Greater demand for plates will drive down costs and production times

Greater demand for plates will drive down costs and production times

Materials companies are confident that fuel cell bipolar plates can be manufactured quickly and economically. Several manufacturers are quoting plastics processing cycle times in minutes. But Jean-Marc Tixhon, European business development manager for DuPont’s fuel cell applications, said these cycle times could be shorter for high volumes.

He said both thermoset and thermoplastics cycle times could be brought down to well below one minute. Today’s production times reflect more on existing demand than production limitations, he argued.

“We know that a bipolar plate could be produced cheaply by the million at a cost of less than a euro,” he said. “This is technology we understand.” Joe Carfora, vice-president of business development at materials company BMCI, agreed. “Plate costs should eventually be under $1 (E0.84) a plate, depending on size, for stationary and automotive applications.”