Investigation of a Micro PEM Fuel Cell Pack Based on MEMS Technology

Investigation of a micro PEM fuel cell pack based on MEMS technology is carried out in this paper. A Novel type of Z-type anode flow field plates were applied to replace the full pin-type ones used previously and all the single cells were assembled in the same plane with a fuel distributor as their support. The total pack’s volume is about 4.0ml. Operating on dry H2 and air-breathing conditions at 20±3°C and 50±3% RH, the pack produced the peak power of 1.34W and the estimated maximum power density of the pack could reach 335W/L. Meanwhile, all the single cells had rather even performances which were based on V-I and internal resistance measurement (EIS). The results suggested that the pack’s performance was greatly improved compared to the previous work. The novel Z-type anode flow field leading to more even fuel distribution among each cell probably had the greatest contribution for the improvement.