Case Study

A customer was seeking sealing solutions for mass production of fuel cell systems for stationary and mobile applications involving high safety requirements. In addition, the customer specified requirements for ease of installation in the production line of all components including those with reduced tolerance accuracy.

In close collaboration with the customer, Parker developed reliable sealing solutions for sealing against H2 and all other media inside a fuel cell system. Specialty seals were developed for the auxiliary units and components of a fuel cell system such as the stack connection plate, the gas blowers, and the gas valves.

For ease of installation, Parker developed specialty tolerance-compensating seal designs – the so-called warp seals - for use in fully automated production lines.

During the development project, Parker worked closely with the customer. That, plus the utilization of state-of-the-art development tools, enabled the successful implementation of the project in the shortest possible time, considering all customer requirements.

The sealing solutions enable easy in-line assembly while ensuring safe and reliable sealing of the system. The ability to seal components with larger tolerances helps reduce the costs of the individual parts of the auxiliary units and components and in the assembly line of the fuel cell system significantly without risking a reduction of safety. The result:

• Significant cost reduction for the customer by using parts with reduced tolerance requirements.
• Reduction of assembly efforts and costs.
• Higher automation level in fuel cell production line with higher safety level.