Robotic Hydrogen Tank & Pipe Sprayer

The hydrogen economy is progressing at pace globally and it requires safe and affordable hydrogen storage.

In addition, the storage requirements and enquiries are increasing and getting larger every week with requirements regularly stated in tonnes of hydrogen rather than litres. Storage tanks are therefore getting bigger to satisfy this increasing demand.

Contemporaneously, there is global pressure to reduce the cost of producing ( and storing ) hydrogen to replace fossil fuels.

Hydrogen is currently stored in tanks manufactured from carbon steel, stainless steel or aluminium, with carbon fibre composites mainly used for smaller high pressure tanks in the transportation and aviation sectors.

The cost of manufacturing tanks using stainless steel or aluminium is significantly higher than carbon steel, so large hydrogen storage tanks therefore need to be manufactured from cheaper carbon steel in order to keep costs down.

However, over time, hydrogen diffuses into the steel ( and to a lesser extent, aluminium ) and causes steel embrittlement with potentially catastrophic results.

The steel cracks and leaks hydrogen, necessitating immediate closure of operations and implementation of emergency procedures. The tanks will also require replacement which could lead to excessive and expensive down-time in the working operation.

A potential solution to prevent this, is the development of a Hybrid Epoxy Polymer to coat the inside of tanks and pipes at manufacture stage.

The development and testing of such a compound is already underway by a different company, which is already funded by Innovate UK South West Wales and this project completes 31st March 2025\. At the moment, this company intends to hand paint or spray the coating onto the tanks.

Whilst this will be acceptable in the early stages of sales for smaller tanks, it will be difficult for large tanks and steel pipelines. With a hand application, which will be slow. there will also be the possibility of missing areas.

This process needs to be automated by the development of a Robotic Sprayer which will spray an even coat without missing any areas and which can access areas of tanks and pipelines that a human cannot reach.

This application will therefore assess and prepare the required specification and explore the market to see what is currently available and whether or not it can be adapted for this specific use. It will engage a university in South Wales ( Cardiff, Cardiff Met, Swansea or USW ) for design and specification.