Fibre converting specialist and custom machinery manufacturer Cygnet Texkimp will showcase its filament winding technologies and demonstrate its role in processing composites for hydrogen storage during the Advanced Engineering show.
The company will show how its multi axis and 3D winding machines are being used to manufacture pressure vessels to store and transport hydrogen used in land, sea, and air applications.
“Filament wound composites are a vital enabling technology in the hydrogen economy because they can be used to produce strong, light tanks to withstand extreme pressures needed for hydrogen storage,” explained Cygnet Texkimp’s technical manager Andy Whitham. “Interest in composite tank manufacturing is growing quickly as world industries explore hydrogen fuel cell technology as a sustainable way to achieve their low-carbon objectives.
“We’re helping to accelerate the adoption of composites among hydrogen innovators involved in on-board hydrogen storage for modified ICE engine and fuel cell powered automotive vehicles, as well as air and spacecraft.”
The company is hosting secure trials of its filament winding technologies at its Cheshire-based Innovation Centre where customers can evaluate materials and validate process design through collaborative development with its team of R&D specialists.
Cygnet Texkimp’s standard, multi-axis, and 3D winding machines are available for trials alongside its thermoplastic and thermoset prepreg processing lines, which are capable of producing UD and fabric prepregs as well as tow pregs which can deliver properties similar to those of slit tapes but at lower cost.
In February 2022, the company’s Innovation Centre will also become home to its high precision slitter-spooler. This will be capable of processing thermoset and thermoplastic prepregs to produce precision slit tapes, offering a solution for very high-end filament wound and other fibre placement applications most relevant to the space, aerospace, and defence markets.
