Graduated Flow Resistance Through a GDL in a Novel PEM Stack

The goal of this study is to design a gas diffusion layer (GDL) for a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell with a graduated permeability, and therefore a graduated resistance to flow throughout the GDL. It has been shown that using conventional materials the GDL exhibits a higher resistance in the through-plane direction due to the orientation of the small carbon fibers that make up the carbon paper or carbon cloth. In this study, a GDL is designed for an unconventional PEM fuel cell stack, where the reactant gases are supplied through the side of the GDL rather than through flow field channels, which are machined into a bipolar plate. The effects of changing in-plane permeability, through-plane permeability, and thickness of the GDL on the expected current density distribution at the catalyst layer are studied. Three different thicknesses are investigated, and it is found that as GDL thickness increases, more uniform reactant distribution over the face of the GDL is obtained. Results also show that it is necessary to design a GDL with a much higher in-plane resistance than through-plane resistance for the unconventional PEM stack studied.