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Requirements & Status for Volume Fuel Cell Manufacturing
DOE Hydrogen Program, Washington, DC
July 13-14, 2005
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Requirements for Manufactured Fuel Cells
Customer Requirements: Commercial Plant Study
– Volume: 250,000 fuel stacks per year
– Cost: $30/kw net
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Requirements for Manufactured Fuel Cells
Commercial Volume Manufacturing
–Material Utilization: >85%
–Controlled Environments (Humidity, temperature, dust)
–Environmentally safe direct and indirect materials
–Hydrogen safety
–Make or Buy Decisions on non/proprietary unit cell
components
–Integrated strategic supply chain
–Design for Manufacturing, Assembly, and Service
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Requirements for Manufactured Fuel Cells
Quality Control & Assurance
–Accelerated tests and process parameters correlated to key
product requirements (QFD)
–From 100% Inspection to SQC Sampling to SPC
–Measurement System Variability:
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Requirements for Manufactured Fuel Cells
Commercial Plant Must Also Support
–Customer Acceptance Testing
–Certificate of Compliance: Additional testing not req’d at
OEM
–Customer Service: Repairs, Failure Analysis, On-site
support
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DFMA
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Requirements for Manufactured Fuel Cells
Automotive Customer
–APQP
–Certificate of Compliance
–Capable and Controlled Processes
–Process and Designs Verified and Validated to meet Automotive
Application Requirements
–PPAP (part Submission Warrant)
–Configuration and Document Control
–Traceability
–ISO/TS16949 Certification
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Requirements for Manufactured Fuel Cells
Design
–DFMA incorporates materials, features & tolerances for ease
of supply, high volume manufacture, assembly, and service
–Increase consideration for manufacturing yield and material
utilization
–Eliminate components, parts and process steps
–Standardize core components across products
–Standardize non-core components across supplier-base
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Requirements for Manufactured Fuel Cells
Supply Chain
–Form supplier relationships & partnerships to ensure
manufacture of fuel cells in volume, resulting in economies of
scale to drive down the material costs
–Involve suppliers early in design
–DFMA requirements form Manufacturing into Material and Part
Specifications
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Requirements for Manufactured Fuel Cells
Additional Design Requirements
– Multi-component ink mixtures and dispersions
– 3-D unit cell macro and micro-structures
– Adhesive and cohesive layers
– Selective surface treatments
– Heat Treatments
– Reproducible tolerances on finished parts and assemblies
– Finished components and stacks sealed for both Liquids and
Gases
– Electrical Isolation and ESD Protection
– Enclosure and Packaging to Automotive OEM Requirements
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Manufacturing Technology Status
MEA
–Design for Manufacturing features incorporated into Design
–Semi-automated Discrete/Continuous
–Ink mixing and delivery
–Gas Diffusion Layer
–Hydrophobic/Hydrophillic Treatments
–Electrode Fabrication
–MEA assembly
–Semi-automated Sealing
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GDL – Continuous Fabrication & Heat Treatment
GDL Fabrication
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GDE - Continuous Processing
Finished GDL
Catalyst Coatings (GDE)
Treating
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MEA – Continuous Assembly
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MEA –Flexible and Continuous Sizing
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MEA – Semi-automated Sealing
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MEA Cost Reduction
25 um 10 8 5 1.5
5 micron1.5 micron
Catalyst Reduction
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Manufacturing Technology Status
Bi-Polar Separator Plate
–Design for Manufacturing Features incorporated into Design
–Discrete/Continuous
– Flowfield Embossing
–Semi-automated
– Plate Sealing
– Plate Assembly
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Continuous Plate Fabrication
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Semi-Automated Plate Sealing
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Manufacturing Technology Status
Stack & System Assembly
–Design for Assembly features
–Integrated Unit Cell Sealing
–Manual/Semi-automated
– stack assembly
– electrical continuity and leak testing
– compression and fastening
–Manual Packaging
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Semi-Automated Stack Assembly
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Manufacturing Technology Status
Quality Control & Assurance
– Unit Cell Processes under SPC
– Non-contact/destructive gauging
– Key processes Six-Sigma capable
– 100% stack (accelerated) testing to customer requirements
Observation
Ind
i vid
ua
lV
alu
e
740666592518444370296222148741
23
22
20
18
16
_X=18.833UCL=19.508
LCL=18.157
19.5
Lower Spec Limit
Upper Spec Limit
Observation
Mo
vin
gR
an
ge
740666592518444370296222148741
20
15
10
5
0__MR=0.25UCL=0.83LCL=0
19.5
Unit Cell Variable
6.3 SIGMA 6.2 SIGMA 10.6 SIGMA
– 100% stack leak testing
– 100% material batch and configuration traceability
– 100% process variable data collection
– Key process variables correlated to key product
requirements
– Integrated Plant Data System (iPDS) and document control
system
– Automotive Supplier Certified ( ISO/TS16949 )
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Semi-Automated ‘End-of Line’ Quality Testing
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Barriers To Be Overcome …
1. OEM Requirements Cascade
2. Customer Application and Acceptance Testing
3. Hydrogen Leak Test Capability
4. Unit Cell microstructure manufacturing
5. Design for Six Sigma
6. Automotive qualified suppliers
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The Future is closer than we think …..
DC/Ballard Fuel Cell Bus operational in Reykjavik, Iceland
75 Cars and 35 Buses in operation today
Requirements & Status for Volume Fuel Cell
ManufacturingRequirements for Manufactured Fuel CellsRequirements
for Manufactured Fuel CellsRequirements for Manufactured Fuel
CellsRequirements for Manufactured Fuel CellsDFMARequirements for
Manufactured Fuel CellsManufacturing Technology StatusGDL –
Continuous Fabrication & Heat TreatmentGDE - Continuous
ProcessingMEA – Continuous AssemblyMEA –Flexible and Continuous
SizingMEA – Semi-automated SealingMEA Cost ReductionManufacturing
Technology StatusManufacturing Technology StatusSemi-Automated
Stack AssemblyManufacturing Technology StatusSemi-Automated ‘End-of
Line’ Quality TestingBarriers To Be Overcome …The Future is closer
than we think …..
