DigiTain - Digitalization for Sustainability

In the project "DigiTain", IVW and its partners will continue to enhance an innovative winding process using sensor data and control loops in order to optimize the process and enhance the quality of H2 pressure vessels.

The increasingly present climate change underlines the importance of technical developments related to sustainability. In the transport sector, electric drives offer great potential for sustainable mobility, especially when combined with fuel cells and hydrogen tanks. In order to integrate sustainability aspects more thoroughly and earlier into the product development process, a sustainability-oriented development process (SDP) for fully digital product development is being elaborated in the project DigiTain - Digitalization for Sustainability. The project involves 27 other partners from industry and research.

To apply and validate the SDP, a vehicle with a hybrid drive concept (fuel cell + HV battery system) is being developed. One key element is the hydrogen pressure vessel. So-called Type-IV tanks (CFRP with internal plastic liner) enable the required high pressures due to the low volume-related energy density of gaseous hydrogen at room temperature and fulfill lightweight construction requirements. They represent a classic field of application for fiber reinforced polymer composites.

Together with our partners, IVW has advanced a special direct towpreg winding process for the production of Type-IV tanks by successfully conducting a process digitization. We implemented sensors to monitor key parameters such as speed, fiber tension, temperature, humidity, and resin film thickness, enabling real-time data acquisition and control loops. The acquired data provides the foundation for process optimization steps, transitioning the process from laboratory scale to industrial readiness while improving both efficiency and sustainability. Innovative material technologies, such as "thin-ply" materials, will also be investigated in the future to evaluate their suitability for the production of Type-V tanks.