Growth Opportunities in the Global Automotive Composite Market

CNG is natural gas that has been compressed into a high-pressure container for transportation or storage. Initially the high-pressure cylinders used to store the natural gas were manufactured and tested in accordance with the industrial cylinder standards.

High pressure composite vessels were introduced more than 70 years before and were especially developed for space and military applications. The experimentation of composite vessels started in the 50s but the first high pressure vessels used for space and military applications started actually in the 60s in the US. In the late 1980’s, experimental applications of composite reinforced plastic liners in CNG service occurred in Sweden, Russia and France. Following the development of natural gas vehicle cylinder standards in North America, fully-wrapped designs with relatively thin aluminum liners or plastic liners reinforced with a full wrapping of glass fiber and/or carbon fiber reinforcement were introduced into CNG service commencing in 1992.

According to Lucintel’s report "Opportunities for Composites in Global CNG Tank Market: 2010-2015" Composites in CNG tank market is expected to grow at double digit rate in coming five years with focus on weight reduction, fuel efficiency and better vehicle performance. Over the next 5 years, total composites consumption in CNG Tank market is expected to continue strong a growth momentum of 10% CAGR i.e. by 2015, and CNG composi