Our commitment

Developing solutions together

Throughout the entire value chain, we are part of collaboration projects on safe hydrogen infrastructure, hydrogen production and hydrogen-based steel production. We have a broad national and international network with industrial companies and research institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and universities. We are also involved in national and European associations, societies and committees and contribute to relevant testing and product standardization.

Research projects

Our participation in publicly funded research

The hydrogen flagship projects of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) are the largest research initiative on the energy transition to date. In the industrially led lighthouse projects, industry and science are jointly developing solutions for the German hydrogen economy:

  • Series production of large-scale electrolyzers (H2Giga)
  • Production of green hydrogen at sea (H2Mare)
  • Technologies for the transportation of hydrogen (TransHyDE)

H2Mare

H2Mare aims to enable offshore wind turbines to produce green hydrogen on an industrial scale in future using integrated electrolysers. The direct coupling of wind turbines and electrolysers should minimize the costs of hydrogen production. Another advantage of hydrogen production at sea is that there are far larger potential areas available for generating wind energy than on land.

In the H2Mare project H2Wind, a water electrolyser is being developed that works efficiently and quasi-autonomously despite the harsh conditions at sea. In addition to the durability of the systems and the challenge of seawater treatment, the aim of the project is to maximize the yield of wind energy. Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung (SZMF), together with its partner Siemens Energy and several institutes of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, is investigating hydrogen storage in tubular storage systems made of steel pipes. The aim is to develop and experimentally test efficient but safe storage solutions for various scenarios.

Storage is needed in several places. Firstly, offshore on a platform near the wind towers or integrated into them to ensure that the turbines are self-sufficient in times of wind slack. Another storage scenario is the onshore landing point on the coast in front of a wind farm. The storage volume at such a collection point for a wind farm with a total output of 1 GW is 20 - 40 times that assumed for a single tower. A tube storage system for supplying an industrial park would be of a similar order of magnitude.

SZMF is developing in H2Wind which pipe dimensions are possible and necessary for the design of the tube storage system. They depend on several parameters, above all the pressure load of the hydrogen (maximum pressures, discharge pressures and cycles) and the intended service life of the storage facility. The calculation can be carried out using various sets of rules. Effects such as the production quality of the pipes or the specifications for the circumferential weld seams also have a significant role.

The material specifications required for the design using various approaches are currently the subject of research. Therefore, a large test program with material tests under compressed hydrogen is part of the H2Wind project. In addition to mechanical tests and fatigue tests, H2 permeation tests are being carried out on various surface coatings. Circular welding processes are also being tested for hydrogen suitability.

In 2025, a 1:1 scale demonstrator tube storage system is to be installed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology in Görlitz, which will be subjected to realistic operating cycles under pressurized hydrogen. All test pipes for the laboratory tests and the demonstrator are H2Ready® pipes from Mannesmann Line Pipe GmbH, DN 300 (323.9 x 16 mm), L360NE. On these real storage sections, the systematically planned crack growth of previously introduced artificial defects is measured non-destructively, the circumferential welds are monitored, and H2 permeation measurements of different coating conditions are carried out. These findings are valuable and necessary to verify the theoretical design and adapt it even better for future regulations - for safe and resource-saving operation.

TransHyDE

Transporting hydrogen safely and reliably

A suitable transport infrastructure is the backbone of a future hydrogen economy. Since 2021, the lead project “TransHyDE Safe Infrastructure” has been working on questions relating to a future hydrogen infrastructure: Which transportation solutions are best suited to cover short, medium, and long distances? Where can existing gas networks be repurposed? What completely new transportation technologies are needed? What obstacles must be removed? In five accompanying research and five demonstration projects, 89 partners from industry, associations, universities, and research institutions as well as a further 20 associated partners have joined forces to advance hydrogen transportation technologies. It will receive around 146 million euros in funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) until 2025. The technical focus of TransHyDE is on four different transport options: gaseous hydrogen (gH2), liquid hydrogen (LH2), ammonia (NH3) and liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC). “Our aim is to answer all the questions that Germany still has to ask itself in order to build a national hydrogen infrastructure,” explain the three TransHyDE coordinators, Mario Ragwitz from Fraunhofer IEG, Robert Schlögl from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion and Jimmie Langham from the AquaVentus coordination office.

