Interview with the TC 197 Chair

by Dr. Andrei Tchouvelev, ISO/TC 197 Chair, and Karen Quackenbush, FCHEA

In this twelfth installment of FCHEA’s "Interview with the ISO/TC 197 Chairman" series of articles, Dr. Andrei V. Tchouvelev discusses the upcoming Strategic Planning Meeting for ISO/TC 197, being held Wednesday, December 11th in Grenoble, France, which will focus on “New Frontiers”.

With the recent progress of the ISO 19880 series of documents for gaseous hydrogen fuelling, I asked Dr. Tchouvelev to provide an indication of where the Technical Committee may be focusing in the future. “The key criteria in deciding which of the new frontiers to address next”, Dr. Tchouvelev explained, “is their market relevance and significance for the economy”. “From this perspective the following areas need immediate attention”, he further opined:

  • new electrolyzer test requirements for active grid balancing;

  • P2G / P2H / P2X: pure hydrogen and blends with natural gas:

  • fuel quality specs, distribution and use in residential applications;

  • green hydrogen guarantee of origin;

  • hydrogen for heavy duty applications:

  • hardware and fueling protocol(s); and

  • new requirements for non-industrial use for liquid hydrogen.

Power-to-Gas (P2G) is certainly a hot topic here in the USA, as well as globally. I asked Dr. Tchouvelev what role he sees for International Standards in this field. “The biggest innovative power of P2G/P2H/P2X approach,” Dr. Tchouvelev noted, “is the involvement of diverse industries and parts of the economy into one energy chain with hydrogen in the center of it.” He added, “These technologies have become global although a debate whether P2G makes economic sense still go on. From TC197 perspective, however, we need to step in regardless because our objective are safety (mostly) and performance standards. Regulations cannot and should not be developed without standardization base, hence the need for international standards because clearly these applications need to be regulated.”

This sounds like a big job with many diverse stakeholders. I asked Dr. Tchouvelev how he envisages the effort proceeding in a coordinated way. “In my opinion,” he replied, “the only way to properly standardize this space is to involve all relevant international technical committees and develop a ‘roadmap’ with proper hand-offs between standardization requirements. This way the whole energy and economic chain will be covered.” He acknowledged that this is easier said than done, and noted “we are working with our standardization partners in Europe and Asia to bring relevant partners together for a discussion on such a ‘roadmap.’  From this perspective, TC197 may need to think establishing a subcommittee on hydrogen at scale and cross-cutting technologies with the idea that the main TC will continue focusing on basic pure H2 technologies, while the new SC may focus on cross-cutting issues and overlap with other fuels and energy carriers.”

The concept is still in early stages; however, Dr. Tchouvelev plans to flesh it out for a more formal discussion by the time of the 2020 plenary meeting in Korea.

International Call for Experts

by Karen Quackenbush, FCHEA

Two key international technical committees developing standards on hydrogen technologies and fuel cell systems currently have open calls for experts. If you are interested in joining these committees, please contact the national leads in the links included below for further information.

ISO/TC 197

ISO TC 197 leads International Standardization in the field of systems and devices for the production, storage, transport, measurement, and use of hydrogen. Several Working Groups have a Call for Experts out. Interested parties will find contact details for their respective country here: https://www.iso.org/committee/54560.html?view=participation.

Working Group 5, which is wrapping up a revision to ISO/FDIS 17268: Gaseous hydrogen land vehicle refuelling connection devices, will start to work toward the next revision and agrees to limit the focus to H70 high flow.

Working Group 18, which developed ISO 19881:2018: Gaseous hydrogen — Land vehicle fuel containers, will continue work to focus on technical comments which were put on hold, and incorporate Type 3 designs, and to work on harmonization with the United Nations Global Technical Regulation (UN GTR) 13 Phase II.

Working Group 22, which developed ISO 19880-5:2019: Gaseous hydrogen — Fuelling stations — Part 5: Dispenser hoses and hose assemblies, is continuing work to focus on the technical comments which were put on hold, and to work on harmonization with the ISO 19880 family of documents.

Working Group 28, which recently developed ISO 19880-8:2019: Gaseous hydrogen — Fuelling stations — Part 8: Fuel quality control, is beginning efforts to focus on modifications based on the new version of ISO 14687 for a future revision.

IEC/TC 105

IEC/TC 105 leads international efforts to prepare international standards regarding fuel cell (FC) technologies for all FC types and various associated applications such as stationary FC power systems for distributed power generators and combined heat and power systems; FCs for transportation such as propulsion systems (see note below), range extenders, and auxiliary power units; portable FC power systems; micro FC power systems; reverse operating FC power systems; and general electrochemical flow systems and processes.

