High pressure vesseles
The best strength-to-weight ratio
Industry
Compressed air, oxygen, nitrogen, acetylene, and other gases are usually contained in vesseles at 16–20 MPa for storage and transportation. They are most often made by swaging the ends of seamless solid drawn tubes with a pressing tool.
Modern composite high pressure vesseles have a pressure shell of carbon fiber wound over the liner and impregnated with resin.
Advantages of carbon composites
Carbon reinforced vesseles are strong, reliable, and lightweight.
Carbon fiber extends the life of high pressure vesseles.
Advantages of carbon fiber composites in high pressure vesseles:
- Light weight
- High strength
- High specific rigidity
- Low deformability
Carbon fiber versus other materials
| Fiber type |
Tensile strength, MPa | Tensile modulus, GPa | Elongation at break, % | Density, g/cm3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon fiber made of PAN precursor | high strength, standard modulus | 3500-5000 | 200-280 | 1.4-2.0 | 1.75-1.80 |
| high strength, intermediate modulus | 4500-7000 | 280-325 | 1.7-2.1 | 1.73-1.81 | |
| high modulus | 3500-5000 | 325-450 | 0.7-1.4 | 1.75-1.85 | |
| ultra high modulus | 2500-4000 | 450-600 | 0.7-1.0 | 1.85-1.95 | |
| Glass | E-glass | 2500-3800 | 70-75 | 4.5-4.7 | 2.5-2.7 |
| S-glass | 4000-4500 | 80-90 | 5.0-5.3 | 2.5 | |
| Organic | Aramid | 3000-3600 | 60-180 | 2.4-3.6 | 1.45 |
| Polyethylene | 200-3000 | 5-170 | 3-80 | 0.96 | |
| Steel | high strength | 1200-2800 | 200 | 3.5 | 7.8 |
| stainless | 800-2000 | 190 | 3.0 | 7.8 | |
| Basalt | 3000-4800 | 90-110 | 3.0 | 2.6-2.8 | |
| Boron | 3500-4000 | 350-400 | 0.5-0.7 | 2.6 | |
Applications
Vesseles for storage and transportation of pressure gases are required to have a high tensile strength. Weight to total pressure and weight to maximum pressure is also critical. A metal cylinder reinforced with carbon fiber composites features a lighter weight, higher resistance to corrosion and aggressive media.
Safety is important for vesseles. This is why carbon fiber is valued in making of fire and explosion safe non-shattering vesseles.
Summary
Carbon fiber reinforced pressure vesseles feature an improved design, lighter weight, and higher strength for safe storage and transportation of pressure gases.