Abstract
One conceivable approach to reducing the cost of automotive fuel cell systems is to change the recirculation system used for hydrogen supply to a dead-ended anode system. To investigate this hypothesis, numerical calculations and gas analysis experiments were conducted to examine mass transport in the anode flow channel using a fuel cell equivalent to the cells used on vehicles. The results showed that hydrogen fuel flowed into the anode channel and was consumed in the generation of electricity, at the same time, inert nitrogen gas infiltrated into the anode flow channel from the cathode flow channel by permeating through the catalyst-bearing solid polymer membrane. As time elapsed, nitrogen gas built up in the downstream region of the anode flow channel, thus obstructing the flow of hydrogen along the channel and eventually rendering the cell incapable of producing electricity.
