Hexagon Composites ASA (Alesund, Norway) has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Lincoln Composites Inc. (Lincoln, Neb.), will move its production facility for TUFFSHELL composite containers into a more efficient and modern manufacturing facility. Lincoln Composites is a designer and manufacturer of filament-wound, high-pressure composite vessels for commercial markets. The new TUFFSHELL facility, which will be move-in ready at the end of 2008, represents an investment of $5 million (USD), and is located adjacent to the company’s TITAN facility, which opened in 2006. TITAN is Lincoln’s new large-scale pressure vessel, about 1m/39 inches in diameter and up to 12.3m/40 ft in length, designed for bulk delivery of natural gas and transport of hydrogen for fuel cell-powered vehicles.

Lincoln’s state-of-the-art, 50,000 ft² (4,645m²) facility will take advantage of automation to increase production capacity by more than 60 percent and significantly increase efficiency while also enhancing product quality, says the company. Work cells will be designed to be highly efficient and flexible to accommodate the various customer requirements. Lincoln Composites told HPC that automation upgrades will include faster material handling and the addition of robotic cells for some processes, such as painting and testing. In addition, the facility will be set up to accommodate additional filament winding capacity for more productivity, says the firm. The company currently uses three-spindle filament winders in its TUFFSHELL production.

Erik Espeset, Hexagon Composites group president, notes “This move to promote increased capacity and improved efficiency and quality has been our vision since acquiring Lincoln Composites in 2005. The present market conditions and Lincoln’s competitiveness make this the opportune time for an expansion of this nature.” Lincoln Composites’ fuel containers, used for CNG and hydrogen storage, are in demand for alternative low-emission vehicles and transportation solutions.