Let more hydrogen storage bottles use carbon fiber

In addition to the main application fields of wind power generation, aerospace and sports and leisure products, in which application markets does carbon fiber have potential?

Weihai Guangwei Composite Materials Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Guangwei Composites") recently announced that it plans to jointly invest with Beijing Kertech Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Beijing Kertech") and other enterprises to establish Kertech (Shandong) Special Equipment Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shandong Kertech"), with a registered capital of 140 million yuan. Among them, Guangwei Composites subscribed and contributed 28 million yuan and held 20% of the equity of the joint venture. Through this move, Guangwei Composites has increased the field of high-pressure hydrogen storage bottles.

This has made the industry pay attention to the field of pressure vessels represented by high-pressure hydrogen storage cylinders again.

What is the current application of domestic carbon fiber in the field of hydrogen storage bottles? What are the requirements of hydrogen storage bottles for the application of carbon fiber? What is the application prospect of carbon fiber in the field of hydrogen storage bottles? The reporter recently interviewed the relevant carbon fiber production enterprises and downstream hydrogen storage bottle manufacturers.

Cartography | Zhong Yanjing

The carbon fiber full winding process is the trend

Localization has been achieved

A pressure vessel refers to a closed device that contains gas or liquid and carries a certain pressure. As a typical representative of pressure vessels, the market demand for high-pressure hydrogen storage cylinders has increased significantly in recent years.

High-pressure hydrogen storage bottles are mainly carried on fuel cell vehicles, and hydrogen storage bottles are the core storage equipment of hydrogen fuel cells. The choice of fiber is a key factor in determining the performance of the hydrogen storage bottle. Carbon fiber is a key raw material for the manufacture of hydrogen storage bottles, and its own cost and performance have a great impact on the cost and performance of hydrogen storage bottles.

According to relevant research, the cost of carbon fiber composite materials accounts for more than 60% of the overall cost of hydrogen storage bottles. Compared with gasoline vehicles, vehicles equipped with carbon fiber composite hydrogen storage cylinders have significant improvements in fuel efficiency. Typically, a fuel cell vehicle carries an average of 6 cylinders, and 1 cylinder requires about 40 kg of carbon fiber.

The filament winding process is an important link in the preparation process of hydrogen storage bottles, which is mainly divided into wet winding, dry winding and dry and wet winding. Among them, wet winding refers to the impregnation of carbon fiber tows, and then directly wound on the mandrel under tensile stress control. This method is inexpensive to produce and is the most common winding process for high-pressure hydrogen storage bottles.

Yuan Zhuowei, deputy general manager of Sinoma Science and Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., introduced that the structural types of high-pressure hydrogen storage cylinders currently mainly include type I bottles, type II bottles, type III bottles and type IV bottles.

Among them, the type II bottle is made of steel liner and fiber circumferential winding, with a working pressure of 20-30MPa and a hydrogen storage density of 14.28-17.23 kg/cubic meter, which is mainly used in the fields of fixed hydrogen storage in hydrogen refueling stations, long-tube trailers and container transportation.

Type III bottles are made of aluminum liner and fiber fully wound, with a working pressure of 35-70MPa and a hydrogen storage density of 20-40.4 kg/cubic meter, which is mainly used in the field of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Continental's technology in this field is already mature.

Type IV bottles are made of plastic liner and fiber full winding, with a working pressure of 35-70MPa and a hydrogen storage density of 20-40.4 kg/cubic meter, which is mainly used in the field of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Foreign technology in this field has matured, and the continent's technology in this field is still in its infancy.

At present, carbon fiber is mainly used in type III and IV hydrogen storage cylinders. According to relevant statistics, in type III and IV pressure vessels, the amount of carbon fiber composite materials is 0.2-0.35 kg/L, and in the high-pressure hydrogen storage cylinders for vehicle use, the amount of carbon fiber composite materials can be increased to 0.8-1.73 kg/L.

From the performance point of view, the reporter learned that the hydrogen storage cylinder with carbon fiber full winding structure has the advantages of small weight-to-volume ratio and high hydrogen storage density per unit mass, and the detailed design of the winding line can improve the comprehensive performance of the cylinder. At the same time, the carbon fiber full winding process can make the hydrogen storage bottle lightweight and improve the hydrogen storage density per unit mass.

