Precursor Processing Development for Low Cost, High Strength Carbon Fiber for Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel Applications

Technical Report · Thu Apr 15 04:00:00 EDT 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1773155· OSTI ID:1773155

Weisenberger, Matthew C. ^[1]; Morris, E. Ashley ^[2]

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1. Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States); Univ. of KY CAER
2. Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States)

Carbon fiber (CF) is central to produce lightweight, high pressure, composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs), which are used for on-board storage of hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles. In 2015, carbon fiber cost accounted for 62% of the cost of a hydrogen storage system, as COPVs were manufactured with T700S CF at $$\$$ $29.40/kg CF. The high cost of hydrogen storage, largely attributed to the carbon fiber cost, limits the application of fuel cells in vehicles. Therefore, our team endeavored to develop fiber processing to demonstrate carbon fiber tensile properties similar to T700S with a production cost potential of $$\$$ $12.60/kg or less. Here, the overarching goal of the project was the development of low cost, high strength carbon fiber for composite overwrapped pressure vessels. Within the project, our team investigated a new low-cost, high-volume, high quality polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based precursor terpolymer for the production of carbon fiber precursors, methods for increasing water and energy use efficiency in wash-water/solvent separation, and ultimately developed a multifilament spinning and conversion process for the production of hollow carbon fibers from a segmented arc spinneret utilizing a solution spinning method.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO)
• DOE Contract Number: EE0008095
• OSTI ID: 1773155
• Report Number(s): DOE-UnivofKY--08095
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

08 HYDROGEN
Hollow Carbon Fiber