Advanced Fuel Cell System Thermal Management for NASA Exploration Missions

The NASA Glenn Research Center is developing advanced passive thermal management technology to reduce the mass and improve the reliability of space fuel cell systems for the NASA exploration program. An analysis of a state of the art fuel cell cooling systems was done to benchmark the portion of a fuel cell system’s mass that is dedicated to thermal management. Additional analysis was done to determine the key performance targets of the advanced passive thermal management technology that would substantially reduce fuel cell system mass. I. Introduction The purpose of this study was to analyze a single passive cooling plate that would absorb the heat from adjacent fuel cells within a fuel cell stack system. The results of this analysis were to provide insight into the requirements of a cooling plate in terms of its thermal conductivity, thickness, and specific gravity that would result in a passive cooling system for a fuel cell stack that would provide the essential uniform thermal sink while having lower mass.