Century Engineering Unveils Breakthrough Fuel Cell Manufacturing Process

DETROIT, Feb. 27, 2004 -- Century, Inc. of Traverse City today unveiled a revolutionary single station production process designed to revolutionize the way fuel cell bi-polar plates are manufactured. The new process will be on display all week in the U.S. Army National Automotive Center (NAC) booth at the SAE World Congress at Cobo Hall.

Century, a supplier of global extrusion systems, has received a $2 million contract from the NAC for the ongoing research and development of the new process.

"Century, Inc. was selected to join us in our military fuel cell partnership based on the company's experience and manufacturing record," said Dennis J. Wend, executive director of the NAC. "Century has demonstrated some innovative breakthroughs in extending the life of production tools and processing equipment while raising the quality and reliability from those tools."

Until now, the ability to produce precision fuel plates, critical to the overall efficiency of a power unit, has been one of the major challenges for researchers.

"Current fuel cell manufacturing requires the stacking of hundreds of wafer thin conductive plates in a 'stack' within the cell," according to William G. Janis, chairman and CEO of Century. "Our challenge is to overcome processing limitations such as cost, reliability and functionality, necessary before commercialization of current technology can occur."

According to Janis the future of American automotive manufacturing depends in part on the seamless integration of manufacturing processes for producing plastic components which deliver higher quality and productivity by eliminating discontinuous and redundant processing steps. Improved productivity is realized from fewer processing steps, reduced transportation, and inventory costs and improvements in process yield.

Using a specially designed RingExtruder and a lean systems approach, Century engineers will demonstrate to SAE Congress attendees their continuous mixing technology that enables the transition of previous single batch processing to an integrated manufacturing process which produces finished consumable goods.

Janis said Century's new and unique 12-screw mixer, the RingExtruder, provides an ideal platform for the research and development of emerging advanced materials and materials processing to be used in fuel cell manufacturing. The National Automotive Center is looking to Century, Inc.'s research and development activities to help improve the materials in the conductive fuel cell housing bi-polar plates and the Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM), both of which are constructed of resin components or composites. Improvements in the resin composites can reduce fuel cell manufacturing costs and enhance product performance critical to the military for future battlefield vehicles.

Bi-polar plates are manufactured primarily with highly filled thermoset polyester, which is brittle and difficult to mold. Next-generation PEMs, necessary to elevate fuel cell operating temperatures, contain sensitive, and costly materials that require compounding of expensive and shear sensitive components.

"The Century RingExtruder's exceptional energy management and mixing capabilities should succeed with these processes and enhance fuel cell research and development where other mixing technologies have failed," Janis said.

The initial funding to Century, Inc. is related to the U. S. Army's overall fuel cell research and development efforts. The Army and the National Automotive Center are spearheading these collaborative activities with the automotive and transportation industries.

Once used exclusively in space exploration, fuel cell technology will soon be used as a power source in common electronic equipment such as cell phones and lap top computers. Future uses will include a hydrogen-based alternative energy source for fossil fuels. Fuel cell energy will increase efficiency and reduce emissions in the distributed power generation and vehicle transportation industries.

The National Automotive Center is the Army's official link to collaboration with commercial and academic partners to generate vehicles that will provide the Army with the mobility, survivability and agility it needs to operate efficiently and effectively in today's new threat environment. For the military, the NAC's partnership approach makes it possible to improve performance, safety and endurance while reducing design, manufacturing, operational and maintenance costs. For commercial partners, the application of jointly-developed technologies has similar impacts -- safer cars and trucks and more advanced manufacturing capability.

Headquartered in Warren, MI, the NAC is part of the U. S. Army Tank Automotive and Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC). TARDEC is the nation's laboratory for advanced military automotive technology.

Century, Inc., based in Traverse City, Michigan, and its family of companies -- Century Specialties, Century Extruders, Century Sun, and Century/RE Systems -- have been meeting the machinery, parts replacement and service needs of extrusion systems customers for over 30 years. For more information about Century, Inc., visit www.centinc.com .