Continental has opened a new TechCenter for hydrogen technologies at its site in Hamburg-Harburg, Germany. In the future, the ContiTech group sector will use the TechCenter as a collaborative platform for knowledge exchange in this area. Innovations and the transfer of existing technical solutions for new applications in the field of hydrogen technologies are to be promoted.

The aim is to bring together experts from different fields and industries. These shall identify technical, regulatory and infrastructural challenges along the entire hydrogen value chain, as well as develop corresponding overarching approaches to solutions.

Hydrogen is produced by industrial processes and is an energy carrier that needs to be stored and transported. Currently, there are various solutions for the transport: compressed hydrogen with a pressure of up to 700 bar, cryogenic liquid hydrogen with temperatures below minus 253 degrees Celsius, or hydrogen combined with nitrogen to obtain ammonia, which is split again after transport. It is also possible to combine hydrogen with other organic liquids.

These very different transport conditions require an extensively prepared infrastructure along the entire hydrogen value chain. To ensure that the hydrogen arrives safely at its destination, hoses, lines, seals and fittings, containers and means of transport must have suitable properties, such as pressure or temperature resistance, for example. The selection and development of appropriately suitable materials is a key success factor for the extensive future use of hydrogen.

Continental’s extensive technical expertise in handling a wide variety of gases and liquids in the classic industrial sectors, for example also in the oil and gas business, is now also benefiting the company in the development of completely new products that meet the significantly changed requirements of the new energy carriers.