Imagine trying to move a lot of water in a small truck, but the tanks are too heavy and can't hold enough pressure. This project replaces heavy metal tanks with a high-tech plastic-like composite that is much lighter and stronger. It's like upgrading from a heavy steel bottle to a super-strong, lightweight sports bottle that can hold way more gas in one trip.
Current hydrogen trailers use 200-300 bar tubes, which are inefficient for large refueling stations and increase the number of required transport trips. This leads to higher costs and a larger environmental footprint.
A design for a high-pressure (700 bar) trailer and Type V thermoplastic composite tubes with a gravimetric index over 7%.
If you are a fleet operator dealing with high fuel costs and too many trips to refueling stations — this project developed a trailer that carries 1.5 tonnes of hydrogen. This reduces the number of rotations between production and delivery sites, lowering the environmental footprint.
If you are an HRS operator dealing with expensive, oversized compression equipment — this project developed 700 bar Type V tubes. This allows for the downsizing of the compressor at the refueling station, reducing operational complexity.
If you are a vehicle manufacturer dealing with heavy storage tanks that reduce vehicle range — this project developed thermoplastic composite materials with a gravimetric index exceeding 7%. This knowledge can be applied to mobility sectors to create lighter hydrogen storage.
The project aims for a capital expenditure (capex) lower than 400 €/kg.
Yes, the project is designing a trailer capable of handling a payload of 1.5 tonnes of hydrogen to address the ramp-up of gaseous hydrogen delivery.
Based on available project data, the project intends to address all manufacturers across Europe who could benefit from the innovative process and materials, though specific licensing terms are not listed.
The project is investigating new fire testing methodologies and safety barriers for Type V adoption to present new features to norm committees.
The project period runs from 2023-01-01 to 2026-06-30.
The project is led by Air Liquide SA and features a strong industrial bias with 7 industry partners (64% of the consortium), including 2 SMEs. With 11 partners across 4 countries (BE, FR, PL, SK), the group combines academic research from 3 universities and 1 research center with heavy industrial expertise, ensuring the technology is developed for commercial viability rather than just theoretical research.
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