From the perspective of the general development trend, under the goal of "carbon peak and carbon neutrality", the development of hydrogen energy has become a global consensus. In March 2022, Continental released the Medium and Long-Term Plan for the Development of the Hydrogen Energy Industry (2021-2035), which clarified the strategic position of hydrogen energy for the first time.

In this context, it will provide an important driving force for the vigorous development of the vehicle-mounted hydrogen storage cylinder market, and also bring good opportunities for the expansion of the application of domestic carbon fiber in the field of hydrogen storage cylinders.

The carbon fiber faucet is aimed at the hydrogen storage bottle

Localization has been achieved

In the global carbon fiber market for pressure vessels, the total market share of three well-known carbon fiber companies in Japan is as high as 88%.

It is understood that in order to meet the growing demand for carbon fiber for pressure vessels, especially high-pressure hydrogen storage cylinders, in July 2023, a well-known Japanese carbon fiber company announced that it will increase the production capacity of small tow carbon fiber in its carbon fiber factories in the United States and South Korea, so as to increase its annual production capacity of small tow carbon fiber by more than 20%, reaching about 35,000 tons in 2025.

In the mainland, in recent years, many leading carbon fiber companies have set their sights on the field of pressure vessels such as hydrogen storage cylinders.

Zhongfu Shenying Carbon Fiber Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhongfu Shenying") is a leader in this field.

Jin Liang, secretary of the board of directors of Zhongfu Shenying, introduced that Zhongfu Shenying has the industrialized production capacity of T700, T800, T1000 and M40 carbon fiber, and its products include various models from 1K-48K. With the full release of production capacity, Zhongfu Shenying has accelerated the pace of market expansion and continuously optimized the product structure to meet the differentiated needs of various application markets. Among them, in the field of new energy, the company gave full play to its product and production capacity advantages, and steadily increased the proportion of pressure vessels, carbon/carbon composite materials and wind power functional application markets.

Since 2019, Zhongfu Shenying has cooperated with Guofu Hydrogen Energy, Sinoma Technology and other companies to develop domestic carbon fiber winding gas cylinders, and put them on the market in batches and stably. Through continuous optimization and improvement of product performance, Zhongfu Shenying gradually replaces the market share of imported fibers in the industry, and helps the localization of raw materials in the mainland hydrogen energy storage market. Zhongfu Shenying also actively lays out the future IV bottle market, and has completed the certification of IV bottle production qualification and type certification of domestic head pressure vessel enterprises, and has achieved serialization and mass production. At present, the market share of Zhongfu Shenying T700 and above product series in the domestic market has been maintained at more than 50% for many years, of which the market share in the domestic hydrogen storage cylinder application field has reached more than 80%.

Jilin Chemical Fiber Group's carbon fiber products cover large tows and small tows, and it also has a layout in the fields of CNG cylinders (high-pressure vessels for storing compressed natural gas) and hydrogen cylinders. Its subsidiary, Jilin Guoxing Hydrogen Energy Technology Co., Ltd., has completed relevant certification and testing of CNG hydrogen cylinders, and the hydrogen cylinders are in the R&D and testing stage.

Shandong Ketech, the joint venture company invested by Guangwei Composites, is located in Shandong Weihai Lingang Economic and Technological Development Zone, and has completed the industrial and commercial registration procedures and obtained the business license.

Relying on Beijing Cortec, Shandong Cortec will focus on the production of type IV cylinders, taking into account the production of type III cylinders, forming an annual production capacity of 3,000 sets of on-board hydrogen supply systems (about 20,000 gas cylinders). Guangwei Composites will provide Shandong CoreTech with high-quality carbon fiber materials for gas cylinders, and the carbon fibers used are mainly T700S/800S grades.

"In recent years, the mainland has attached great importance to the development of the hydrogen energy industry. With the popularization and development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, the market demand for automotive hydrogen storage bottles will grow rapidly in the future. Wang Yingchao, secretary of the board of directors of Guangwei Composites, said that Guangwei Composites' participation in the gas cylinder project led by Beijing Kertech and operated in Weihai is based on the actual needs of its own business development, which will help give full play to the resource synergy advantages of the joint venture parties, and will give full play to the company's technology, resources and industrial supporting advantages in the field of carbon fiber and its composite materials, further expand the company's business in the field of gas cylinders, and enhance the company's core competitiveness.

