Market Heats up for Hydrogen Storage Tanks for Trucks

Hexagon Purus, located in Norway, is also a well-known European manufacturer actively investing in hydrogen storage tanks. The parent company Hexagon Group acquired Ragasco, a Norwegian manufacturer of compressed natural gas cylinders for automotive and commercial applications, and Lincoln Composites in the United States, which produced fiber-wound carbon fiber rocket engine casings for NASA, between 2001 and 2005; in 2014, it acquired MasterWorks which produces for Type III and Type IV pressure vessels for commercial launch vehicle and manned spacecraft propulsion systems, and it also acquired Agility Fuel Solutions in the US and Experian Energy & Environment in Germany in 2016 to expand its system capabilities in the US And Europe's carbon fiber type IV hydrogen storage tank production. These acquisitions laid the foundation for Hexagon Purus to develop hydrogen storage tanks. The company will set up a factory in the United States to produce Type IV hydrogen storage tanks in early 2022, with an annual output of 10,000; in June of the same year, it will build a new base in Germany, which will be used for production, development and trial production of new products. In the second quarter of 2022, the construction of the joint venture with China CIMC Enric will start. The goal is to manufacture Type III and Type IV composite gas cylinders and systems. The initial annual production capacity will be 10,000 and expand to 100,000 in the future.
According to the needs of customers, the company has customized 10 different types of hydrogen storage tanks, including about 350 Bar hydrogen storage tanks for buses and trains, and 700 Bar hydrogen storage tanks for heavy-duty trucks. On the bus side, customers include New Flyer in the US, Solaris and Caetano in Europe, and Bravo Transport Services in Hong Kong. In the heavy-duty truck market, the main customers are the start-up company Nikola and the European truck manufacturer Iveco, which has a partnership with Nikola. It is expected to start mass production in the second half of 2023. Another customer is Kenworth, a long-established American heavy-duty truck manufacturer that supplies fuel cells to Toyota Motor North America.

Hexagon has also dabbled in the necessary sensors for hydrogen storage tanks. The modal acoustic emission developed by its subsidiary can be used to inspect or monitor the entire pressure vessel. The disadvantage is that the sensing speed is slow, but there is a possibility of improvement. The technology can also be used for structural health maintenance and tank recertification.
At present, the hydrogen storage tube trailer compresses and stores hydrogen fuel at the production site, transports and supplies it to the hydrogen charging station, and still uses the Type I technology, which leads to the trailer’s turning radius being too long and the weight being too heavy. In the future, the Type IV hydrogen storage tank will be used instead to solve this problem.


Reference:
Hydrogen Fuel News, 2022-06-10, Tamy Hood, Toyota subsidiary Woven Planet creates exchangeable hydrogen cartridge
Auto evolution, 2022-05-13, Gustavo Henrique Ruffo, NamX HUV Proposes Swappable Hydrogen Capsules to Make FCEVs Practical
Hydrogen Center, 2021-09-09, Plastic Omnium wins a Major Contract With Hyundai to Supply High-end Hydrogen Vessels
Transmission Time, 2023-03-13, Kihoon Kim, Iljin Hysolus CEO "Hydrogen is not dangerous... Ultra-high pressure tank competitiveness"
日経クロステック／日経Automotive 久米秀尚, 2022-08-10, 3本合計110kgで距離30％延長 トヨタ「ミライ」の水素タンク
日経 XTECH       2015-06-25伊東敏夫トヨタのFCV「ミライ」、高圧水素タンクの炭素繊維4割削減
ASIAE, 2022-04-18, Kwak Min-Jae, Hydrogen tank technology ahead of Toyota..."If we cross the threshold, we will surpass electric vehicles"
Kurdo, 2021-11-08, Iljin Hisolus supplies hydrogen tanks to BMW following Hyundai Motors
Seoul Financial, 2022-09-22, Jin Wook Kwon, Iljin Hysolus participates in 'H2 MEET 2022' ... Hydrogen tank with stability and performance
Entreprises, 2023-05-30, Victor Cazale, Plastic Omnium, futur géant de l’hydrogène ?