FCEVs Driving the Carbon Composite Hydrogen Tanks
It is expected that by 2030, FCEVs will account for >1% of the global powertrain mix, which would represent around 1.2 to 1.7 million hydrogen vehicles including lightweight and commercial vehicles, each one of which will be equipped with CCHTs for hydrogen storage.
Published: 03 Aug 2023
In 2014, Toyota opened the doors to the hydrogen society by launching Toyota Mirai, the world’s first commercial FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle). However, Mirai was not the first FCEV developed in the world. The credit of introducing the first FCEV to the world goes to General Motors, which developed Electrovan more than a half century ago in 1966.
The GM Electrovan containing 2 giant storage tanks for hydrogen and oxygen, 32 fuel cell modules, electric motor, and a 550-feet piping throughout the rear of the vehicle weighted around 7,100 pounds. This system relied on rare metals including platinum, which made it too expensive, and no proper hydrogen infrastructure was there those days, which made this vehicle a failure.
From GM Electrovan, that had a range of just 160 Kms, to today’s fuel cell vehicles that can range easily more than 600 Kms, the new-age fuel cell vehicles have seen a transition of innovation.
An era of risky storage, prohibitive cost, and with less room has ended with the dawn of high-pressure vessels, specifically – Carbon Composite Hydrogen Tanks (CCHTs) for fuel storage.
Carbon Composite Hydrogen Tanks, Their Types, & Applications
CCHTs are the pressure vessels fully wrapped by carbon composites with metallic or polymeric liners (Type III & Type IV). Type III tank has a metal liner (aluminium or steel) with full composite overwrap, whereas Type IV is a complete carbon fiber made tank having an inner liner made of polyamide or polyethylene plastic.
In 2021, hydrogen pressure vessels had nearly 7% share of the total pressure vessels market, a majority of which is CCHT.
Table.1. Types of Pressure Vessels
The reason behind preferring carbon composites for the new-age hydrogen pressure vessels is that these materials are known for their superior strength & durability along with light weight, offering a mass-reduction between 50%-70%.
CCHTs find usage in a variety of applications, including cars, buses, trucks, forklifts, trains, ships, refuelling stations, bulk gas transportation, and back-up power. However, FCEV is the one application which generates over 90% of the demand for CCHTs.