Sustainability in Hydrogen Mobility: Digitizing Pressure Vessel Winding

In response to pressing challenges posed by climate change, efficiency and sustainability are of greater importance than ever before. Transportation sector is responsible for a significant share of greenhouse gases while also offering great potential for technical innovations. By developing innovative processes and materials, IVW and its project partners are paving the way to a greener and more efficient mobility future. In our latest project DigiTain – Digitalization for Sustainability, we are developing a novel winding process with inline TowPreg manufacturing for the production of hydrogen pressure vessels. Through digitization, we collect relevant data for an enhanced process understanding, enabling targeted adjustments and further developments. For example, sensors for speed and length measurement provide important information for the understanding of the fiber bundle dynamics. They play a crucial role in the winding of hydrogen pressure vessels, particularly in the area of the hemispherical to elliptical end caps of the tanks. Infrared temperature and moisture sensors provide important insights for improving the cooling unit. Faster cooling without condensation of humidity ensures TowPreg-like properties of the impregnated fiber bundles, thus enabling high process speeds and high product quality. Thread tension and resin film thickness, two important parameters for consistently high impregnation quality of the fibers, are measured using a load cell and a laser distance sensor. The digitization enables real-time control of essential process parameters for an improved accuracy as well as inline quality control. This will not only enhance process efficiency and product quality, but also increase the sustainability of the process. We sincerely thank our project partners for the great collaboration, as well as the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the European Union for funding the project.

'DigiTain - Digitalization for Sustainability' is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection based on a resolution of the German Bundestag (funding code NKBF 98).