AZL initiates hydrogen pressure vessel joint partner project

AZL Aachen GmbH (Aachen, Germany), an innovator in lightweight technologies research and industry collaboration, announces the initiation of a new project titled “Trends and Design Factors for Hydrogen Pressure Vessels.” Resulting from in-depth discussions at a recent AZL Annual Partner meeting, the project aims to address industry needs surrounding hydrogen storage, a critical component in the energy transition and decarbonization efforts.

The AZL team, known for its reputation in providing market and technology insights as well as developing component and production concepts in the format of joint partner projects, is seeking companies along the whole composites value chain interested in further developing their application know-how in this field. The project is scheduled to start in October 2023 with a timeline of approximately nine months.

In a testimonial, Dr. Martin Kerschbaum, R&D manager in the material engineering division of Toyota Motor Europe (Brussel, Belgium), explains, “Toyota is a pioneer in fuel cell technology, being active in this field for 30 years. Our goal is to further expand our hydrogen technology and thereby contribute to carbon neutrality, also in applications beyond our hydrogen-powered cars. By being a part of the consortium brought together by AZL’s joint partner project approach, we expect to gain inspiration, both in terms of high pressure storage technology and also for enlarging our network of partners for future developments.”

AZL’s project will provide an in-depth exploration of market insights, regulatory standards and intellectual property landscapes. Beyond this, there is a dedicated focus on staying updated with state-of-the-art and
advancements in design, materials and manufacturing techniques.

An integral component of the project involves the creation of reference designs by AZL’s engineering team. The reference designs will encompass a variety of pressure vessel configurations and will consider a diverse
range of materials and production concepts.

“The findings from developing and analyzing the reference designs will guide participants in making informed decisions on their business and technology development by providing an in-depth understanding of the relationship between requirements of pressure vessels, the characteristics of various materials, the techniques used in production, cost, weight, CO₂ footprint and recyclability factors,” Warden Schijve, design leader at AZL, says.

Companies interested in participating or seeking further information should reach out directly to the AZL expert team.