The market potential for pressure vessel applications is large

Localization has been achieved

The demand for domestic carbon fiber in downstream applications is still growing, among which the hydrogen storage cylinder application market has great potential.

Beijing Cretech, a joint venture with Guangwei Composites, specializes in the R&D and production of composite gas cylinders, pressure systems and peripheral products, with B3 pressure vessel manufacturing license, IATF16949 certification and GB/T9001 certification, and is the unit of the National Development and Reform Commission's "Industrialization Demonstration Project of Automotive Compressed Hydrogen Composite Gas Cylinders", and is also a member of the National Gas Cylinder Standardization Technical Committee.

The company has presided over and participated in a number of national scientific and technological research projects, has complete product development, design and production, process research, system testing and other capabilities, and its composite gas cylinder design and manufacturing technology level is in the leading position in the industry, and has become one of the main suppliers of domestic high-pressure hydrogen cylinders and vehicle hydrogen supply systems.

Zhao Liang, technical director of Beijing Cretech, said that the most widely used and convenient on-board hydrogen storage technology is high-pressure gaseous hydrogen storage. Taking into account factors such as compressed energy consumption, cruising range, and infrastructure construction investment, countries around the world have listed 70MPa high-pressure gaseous hydrogen storage as a development goal and research focus.

Founded in 2004, Sinoma Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. has been deeply engaged in the field of composite pressure vessels, and is committed to becoming the world's No. 1 supplier of composite gas storage and transportation.

In the field of high-pressure hydrogen storage cylinders, the company has an annual production capacity of 100,000 Type III hydrogen storage cylinders, with a rich product series, covering 1.5-385 liters of hydrogen storage cylinders, and has developed 70MPa plastic liner fully wound gas cylinders (Type IV cylinders). At the same time, the company's annual production capacity of industrial gas cylinders is 250,000, CNG cylinders are 350,000, and station hydrogen storage containers/composite long tubes are 5,000.

Yuan Zhuowei said that in the coming period, high-pressure gaseous state will still be the main mode of hydrogen storage. From the perspective of technical routes, carbon fiber fully wound composite cylinders will be the future development trend of hydrogen storage cylinders, including type III - aluminum liner and type IV - plastic liner.

According to the "2022 Global Carbon Fiber Composite Market Report", in 2022, the amount of carbon fiber used in the field of pressure vessels in the international market will be 14,800 tons, and the amount of carbon fiber used in the field of pressure vessels in the continental market will be 6,000 tons. In terms of growth rate, the largest area of carbon fiber use in the global market is still wind turbine blades, but from 2021 to 2022, the growth rate of carbon fiber application in the field of pressure vessels is 34.5%, much higher than the application growth rate of 5.15% in the field of wind turbine blades.

According to data from the High-tech Hydrogen Power Industry Research Institute, in the first three quarters of 2023, the sales of fuel cell vehicles on the mainland increased by 56.8% year-on-year, and a wave of loading peaks is expected in the future.

According to data from the Minsheng Securities Research Institute, the number of fuel cell vehicles in the world will increase to 50,000 units by 2025 (an additional 20,000 units in that year), and by 2030, the number of fuel cell vehicles in the world will increase to 1 million units (an additional 300,000 units in that year). This means that the global demand for carbon fiber for fuel cell vehicles will reach 5,000 tons by 2025 and increase to 70,000 tons by 2030.

According to a forecast released by the Japanese carbon fiber company, the global carbon fiber market for pressure vessels will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 42% from 2022 to 2025. In 2025, in the field of pressure vessels, the global demand for carbon fiber will be close to 40,000 tons.

"At present, mainland carbon fiber products are not inferior to imported carbon fiber in terms of strength and modulus, and some indicators even exceed imported products, but the stability of performance indicators such as single yarn strength and elongation at break needs to be improved. In the future, domestic carbon fiber should further improve quality stability, strengthen cost control, and improve product performance conversion rate. At the same time, the upstream and downstream should also strengthen collaborative research to further achieve a win-win situation in all links of the high-pressure hydrogen storage bottle industry chain. Yuan Zhuowei said.

Written by reporter of this newspaper with Li Na

Editor / Marry