Bipolar plate seal assembly and fuel cell stack with such a bipolar plate seal assembly
AssigneesVolkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, Audi AG
InventorsPeter Bach, Andrew Desouza, Ian Stewart
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A bipolar plate seal assembly for a fuel cell is provided. The bipolar plate seal assembly includes: a bipolar plate having a flow field for a reactant medium on at least one of its main sides, and a supply area arranged adjacent to the flow field, in which supply ports for feeding and discharging the reactant medium and optionally for feeding and discharging a coolant are arranged; and at least one seal assembly having an electrically insulating layer covering at least one or more sections of the supply area of the bipolar plate and having recesses that correspond to the supply ports of the bipolar plate, and for each recess, a seal circumferential thereto.
Claims12
A bipolar plate assembly for a fuel cell, comprising:
- a bipolar plate having:
- a flow field for a reactant medium on at least one main side of the bipolar plate;
- a first supply area arranged adjacent to a first side of the flow field, in which plural first fluid ports are arranged;
- and
- a second supply area arranged adjacent to a second side of the flow field opposite to the first side, in which plural second fluid ports are arranged;
- a first seal assembly having:
- a first electrically insulating layer covering at least one or more sections of the first supply area of the bipolar plate and having recesses that correspond to the plural first fluid ports of the bipolar plate;
- and
- for each recess of the first seal assembly, a first seal circumferential to the recess and integral with the first electrically insulating layer;
- and
- a second seal assembly distinct from the first seal assembly, the second seal assembly having:
- a second electrically insulating layer covering at least one or more sections of the second supply area of the bipolar plate and having recesses that correspond to the plural second fluid ports of the bipolar plate;
- and
- for each recess of the second seal assembly, a second seal circumferential to the recess and integral with the second electrically insulating layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.