Claims
- 1. A method comprising:arranging flow plates to form at least a part of a fuel cell stack, each of the flow plates including openings to form different manifold passageways for different fluid flows; and forming buffer zones on each plate to isolate the different manifold passageways.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the manifold passageways include at least one coolant passageway.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the manifold passageways include at least one reactant passageway.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the forming the buffer zones comprises:using first gaskets to seal off regions that are associated with one of the manifold passageways, each first gasket having a first approximate sealing characteristic; and using second gaskets to seal off other regions that are associated with another one of the manifold passageways, each second gasket having a second approximate sealing characteristic substantially different from the first approximate sealing characteristic.
- 5. A method comprising:in a flow plate, forming internal passageways that extend between manifold passageways of a fuel cell stack to communicate a coolant; and embedding the internal passageways within the flow plate to substantially permanently isolate the internal passageways from at least one region of the flow plate associated with a reactant flow.
- 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:using flow channels of two different flow plates to collectively form the internal passageways, and applying a bonding agent permanently mount the first and second plates together.
- 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the forming comprises:using injection molding to form the plate; and using tubes to form the internal passageways.
- 8. The method of claim 1, wherein each buffer zone comprises a region of the plate capable of receiving leakage from at least one of the fluid flows.
- 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:isolating each of the manifold passageways with a gasket to form the buffer zones, each gasket being separate from the other gaskets.
Parent Case Info
This application is a divisional of U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 09/385,667, entitled, “Sealing Method and Apparatus for a Fuel Cell Stack,” filed on Aug. 27, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,159.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
5776624 |
Neutzler |
Jul 1998 |
A |
6149810 |
Gonzalez-Martin et al. |
Nov 2000 |
A |