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Sinopec makes a crucial breakthrough in materials for hydrogen storage cylinders! Author/Source: Modern Coal Chemical Industry Date: 2022-10-17 Clicks: 99 On October 10, the first domestic production line of China’s first 10,000-ton capacity 48K large-tow carbon fiber facility was put into operation at Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Carbon Fiber Industrial Base, producing qualified products. The product performance is on par with that of similar products abroad, reaching an internationally advanced level. This marks Sinopec’s large-tow carbon fiber moving from key technological breakthroughs, industrial pilot production, and successful commercialization to scale-up as well as the localization of key equipment. It eliminates once and for all the situation in which China’s carbon fiber production and related equipment are dependent on others, thereby achieving true autonomy and control. According to YH Consulting, on January 5 this year, the “12,000-ton/year 48K large-tow carbon fiber” project of Shanghai Petrochemical officially commenced construction. The project includes the production of 12,000 tons per year of 48K large-tow carbon fiber and 24,000 tons per year of precursor fibers. With a total investment of 3.5 billion yuan, it is a major industrial project in Shanghai, with plans to be fully completed by 2024. Once the project is put into operation, it will immediately change the situation in China, where large-tow carbon fibers rely on imports and there is a persistent shortage of such materials. It will also play a significant role in promoting the development of the domestic carbon fiber industry and supporting Made in China. According to Wang Peilin, a senior expert at Shanghai Petrochemical, the company is independently developing manufacturing technologies for using carbon fiber in the production of gas cylinders. Among these, 35 Mpa cylinders have already passed testing. In the future, efforts will be made to establish a certain scale of cylinder production capacity. At the same time, Sinopec Shanghai has actively pursued research and development in the use of carbon fiber in hydrogen storage, including the development of technologies related to type 3 and type 4 cylinders, and has achieved significant breakthroughs in this area. “The greatest advantage of large-tow fibers, aside from their cost advantages, is that they **improve processing efficiency at the point of use**. In the case of gas cylinders, the winding efficiency of large-tow fibers is 3-4 times higher than that of small-tow fibers; this significantly reduces the manufacturing costs associated with winding carbon fiber into high-pressure gas cylinders, thereby facilitating their use in hydrogen storage and transportation applications. He said that from a technical perspective, the technology for 35MPa hydrogen storage cylinders is now largely mature and is in the stage of expanded application; it will soon be widely used in commercial vehicles ； In the future, the main application area for 70MPa hydrogen storage cylinders will be the passenger vehicle market. Domestically, they are currently at the stage of technological breakthroughs, while their application is still in the trial phase. The large-tow carbon fiber developed and produced by Sinopec is a high-strength novel fiber material with a carbon content of over 95%. It has excellent mechanical properties: its density is less than one-fourth that of steel, yet its strength is 7 to 9 times that of steel, in addition to having corrosion-resistant characteristics. Carbon fiber technology holds broad application prospects across various industries. Among these, carbon fiber-wound composite hydrogen storage cylinders are regarded as an important technology for the storage and transportation of hydrogen. Advances in carbon fiber technology will contribute to the development of the hydrogen energy industry. Carbon fiber technology comes with strict technical barriers; Sinopec is the first company in China and the fourth in the world to master large-tow carbon fiber production. Sinopec has pooled various resources to make significant efforts to overcome the key core technologies related to carbon fiber. Through strategic planning and coordinated efforts by organizations such as Shanghai Petrochemical, the Shanghai Research Institute of Petrochemistry, Shanghai Engineering Corporation, and well-known domestic equipment manufacturers, and with strong support from the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and government, it has joined forces with more than 10 institutions including Beijing University of Chemical Technology and Fudan University. This collaboration has led to a model of integrated innovation that combines industry, academia, research, and practical application, with major technical breakthroughs achieved in 2018 when 48K large-tow carbon fiber was successfully developed, along with the completion of the entire production process. Through over a decade of effort, China’s carbon fiber industry has achieved a significant breakthrough, moving from 12K to 48K grades, and has successfully seen a qualitative leap in its research, development, and production technologies. To date, Sinopec has accumulated a total of 251 patents related to carbon fiber and 46 patents related to carbon fiber composite materials. Its patent count ranks first in China and third worldwide.