According to global carbon fiber demand data, the demand for pressure vessel carbon fiber market in 2017 has reached 5.6 thousand tons, and in 2018 it has increased to 6.2 thousand tons, an annual increase of about 10%.
At the same time, China's domestic pressure vessel carbon fiber is as hot as the international market, and even more so. Since 2017, with the gradual implementation of the national "hydrogen energy" plan, how to store and transport flammable and explosive hydrogen has become the focus of market attention, and the demand for carbon fiber in high-pressure pressure vessels is increasing year by year.
According to statistics, the demand for carbon fiber in pressure vessels in China has increased by 20% annually in recent years, which is about twice the global increase.
On April 23, 2019, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officially announced that it will solve the problems of industrialization and commercialization of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and vigorously promote the innovative development of China's hydrogen energy and fuel cell vehicle industries. This makes several leading carbon fiber companies in China more firm in their judgment on the pressure vessel market.
In fact, as early as a dozen years ago, foreign carbon fiber companies saw the huge potential of the pressure vessel market and acted frequently several years ago.
According to Japanese media reports, three companies, Mitsui & Co., Toray Co., Ltd., and Hexagon Lincoln Inc. of the United States, formally signed a joint development agreement on April 25, 2016 to expand the manufacture and sale of on-board carbon fiber reinforced high-pressure hydrogen storage tanks loaded with hydrogen fuel. Contract. Established a joint venture to develop and sell carbon fiber reinforced high-pressure hydrogen storage tanks for vehicles. It is planned to mass-produce hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in the Japanese market around 2020 by using carbon fiber high-pressure hydrogen storage tanks.
In response, domestic carbon fiber leading companies that have been waiting for a long time have expressed their opinions.
In April of this year, some industry media smelled this breath and made relevant reports that “pressure vessels such as hydrogen cylinders have the potential to become the next important industrial-grade application field of carbon fiber after carbon beams”.
JSHS Carbon Fiber Technology Group is one of the famous carbon fiber enterprises in the civilian market that is particularly optimistic about the pressure vessel. According to JSHS, its CEO intends to enter the pressure vessel market at the beginning of the year. After various data surveys and enterprise development considerations, JSHS officially launched a project to develop carbon fiber for pressure vessels in May this year.