AZL collaborative project to redefine hydrogen tank development

The kick-off meeting for the “Trends and Design Factors for Hydrogen Pressure Vessels” project that began November 2023, held at AZL Aachen GmbH (Aachen, Germany), was a successful event, bringing together more than 37 top experts in the field of composites technologies. It laid a solid foundation for the joint partner project, which currently comprises a consortium of 20 companies from across the composite pressure vessel value chain (see the list of companies below).

AZL’s joint partner project approach aims to provide technology and market insights as well as benchmarking of different material and production setups in combination with connecting experts along the value chain.

The kick-off meeting not only served as a platform to foster new contacts and get informed about the expertise and interests of the consortium members, but also laid the groundwork for steering the focus of the upcoming project’s phases. As a basis for the interactive discussion session, AZL outlined the background, motivation and detailed work plan. This included detailing primary objectives, pressing challenges, the contribution to competitiveness and priorities that would best meet the expectations of project partners.

Discussions also covered regulatory issues, the evolving value chain, and the supply and properties of key materials such as carbon and glass fibers and resins. The consortium defined investigations into different manufacturing technologies, assessing their maturity and potential benefits. Design layouts, including liners, boss designs and winding patterns, were thoroughly considered, taking into account their implications for mobile and
stationary storage. The consortium also expressed interest in cost-effective testing methods and certification processes, as well as the prospects for recycling continuous fibers and the use of sustainable materials. Insight was
requested concerning the future demand for hydrogen tanks, OEM needs and strategies and technological developments to produce more economical tanks.

In particular, the meeting highlighted the importance of CAE designs for fiber patterns, software suitability and the application-dependent use of thermoset and thermoplastic designs.

“The richness of the discussion outcomes demonstrates the comprehensive approach of our project and the value it should bring to participants,” Warden Schijve, design leader at AZL, says. “We are eager to integrate these findings into the detailed planning of the project, with the first report meeting scheduled for Feb. 7, 2024. Within this meeting, we will provide a
comprehensive review of state of the art applications, design considerations and production technologies.”

The first report meeting will also set the stage of the next project phase, which will be the creation of reference designs by AZL’s engineering team. These designs will cover a range of pressure vessel configurations using
a variety of materials and production concepts. The aim is to develop models that not only reflect current technological capabilities, but also provide deep insight into the cost analysis of different production technologies, their CO₂ footprint, recycling aspects and scalability.

AZL’s project remains open to additional participants. Companies interested in joining this initiative are invited to contact Philipp Fröhlig  (philipp.froehlig@azl aachen gmbh.de) for further information and to explore how they can contribute to and benefit from this hydrogen project

This post is courtesy of the CompositesWorld and AZL Aachen GmbH media partnership.