ECOHYDRO · ECONOMIC MANUFACTURING PROCESS OF RECYCLABLE COMPOSITE MATERIALS FOR DURABLE HYDROGEN STORAGE

ECOHYDRO aims to develop a new energy efficient filament winding process of hydrogen storage tanks using recyclable materials. We will improve the thermoplastic acrylic resin for in-situ polymerization, which has been used for wind energy and marine applications so far, for the high-speed filament winding process by optimizing the UV polymerization of the resin and developing new filament winding tools and equipment. Especially, we will develop multi-functional resin with fire-resistance, thermal insulation and self-healing capacity which are expected to enhance the safety of hydrogen storage, and hybrid tows to reduce microcracking. We will develop a recycling technology to recover 100% of carbon fibres and resin from hydrogen tanks after their end-of-life. These recovered materials will be used for the rewinding process for new tanks manufacturing. This recycling and rewinding technology will contribute to significant reduction of the cost and of carbon footprint of hydrogen storage tanks. To improve the safety and durability of hydrogen tanks, a new structural health monitoring technology via sensor integration into the tanks in service life, will be developed in combination with data science using AI algorithm. These sensors embedded into the tank during the manufacturing process will be used to monitor the soundness of filament winding process in real time to improve the yield ratio. The developed technologies will be validated by four different types of industrial demonstrators (TRL4) using either compressed gas hydrogen storage cryogenic liquid hydrogen storage, such as aboveground station, tube trailor, truck and bus, and aviation. The industrial partners of ECOHYDRO (Tier 1, end-users) will validate the demonstrator development and prepare a future plan for a higher TRL (4-8) development in terms of the KPIs. Dissemination and communication activities will be performed in relation with other EU projects as well as general public and scientific community.