Rossi on Manufacture of Plants, 3-D Printing, Competition [Update: IH ‘Very Seriously’ Studying Metal 3D Printing’]

I asked a couple of questions today of Andrea Rossi on the Journal of Nuclear Physics regarding the future development and manufacture of E-Cat Plants:

Q: What will be the estimated cost of a 1MW plant like the one you are now operating?

Andrea Rossi
May 17th, 2015 at 8:29 AM
Frank Acland:
It is still very difficult to say how much will be the price after the possibility to make a mass production. Our strategy, though, is to defeat the competition making prices that make reverse engineering pointless. Also in this fields, as in all the others, competition will make the happiness of the Customers… I foresee a strong battle. Related to this question of yours: the NASA magazine “Tech Briefs”, in the issue of May 2015, has published a very interesting “round table” regarding the state of the art of 3D Printing technology. This could be the real game changer in the manufacturing system. We are studying it to invent a system of application of this tech fit for our needs. This is another filler of the long nights inside the 1 MW plant in operation.
Warm Regards,
A.R.

Q: About how long do you estimate it will take to build a 1MW plant similar to the one you are testing?

Andrea Rossi
May 17th, 2015 at 8:34 AM
Frank Acland:
The delivery time for a 1 MW E-Cat, after the signature of the sale contract, can be between 3 and 6 months, based on the range of the amount of orders we assume to get, if the test on course will give positive results.
Warm Regards,
A.R.

It’s interesting to know that Rossi and Co. are studying the 3D Printing options for manufacturing of E-Cats. Perhaps they are thinking it will allow the for greater savings through the highly automated production that 3D printing allows, or maybe they are anticipating that there will be need for quick changes in design as the technology progresses. Here’s a link to the NASA Tech Briefs issue that he is referring to, titled 3D Printing: Changing the Economics of Manufacturing Custom Components:
http://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/18-ntb/white-papers/manufacturing-and-prototyping/21754

UPDATE (May 20, 2015)

More question and answer on the JONP about 3D Printing:

Q: Have you news about the 3D printing?

A: Andrea Rossi
May 20th, 2015 at 3:13 PM
JC Renoir:
Yes, I am in contact with the main manufacturer of 3D systems for production of metal fabricated machines, and we are studying seriously the issue, very seriously. I am extremely curious about this issue. Could become very important. We already had economic analysis and the budgets are walkable. Much due diligence has to be done yet.
Warm Regards,
A.R.

It’s interesting that Rossi seems so serious and curious about 3D printings in metals, and that he is in touch with the ‘main manufacturer’ of metal 3D printing systems — I wonder if it could be Stratsys, probably the largest commercial 3D printing company out there right now, which has a ‘Direct Metal Laser Sintering‘ system which the company says deals with ‘high temperature applications’.