Optimists view fuel-cell vehicles and power appliances as a
coming bonanza for plastics processors. They see potential
demand for billions of pounds of thermosets and engineering
thermoplastics in plates, membranes, manifolds, pumps, plumbing,
and more. But molding challenges and cost hurdles mean success
won’t come easily. Click Image to Enlarge Fig. 2—Fuel-cell
vehicles will require plastics for subsystems to manage fuel
delivery, electricity, water removal, and other ancillary
requirements. (Photo: Ticona) Injection molding technology has
yet to overcome the current preference for compression molding
to make thermoset fuel-cell plates. Shown here, a Ferromatik
Milacron Magna 400HP injection press adapted for thermoset plate
molding. (Photo: Premix/Quantum Composites) Interest in proton-
exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells was already strong before it
got an extra charge from the recent terror attacks on the U.S.
The Sept. 11 events prompted a quick rise in the value of shares
of PEM fuel-cell makers like Plu