Plastic Omnium wins 'significant contract' for hydrogen tanks

French injection molder Plastic Omnium has recently won a significant order from a German automotive company for the development of 350-bar hydrogen tanks, the company has announced.
 
The contract, the details of which have not been disclosed, involves the supply of equipment for buses and is claimed to be the largest project in Europe for this type of vehicle.
 
In conjunction with the order, Plastic Omnium said it had obtained its first certificate for a 700-bar hydrogen storage tank designed for passenger cars.
 
The R134 certification, according to the company, is an international standard that ensures meeting “the strictest specifications of high-pressure hydrogen tanks regulations.”
 
The company expects further certifications to be obtained for 350-bar hydrogen tanks and for CNG tanks.
 
“This contract and this first certification demonstrate the recognition of Plastic Omnium's technological know-how, developed in the field of high-pressure composite plastic tanks over the last four years,” the company said in a statement 22 Nov.
 
Plastic Omnium has stepped up its activities for the supply of hydrogen tanks to the automotive industry in recent years.
 
In December 2017, the company announced two “strategic acquisitions” in the field of propulsion by hydrogen fuel cells, as part of its efforts to increase its presence in the market.
 
The company acquired Swiss Hydrogen and Belgium-based Optimum CPV, to help it become “a leading equipment supplier for propulsion energies in the future.”
 
Swiss Hydrogen, based in Fribourg, Switzerland, is specialized in the design and production of proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. The typical PEM cell is made up of two bi-polar plates with a film membrane at the center.
 
Optimum CPV, a Belgian company based in Zonhoven, is a specialist in pressurized hydrogen fuel tanks, made using a composite filament.
 
Plastic Omnium also set up the Israeli company PO-CellTech fuel cell research center in 2016 and joined the steering committee of the "Hydrogen Council," a global CEO-level initiative dedicated to increasing the role of hydrogen as an energy source, in 2017.