QUANTUM and Thiokol Establish World Class Hydrogen Test Facility
Testing and Validation of Compressed Hydrogen Storage Tanks for Vehicles- Extends Capabilities Into Hydrogen Refueling Infrastructure Design and Evaluation
QUANTUM Technologies, Inc., a
wholly owned subsidiary of IMPCO Technologies, Inc. and Thiokol
Propulsion Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Alliant Techsystems Inc.
, today announced that the world’s most advanced hydrogen storage
testing facility is scheduled to open soon at Thiokol Propulsion’s NASA Space
Shuttle rocket booster manufacturing facility in Promontory, UT.
The testing
facility is owned and operated under a teaming agreement between QUANTUM and
Thiokol and will be accessible to manufacturers of compressed gas storage
tanks for applications in the automotive, industrial, aerospace and defense
industries.
Hydrogen cycling testing through repeated fast-fills will be performed on
compressed gas storage tanks and subsystems.
The fully instrumented fast-
filling tests will determine temperature rise and confirm the gas
thermodynamics experienced during filling.
These critical data are required
for the design, manufacture, testing and validation of compressed hydrogen
storage tanks.
While the initial focus of the testing will be on hydrogen
storage and handling for vehicle applications, the facility’s testing
capabilities directly apply to storage systems for hydrogen refueling
stations.
The need for this facility was spurred, in large part, by requests
received by QUANTUM from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for hydrogen fuel
storage and subsystem testing.
The DOE has contracted with QUANTUM for over
$5 million of research and development of ultra-lightweight, high capacity
fuel storage technology designed to extend the range of the vehicle between
refueling intervals.
QUANTUM’s polymer lined hydrogen storage tanks will be tested along with
hydrogen subsystems inclusive of valves, injectors, in-tank regulators,
pressure and temperature transducers and flow controls — initially at
5000-psig and then expanded to 10,000-psig.
Thiokol, assuring compliance with
NASA safety verification standards, will monitor the tests.
Dr. Neel Sirosh, QUANTUM’s Director of Advanced Fuel Storage Technology,
and Scott Voldness, Program Manager for Alternative Fuels Technology Programs
at Thiokol Propulsion, jointly spearheaded the design and development of the
only hydrogen storage and subsystem testing operation of its kind.
“We are
excited about this facility,” said Dr. Sirosh.
“This allows us to do advanced
research and development in pressurized storage of hydrogen as well as new
absorbent and chemical storage technologies.”
Mr. Voldness said, “We are
equally enthused about this state-of-the art hydrogen testing facility.
With
QUANTUM, we are ensuring that fuel storage and subsystems are the safest
manufactured today.
This world class facility provides for rigorous testing
that assures the durability of QUANTUM’s hydrogen storage and subsystem
technologies.”
The QUANTUM strategic alliance with NASA Space Shuttle rocket booster
manufacturer, Thiokol Propulsion, was formed in June 1999.
The alliance
provides QUANTUM access to Thiokol scientists, engineers and support personnel
experienced in the handling and management of hydrogen fuel, and authorizes
QUANTUM to advance the commercialization of Thiokol’s unique composite
conformable hydrogen fuel storage tank technology for the emerging automotive
fuel cell markets.
QUANTUM Technologies Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of IMPCO
Technologies Inc.
QUANTUM is focused on the development of
enabling fuel storage technologies for manufacturers of alternative propulsion
and energy for emerging global markets.
For more information:
Alan Niedzwiecki, Executive Director, Business
Development, QUANTUM Technologies, Inc., Tel: (949) 399-4500; or Scott
Voldness, Chief Program Manager, Alternative Fuels Technology Programs Thiokol
Propulsion Corp., Tel: (435) 863-8587
Certain matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking
information that involves risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from current trends.
These include the company’s
ability to design and market advanced fuel metering, fuel storage or
electronic control products, the company’s ability to meet OEM specifications,
and other such risks as cited in the 2000 annual report on Form 10-K for IMPCO
Technologies, Inc. and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
