Iljin Highsolus, 'Type 4' Hydrogen Tube Trailer Certification... "50% Reduction in Operating Costs"

Type 4 tank for hydrogen tube trailers, developed for the first time in Korea by Iljin Hi-Solus.
[Photo by Iljin Group]

[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] Iljin High Solus, a hydrogen tank specialist company under Iljin Group, announced on the 2nd that its Type 4 tank for hydrogen tube trailers, developed for the first time in Korea, has received certification from the Korea Gas Safety Corporation and the International Organization for Standardization. Iljin High Solus plans to launch the product next month and begin market penetration.

A hydrogen tube trailer is equipment that compresses and stores hydrogen at the production site and then transports and supplies it to hydrogen refueling stations. When a hydrogen tube trailer vehicle arrives at a hydrogen refueling station, only the trailer with wheels is installed at the station, and the vehicle returns to the production site. The hydrogen stored inside the trailer is compressed and packaged to be used as fuel for hydrogen vehicles.

Currently, in Korea, Type 1 hydrogen tube trailers equipped with metal tanks weighing 40 tons and measuring 16 meters in length are used. Due to the characteristics of metal, the storage pressure is relatively low, so the hydrogen supply per Type 1 trailer is about 300 kg.

Type 1 Hydrogen Tube Trailer. [Photo by Iljin Group]

Iljin High Solus’s advanced material Type 4 tank reduces the weight of the hydrogen transport vehicle to 26 tons and shortens the length to about 10 meters. The hydrogen transport storage pressure is increased from the existing 200 bar to 450 bar, more than doubling, resulting in a hydrogen supply of 500 kg per trailer.

According to Iljin High Solus, using Type 4 hydrogen tube trailers can reduce the number of tube trailers deployed per refueling station and transportation costs by up to half. Increasing the storage pressure also reduces compressor investment costs.

Hong-sang Ahn, CEO of Iljin High Solus, said, "The obstacles to expanding hydrogen infrastructure were the investment and operating costs of building hydrogen infrastructure and restrictions on city driving of hydrogen transport vehicles over 30 tons." He added, "With the launch of Iljin High Solus’s lightweight and high-performance tube trailer, operating costs of hydrogen refueling stations can be reduced, and hydrogen infrastructure expansion can be accelerated."

Meanwhile, the International Hydrogen Station forecasted that the global tube trailer market will grow at an average annual rate of 28%, expanding from about 315.8 billion KRW last year to 1.1 trillion KRW by 2025.