Scanning strategies for composite overwrapped high pressure vessels for hydrogen

Abstract

Against the background of climate change, hydrogen from renewable energy sources is considered one of the keys to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A crucial challenge in the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier is its transport and storage, which for efficiency reasons should be carried out at the highest possible pressure. Due to its specific strength, CFRP is an ideal material for pressure vessels that have to withstand high loads at up to 1000 bar and still be easy to handle due to being relatively lightweight. To this end, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding the development of innovative concepts for the design, manufacture and analysis of the vessels in the H2-HD project (FKZ: 03ZZ0743B). In addition to manufacturing processes, microstructure analysis and FE modelling, the development of a fast, efficient scan concept using 3D X-ray CT is a central element of the project. One aspect is the characterization of local properties resulting from the filament winding process, such as fiber angle deviations, pores, etc. after different stages of manufacturing and testing. Furthermore, critical vessel regions and typical defect patterns are specifically investigated with different scanning methods and suitable scanning strategies are derived from this. The final result is a detailed concept for a CT system for 100% quality monitoring of CFRP high pressure vessels.