International Conferences on Composite Materials

 5th Edition of International Conferences on Composite Materials

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Award Nomination - https://x-i.me/compram1

Abstract Submission - https://x-i.me/compabst2

Cryogenic testing of composites for future hydrogen storage

For the past few years, composite cryogenic storage tank innovations reported on by CW have consistently targeted the space and aerospace markets. As hydrogen continues to dominate via the global transition to clean, zero-emissions transportation, the development of thermoset and thermoplastic tank options have come to the forefront — even in automotive.

In December 2021, Toray Advanced Composites (TAC, Nijverdal, Netherlands) announced the Netherlands (NL) LH2 composite tank consortium to develop a long-life, fully thermoplastic composite LH2 tank for civil aviation.

“We have set up additional facilities for testing composite materials at 20 Kelvin,” says Henri de Vries, senior scientist composites at Netherlands Aerospace Center (NLR, Marknesse), one of the project consortium members. “And we are already busy with testing materials to measure if they can resist microcracking and permeation of H2 through the laminate. We have experience from our work on the engine thrust frame for the Ariane 6 launch vehicle, but that was at a higher temperature, closer to 80 Kelvin. And even though we are testing thermosets, this is mostly to establish a benchmark. We focus instead on thermoplastics, which is also the expertise of TAC, because we have seen interesting properties at very low temperatures for semicrystalline polymers such as polyaryletherketones [e.g., PAEK, PEEK, PEKK].”

According to de Vries, the testing will take 18 months. “The first test results already look promising,” he notes. “And we are doing a lot of permeability testing in order to select the best materials.”

In Type IV compressed gas hydrogen (CGH2) tanks, the carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy is wound around an unreinforced nylon or high-density polyethylene (HDPE) liner as a permeability barrier. How will this be achieved in the demonstrator composite LH2 tank? “The composite material itself is not that bad,” says de Vries. “We have one already that has survived thermal cycling in liquid helium at -269°C. Further testing is necessary, but it’s hard to do a 20-year life’s worth of testing within a few months.”

A similar capability is being established within the U.K.’s ASCEND program, which is “striving to provide potential solutions for aircraft OEMs to produce higher rate, more composites-intensive aircraft components.” Specifically in Theme 4: Electrification and multifunctional, it is noted that “these work packages will introduce integrated, multifunctional airframe structures — including nanomaterial-based de-icing systems developed by partner Hive Composites, integrated electrical wiring in composite panels and material concepts for a Type V cryogenic hydrogen tank for use on future zero-emissions, net-zero aircraft. Within the tank work package, goals include exploring the global supply chain for cryogenic-suitable composite materials, while also, in the U.K., developing the test capability to validate cryogenic performance at a coupon level and understanding manufacturing capabilities for filament-wound or braided tanks.”