Techno-Economic Assessment of Large-Scale 700-Bar Type IV Hydrogen Storage Tank Manufacturing: Cost Drivers, Production-Scale Effects, and Industrial Implications

Abstract

The commercialization of hydrogen energy systems requires cost-effective and scalable manufacturing of highpressure composite storage tanks. This study develops a bottom-up techno-economic framework for industrialscale 700-bar Type IV hydrogen storage tank manufacturing, integrating manufacturing costs, production capacity, capital investment, operating expenditure, and sensitivity analysis. Six tank configurations with hydrogen storage capacities of 0.9996–6.9203 kg were evaluated. Manufacturing cost per kilogram of stored hydrogen decreased with increasing tank capacity, primarily due to improved material utilization. Carbon fiber composites dominated manufacturing costs, while a ±30% variation in raw material prices caused cost changes of up to ±19.6%. A fixed-configuration analysis using the 103-L tank isolated production-scale from tank-size effects. Increasing production from 25,000 to 100,000 tanks/year reduced unit manufacturing cost by 36.2%, whereas expansion to 113,390 tanks/year provided only an additional 2.2% reduction. These results identify an economic production threshold of 100,000 tanks/year, beyond which further expansion provides limited cost benefits.