Reduction of cost is the key in making PEM fuel cells (PEMFC) commercially viable. For reducing the overall cost of the stack, several approaches can be considered, such as increased power density at the same Pt-loading, reduction of cell hardware, reduction of the cell weight/power ratio etc. In this talk, we will describe a tubular PEMFC, which achieves some of the objectives mentioned above. Typical PEM fuel cells are planar. Although the tubular geometry has been successfully used in other type of fuel cells such as solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), it is not common in the case of PEMFC. We will discuss the development of a tubular PEMFC that has a higher current density than a planar cell using the same commercial 5 layer MEA and under the same operating conditions. The cell performance is tested using a manual test station and an electronic load. The test station consists of a gas management unit, which measures and controls the flow of the reactants to the cell and the back pressure of the channels. The unit also controls the cell temperature. The test station also consists of a humidification unit, which has bubble humidifiers operating at the desired temperature. The unit also maintains the temperatures of the gas transfer lines from the humidifier to the cell to avoid intermediate condensation. An innovative strategy is adopted for the humidification of the tubular cell. The cell performance is tested over a wide range of reactant flows, temperatures and pressures. We will report the performance of the tubular fuel cell in this entire range of operating conditions. The weight of the tubular cell is about ten times less than the planar cell. An EIS analysis of the tubular cell is performed to explain the performance of the cell. An analytical study of the loss mechanisms is in a tubular fuel cell will also be presented.

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