As part of “HyMEET”, its strategic hydrogen project” which aims to overcome technological barriers linked to production, transportation, storage and usage of hydrogen, Cetim has acquired a helium and hydrogen liquefier and the associated cryostats. The first tests will be carried out within the framework of European collaborative R&D projects dedicated to the aerospace sector, in which Cetim is involved.
Liquid hydrogen applications – and the associated field of deep cryogenics – raise new challenges for the development and durability of the equipment needed for their deployment.
This liquefier reproduces cryogenic operating conditions, enabling characterization tests to be carried out on components, sensors and materials at very low temperatures down to 20K, under real conditions of use with liquid hydrogen and helium. Thanks to this new equipment, it is now possible to analyze and understand their behaviour in this environment and test, for example, the tightness or behaviour of various materials and components such as seals, fittings, valves, etc.
The device has two configurations: one capable of producing up to 100 litres of liquid helium per day and the other capable of producing the same amount of liquid hydrogen. Two test cryostats, powered by one or the other, include a temperature regulation system for testing at 20 K.
This liquefier completes a range of cryogenic equipment, including a Thermo Mechanical Analysis (TMA) machine that measures the expansion coefficients of materials at temperatures as low as 4 K. A mechanical testing machine for fatigue and tensile testing in a dry cryogenic environment (20 K) will complete the range in 2025.
With HyMEET, manufacturers benefit from a unique range of cutting-edge equipment, combined with Cetim’s 60 years of multidisciplinary expertise in materials-products-processes.
Cetim will exhibit at SIAE 2025, GIFAS Booth – Hall 2B, C158 – S02.
About HyMEET, the major strategic hydrogen project for the mechanical engineering industry:
Launched by Cetim in 2022, the aim of this project is to help manufacturers innovate and adapt their products and equipment to the requirements of hydrogen, through a comprehensive range of R&D, consulting, testing and training services:
- Comply with the technological, normative and regulatory development of the hydrogen sector
- Characterize materials and functions for hydrogen applications (sealing technologies, mechanical behavior under hydrogen embrittlement, cryogenic behavior)
- Assessment of the H2 impact on existing equipment and processes
- Support for the development and industrialization of mechanical and fluidic equipment
- Assistance for production reliability and cost reduction
- Enhance skills development with dedicated Cetim Academy® training courses
