Description du projet
Des réservoirs de stockage de l’hydrogène construits pour durer — et être recyclés
Le gaz hydrogène a une densité énergétique trois fois plus élevée en poids, mais beaucoup moins en volume, que les combustibles pétroliers liquides classiques. Pour son utilisation dans les transports, il est fortement comprimé, ce qui rend difficile son stockage en toute sécurité. Les composites thermodurcissables autour des revêtements en polymère ont largement remplacé les métaux comme matériaux des conteneurs de stockage. Aujourd’hui, les polymères thermoplastiques sont en passe de remplacer les thermodurcissables car ils peuvent réduire le temps de ravitaillement et de vidange, le temps de nettoyage, les coûts, le poids et le volume, tout en améliorant les performances de sécurité et la recyclabilité. Le projet THOR, financé par l’UE, développe un démonstrateur de réservoir de stockage de l’hydrogène thermoplastique pour valider le principe des réservoirs recyclables de H2 gazeux en vue d’une intégration plus poussée dans les applications de transport, renforçant à terme l’économie de carburant à hydrogène de l’UE.
Objectif
THOR aims at developing a cost-effective thermoplastic composite pressure vessel for hydrogen storage both for vehicle and for transportation applications. Thermoplastics appear as a promising solution to the challenges faced by conventional tanks in terms of compatibility with hydrogen service and with mass automotive market requirements. The use of thermoplastic materials, advanced numerical modeling techniques and innovative manufacturing processes will boost the performance, improve safety, enable optimized tank geometry and weight (reduction of 10%) and reduce the cost for mass production (400€/kg of H2 stored for 30 000 tanks/year). A series of tests extracted from demanding automotive standards will validate all the requirements and demonstrate that thermoplastic tanks outperform thermoset ones. The consortium is representative of the hydrogen supply chain, from technology developer to manufacturer and end-user enhancing market uptake: a disruptive technology provider with successful commercial experience of thermoplastic tanks (COVESS), an ambitious Tier One supplier targeting a wide market introduction towards all OEMs (FAURECIA), an industrial gas expert with a long history related to hydrogen and a complementary end-user of tanks for hydrogen supply and refueling station operations (AIR LIQUIDE). This core industrial team is limited in purpose to avoid possible future commercial conflicts of interests and backed up with top research expertise to address all the identified challenges: an innovation center for material research with important tank scale testing capacity (CSM), a technology center in the fields of composite materials, manufacturing, automation, and testing (SIRRIS), academic teams with strong experience of composite materials and non-destructive testing (NTNU) and of thermo-mechanical materials behavior under fire aggression (CNRS) and a technical center with an innovative recycling technology for thermoplastic composites (CETIM-CERMAT).
Champ scientifique
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringmanufacturing engineering
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwaste managementwaste treatment processesrecycling
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcomposites
- social sciencessociologyindustrial relationsautomation
- natural sciencesmathematicspure mathematicsgeometry
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RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinateur
92000 Nanterre
France