Mikrosam is currently commissioning its latest and largest automated filament winding line for hydrogen tanks for an Asian customer in the automotive industry.

Already well-known for this technology, Mikrosam partners with customers on development projects for improving the filament winding process and the development of a new generation of high-capacity carbon fibre tanks.

The complete production process can be optimised using fast fibre splicing and spool replacement, automatic resin mixing and refiling, a patented fibre cut and restart system, robot or gantry manipulators, continuous curing ovens, auxiliary stations and single automation control and quality control software.

The company’s latest generation of filament winding equipment in development has achieved winding speeds exceeding five metres per second with very high fibre tension to produce high quality tanks in the future.

Customers can reap several benefits from this, including superior efficiency, high-speed production, increased capacity and profitability, lower material waste and minimum human intervention.

The increasing demand for renewable and alternative energy sources including storage and transportation requirements is driving the demand for the hydrogen economy. According to Stratview Research, the demand for automotive pressure vessels for hydrogen is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.6% over the next five years to reach a value of $6.6 billion in 2026.

Another Mikrosam development project was recently realised in collaboration with the fast-growing company H2Storage from the Netherlands.

Using well-known towpreg supplier material and both teams’ expertise, production productivity and improved part performance and consistency for the customer’s 300+ litre tanks was improved.

“Whether it is wet or towpreg winding, when it comes to the production of tanks for hydrogen, it is essential that filament winding machines provide maximum flexibility for development and the ability to scale the process to reach the highest capacity and still not break the bank,” says Dimitar Bogdanoski, sales manager at Mikrosam.

Before the end of 2022, Mikrosam will be exhibiting at the CAMX in Anaheim, USA, from October 17-20, the Hydrogen Technology Expo Europe in Bremen, Germany from October 19-20, the Advanced Engineering Expo in the UK from November 2-3,  2022,  JEC DACH in Augsburg, Germany from November 29-30, and at the China Composites Expo in Nanjing, China from November 30th to December 2.

www.mikrosam.com