LOTTE Chemical Commercializes Korea’s First Dry Winding Hydrogen Tank

-Maximum annual production of 15,000 50L medium-sized hydrogen tanks-

█ On the 6th (Tue), the 1,488㎡ hydrogen tank mass production pilot facility construction completion event was held at the LOTTE Aluminum Incheon Plant...

    Applied dry winding design and process technologies having advantages in high-speed production and easy quality care for the first time among Korean companies

█ Construction of latest automated manufacturing process equipment such as for pressure-resistance, air tightness, rupture, repetitive, etc...

    Possible to produce up to 15,000 50L medium-sized hydrogen tanks annually

█ Acquired ECE (Economic commission of the UN for Europe) R134 (qualification for sales of high-pressure container products) to secure safety and reliability

█ Developed hydrogen tank that can be applied in various industrial sectors such as forklifts and drones, while preparing for the expansion of the domestic future

    hydrogen car market by developing hydrogen storage containers from 2017

█ LOTTE Group Chemical Unit President Kim Gyo-hyun, “Hydrogen tank technologies play an important role for the storage and utilization of hydrogen according

    to the growth of hydrogen mobility, and it will give us new opportunities as we are on the starting line for the eco-friendly hydrogen economy”,

    “LOTTE Chemical’s hydrogen tank business is a cluster of our distinguished technologies and proprietary core processes,

    and it will offer safe and optimized solutions for the various hydrogen storage containers of clients”

LOTTE Chemical announced that it completed the construction of the pilot process equipment for the commercialization of hydrogen storage containers, which is a core part of hydrogen EVs (FCEV).

At the construction completion event held at the LOTTE Aluminum Incheon Plant on the 6th (Tue), LOTTE Group Chemical Unit President Kim Gyo-hyun, LOTTE Chemical Basic Materials President Hwang Jin-koo (head of the Hydrogen Energy Business Team), LOTTE Chamical Advanced Materials President Lee Young-joon (head of the Battery Materials Business Team), LOTTE Aluminum CEO Cho Hyun-cheul, and Hydrogen Convergence Alliance Chairman Moon Jae-do were in attendance.

The pilot facility completed at the LOTTE Aluminum Incheon Plant site spans across an area of approximately 1,488㎡ and it applied the dry winding hydrogen tank production technology researched and developed for the first time since 2017 to the mass production pilot for the first time in Korea, and it is a facility investment made to procure a platform to enter the market in the full-fledge hydrogen electric vehicle age. It was completed after a year-long construction using the site at LOTTE Aluminum’s Incheon Plant, which is part of the LOTTE Group Chemical Unit.

The pilot equipment combined all of the hydrogen tank R&D and process technology capacities of LOTTE Chemical to complete the latest automated manufacturing process equipment completed with purely Korean technologies, and for inspection processes including pressure-resistance, air-tightness, rupture, etc., and it was designed to allow mass production of up to 15,000 50L mid-sized hydrogen tanks.

LOTTE Chemical participated as one of the five institutes for the ‘Hydrogen EV (FCEV) 700bar Hydrogen Storage Container Manufacturing Technology Development Using High-speed Filament Winding’ that was pursued as a core industrial development project of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy since 2017 to begin development of hydrogen storage containers.

The hydrogen tank developed by LOTTE Chemical applied the dry winding technology developed for the first time in Korea in the single-plastic liner, and it is features by mass production and light weight of hydrogen tanks through carbon fiber winding design capacities and high-speed molding process development. 

Hydrogen storage containers used for hydrogen EVs (FVEC) are core parts requiring safety and reliability at very high pressures of approximately 700bar. LOTTE Chemical’s hydrogen tank passed the basic requirement performance evaluation needed for FCEVs and it completed the ECE (Economic commission of the UN for Europe) R134 (qualification for sales of high-pressure container products) to secure safety and reliability. In addition, following the completion of the mass production pilot, plans are to receive KGS (Korea Gas Safety Corporation) certification and develop hydrogen tanks with various capacities and apply them in commercial vehicles, drones, and transportation means, etc.

LOTTE Group Chemical Unit President Kim Gyo-hyun stated, “Hydrogen tank technologies play an important role for the storage and utilization of hydrogen according to the growth of hydrogen mobility, and it will give us new opportunities as we are on the starting line for the eco-friendly hydrogen economy,” while adding, “LOTTE Chemical’s hydrogen tank business is a cluster of our distinguished technologies and proprietary core processes, and it will offer safe and optimized solutions for the various hydrogen storage containers of clients”

Hydrogen Convergence Alliance Chairman Moon Jae-do commented, “Utilization of hydrogen tank technologies will expand from not only automobiles, but also shipping, railway, airplane fuselages, and other transportation sectors to even aerospace and defense industries,” while adding, “It is expected that the dry winding hydrogen tank mass production technologies combining the capacities and technologies of LOTTE Chemical will play a big role for the popularization of the hydrogen economy.”