer and a first catalyst layer, a negative electrode including a second gas diffusion layer and a second catalyst layer, a proton exchange membrane (PEM) disposed between the positive and negative electrodes, and a microporous layer of carbon and binder disposed between at least one of the first gas diffusion layer and the first catalyst layer and the second gas diffusion layer and the second catalyst layer. The microporous layer may have defined therein a plurality of pores with a diameter of 0.05 to 2.0 &#x3bc;m and a plurality of bores having a diameter of 1 to 100 &#x3bc;m. The bores may be laser perforated and comprise from 0.1 to 5 percent of a total porosity of the microporous layer.

Microporous layer for a fuel cell

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Saline, MI, United States of America

Michael Allen DeBolt