Fuel cells (38) have minute water passageways (67) that provide water
through one or both reactant gas flow field plates (74, 82) of each fuel
cell, whereby the fuel cell is cooled evaporatively. The water
passageways (67; 78, 85; 78a, 85a) may be vented by a porous plug (69),
or by a microvacuum pump (89) that does not pump any water from the
passageways, or simply vented (99) to atmosphere. A condenser (59) may
have a contiguous reservoir (64); the condenser (59) may be vertical,
such as a vehicle radiator (FIG. 1), or may be horizontal, contiguous
with the top of the fuel cell stack (37, FIG. 5). The passageways may be
grooves (76, 77; 83, 84) in the reactant gas flow plates (75, 81) or the
passageways may comprise a plane of porous hydrophilic material (78a,
85a) contiguous with substantially the entire surface of one or both of
the reactant gas flow field plates.