Across the world, transport is being revolutionised by the rapid adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles, especially in urban environments where the distances travelled are relatively short. The aim is to significantly reduce the reliance on fossil fuels for power, which will bring environmental improvements by reducing carbon dioxide emissions and the emission of other pollutants produced by burning diesel and petrol.
At the same time, another sustainable solution is becoming increasingly more viable. Hydrogen powered vehicles use hydrogen gas (the universe’s most abundant and lightest element) through fuel cell technology to produce power, and the only by-product of this process is water. Hydrogen is produced in great volume by many industrial processes, such as in the chemicals industry, and is currently often just burned off. So the opportunity for creating clean, sustainable power from hydrogen is very exciting to keep our transport systems working.
The key challenge lies in being able to safely store hydrogen at sufficient pressure to ensure that a vehicle using hydrogen power has enough fuel to deliver a viable range – for example, a city bus or tram needs to be able to fulfil its route several times on one tank of hydrogen.
This is where NPROXX’s expertise lies – we produce lightweight, high strength pressure vessels made from carbon fibre that can store hydrogen at a pressure sufficient to enable viable public and private hydrogen-fuelled transport. Our engineers and designers were the first in Europe to make certified a Type 4 pressure vessels. Some of our pressure vessels have been running flawlessly for many years in industrial applications in the energy industry. NPROXX continues to lead the market today.
Today we are an advanced global supplier of pressure vessels to major manufacturers and service providers in the following areas:
- Hydrogen powered cars, where we are working with several manufacturers to develop pressure vessels that can enable cars to run on hydrogen
- Public buses, where both the storage of H2 in the bus itself, and the refuelling station are issues that we have designed solutions for
- Vehicles for use in an urban environment where lots of short journeys are required
- Trains, specifically regional trains in situations where an overhead electric cable may not be applicable or achievable
- Aerospace, where ultra-reliable gas storage under pressure is a critical requirement.