Investigation of Parameters on the Efficiency of the Fuel cell Based on the Principles of Sealing

One of the major parameters which affects fuel cell performance is the ohmic loss due to electrical resistance among fuel cell components. Assembly and design parameters affect the pressure distribution on gas diffusion layer. In this study, the influence of effective parameters such as the amount of clamping force, sealant groove depth and the thickness of end plate on the uniform pressure distribution over gas diffusion layer were investigated. By decreasing clamping force, the amount of end plate deformation decreases and uniform pressure distribution on gas diffusion layer increases. By reducing pressure on the gas diffusion layer, the possibility of leakage increases. By using an experimental sealing test, the minimum compression stress over washer for no leakage condition was achieved to be 2 MPa. According to the gas diffusion layer manufacturer, the most efficiency was achieved in 1 MPa compressive stress. Furthermore, the influence of effective parameters on the uniform pressure distribution over gas diffusion layer was examined and discussed. Finally, optimum parameters were obtained using radial basis function neural network and Bee algorithm.