Direct methanol fuel cells continuously require water to react with the methanol fuel at the anode side of the cell; it is generally obtained from the water produced on the cathode side. Until now, water management in DMFCs has required a bulky system of fans, exit condensers and other components for recapturing evaporated water from the exiting cathode air stream. Researchers have created a fuel cell with an innovative structure that forces water to flow directly from the cathode into the anode stream. Microscale passages within the DMFC reroute water and effectively prevent water losses to the air using much less space. Optimal water balance during fuel

cell operation is achieved with innovative algorithms that adjust fuel and oxidizer injection rates in response to power load demands. As a result, no excess water is generated. These researchers also developed an inexpensive method for measuring fuel concentration. It eliminates the need for expensive in-place fuel sensors and can collect information about temperature, fuel-level, stack currents, fan speed and fuel-injection pump output rates through the use of a computer algorithm.