3. Oxidizer management

The oxidizer in the fuel cell is the oxygen contained in the air or, more rarely, pure oxygen. It is usually supplied in over-stoichiometry (under-consumption) to avoid over-supply (or even under-supply) of the cells positioned at the end of the air supply. In the case of ambient air supply, it is important to filter the incoming air to avoid injecting impurities into the fuel cell core, which would inevitably lead to a reduction in performance.

On the other hand, for low- and medium-power fuel cells, air can also act as a cooling gas. In this case, it plays a part in the fuel cell's thermal regulation system (figure 1 ).

Oxygen-depleted air that...