 

The “Safe Infrastructure” research project of the TransHyDE flagship project is developing and testing materials and sensors for the safe operation of H2 transport infrastructures for gaseous hydrogen. A key challenge for the future use of hydrogen is the long-term stability of the infrastructure components regarding possible hydrogen interactions.

In the “Safe Infrastructure” project, Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung (SZMF) is working with a focus on line pipes for the transportation of gaseous hydrogen. Requirements for the qualification and acceptance of line pipes from relevant standards such as ASME B31.12 or DVGW work and information sheets are being analyzed with regard to their applicability in hydrogen applications. Test methods for safe and sustainable line pipe design are defined and optimized to establish a safe and reproducible test methodology independent of location. SZMF is currently setting up a new hydrogen testing laboratory and expanding its testing infrastructure for testing steel materials in hydrogen. The activities are accompanied by a comprehensive characterization of selected line pipe materials, including the weld seams, to determine the potential for the line pipe materials.

HySteelStore

Metallic high-pressure hydrogen storage system for mobile fuel cell applications 2025+

Development of high-pressure hydrogen storage systems made of high-strength precision steel tubes for fuel cell vehicles in cooperation with Robert Bosch GmbH.

Sub-project Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung GmbH: Optimization of the production of precision steel tubes for use as mobile high-pressure hydrogen storage systems on behalf of Mannesmann Precision Tubes GmbH.

The main challenge towards the application of hydrogen fuel cell technology in passenger cars is the difficult integration of the current tank concept into the vehicle architecture. The CFRP tanks currently available on the market for the gaseous storage of hydrogen at 700 bar are expensive, large-volume and bulky. These type IV tanks can only be integrated into future BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) platforms with great difficulty and at high additional cost.

The innovative approach pursued in the HySteelStore project of a modular tank system based on individual storage bodies made of seamless steel tubes is suitable for installation in future chassis with battery kits in the underbody. The steel-based approach offers a cost reduction potential of up to 30 % in tank production compared to carbon fiber-based tanks, as well as other decisive advantages. For example, the CO2 input of the steel tank is significantly lower over its service life than that of the CFRP tank. This is made possible by the high recycling rate of over 80 % and a complete circular economy for the raw materials used in the steel tank. It is also possible to dispense without the costly pre-cooling of the hydrogen at the filling station. This simplifies the infrastructure and significantly reduces hydrogen costs due to improved energy efficiency. The higher weight of the steel tank system will not prevent direct integration into a BEV chassis, as the vehicle is designed for the battery weight, which is roughly equivalent to the weight of the fuel cell system plus steel tank.

The aim of the project is to develop a minimum viable product that fulfills all the essential functions of a tank system and whose reliability and safety have been proven in accordance with the requirements of the ECE R134 regulations. Based on high-quality precision steel tubes made of low-alloy steel, high-strength storage cylinders are manufactured in several process steps. A modular tank system is assembled from these storage cylinders together with valves, sensors and a control unit. The possibility of refueling and dosed withdrawal of hydrogen from the tank system during operation will be demonstrated by appropriate test series on the test benches. As the project builds on a good technological basis of the project partners involved, a TRL 6 is aimed for in this project.

The Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung sub-project is being funded as part of the National Innovation Program for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP) with a total of 170,083 € from the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV). The funding guideline is coordinated by NOW GmbH and implemented by Project Management Jülich (PtJ).

We are part of the standardization committees

Our goal: Standardization of requirements-based tests and applications in the hydrogen economy

Cooperation with

Standardization

  • ASME EU IWG B31.12 International Working Group Europe
  • API SC5 (Subcommittee on Tubular Goods) - Task Group Line Pipe (TGLP): Work Item “Hydrogen Line Pipe Annex for API 5L”
  • CEN/TC 234 - EN 1594 - Pipelines for maximum operating pressure over 16 bar - Functional requirementsISO/TC 67/SC 2 Pipeline Transportation Systems
  • DIN Standardization Roadmap for Hydrogen Technologies
  • AMPP SC26 “Carbon capture, Alternative Fuels and Energy Storage”

 

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