NOTE: Projects with applications in the field of road vehicles will be coordinated with ISO TC 22 and its relevant Subcommittees using the cooperation modes defined in the ISO/IEC Directives.

There is currently a Call for Experts for Working Group 8, which is developing a series of international standards on micro fuel cell power systems – safety.  Interested parties will find their national contact by clicking their country name under “TC 105 Membership” at https://www.iec.ch/dyn/www/f?p=103:29:15863523077664::::FSP_ORG_ID,FSP_LANG_ID:1309,25.

IEC 62282-6-101: Fuel cell technologies - Part 6-101: Micro fuel cell power systems - Safety - General requirements, will be a consumer safety standard which covers micro fuel cell power systems and fuel cartridges that are wearable or easily carried by hand, providing direct current (dc) outputs that do not exceed 60 V dc and power outputs that do not exceed 240 VA. Portable fuel cell power systems that provide output levels that exceed these electrical limits are covered by IEC 62282-5-1.

IEC 62282-6-106: Fuel cell technologies Part 6-106: Micro fuel cell power systems – Safety - Indirect Class 8 (corrosive) compounds, will cover specific requirements for Class 8 (corrosive) compounds, and is to be used in conjunction with IEC 62282-6-101.

IEC 62282-6-107: Fuel cell technologies Part 6-107: Micro fuel cell power systems – Safety – Indirect water-reactive (Division 4.3) compounds, will cover specific requirements for Division 4.3 compounds, and is to be used in conjunction with IEC 62282-6-101.

IEC 62282-6-110: Fuel cell technologies – Part 6-110: Micro fuel cell power systems – Safety – Methanol, direct methanol fuel cells, will begin work shortly to develop specific requirements for direct methanol fuel cells, and is to be used in conjunction with IEC 62282-6-101.

NFPA 2 and NFPA 55 Open for Public Comment

by Karen Quackenbush, FCHEA

NFPA 2: Hydrogen Technologies Code, and NFPA 55: Compressed Gases and Cryogenic Fluids Code, are now open for public comment.

Both documents are open for submission of public input for the next edition (Annual 2022) - Public input closing date:  June 30, 2020.

To submit a public input using the NFPA online submission system, go directly to the NFPA 2 page using the link (www.nfpa.org/2), or to the NFPA 55 page using the link (www.nfpa.org/55.  Once on the appropriate page, select the link "Submit a Public Input" to begin the process. You will be asked to sign-in or create a free online account with NFPA before using this system. If you have any questions when using the system, a chat feature is available.

Hydrogen Standards Published

by Karen Quackenbush, FCHEA

The first edition of ISO 19880-8:2019, Gaseous hydrogen — Fuelling stations — Part 8: Fuel quality control; has been published. This document specifies the protocol for ensuring the quality of the gaseous hydrogen at hydrogen distribution facilities and hydrogen fuelling stations for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells for road vehicles.

The first edition of ISO 19880-5:2019: Gaseous hydrogen — Fuelling stations — Part 5: Dispenser hoses and hose assemblies, has also just been published. This document specifies the requirements for wire or textile reinforced hoses and hose assemblies suitable for dispensing hydrogen up to 70 MPa nominal working pressure, in the operating temperature range of −40 °C to 65 °C. This document contains safety requirements for material, design, manufacture and testing of gaseous hydrogen hose and hose assemblies for hydrogen fuelling stations.

As noted in a related article, a Call for Experts is out for each of the Working Groups responsible for developing these documents to facilitate development of a future revision.

California Air Resources Board Proposes Zero-Emission Vehicle Regulation for Medium and Heavy-Duty Trucks

By Connor Dolan, FCHEA

On October 22, 2019, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued a Notice of Public Hearing that its board is considering a plan to accelerate the use of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) in the medium and heavy-duty truck sector.  To achieve this goal, CARB would require large truck manufacturers to sell a certain percentage of zero-emission trucks in California as part of their overall fleet sold.  This proposed regulation would be similar to California’s current mandate for automakers that sell light-duty vehicle to produce a certain number of ZEVs for their fleet, or purchase ZEV credits for missing that sales requirement.

Truck manufacturers would be required to have 3% of class 7 and 8 semi-trucks and haul trailers sold be zero-emission in model year 2024, increasing to 15% by model year 2030.  Manufacturers for all other class 4 through 9 size vehicles would be required to sell 7% of their fleet as zero-emission in model year 2024 and would increase to 50% by model year 2030.  The ZEV sales requirements would remain constant after 2030.  In addition, makers of Class 2b and 3 full size pickup trucks and vans would be required to begin selling ZEVs beginning in model year 2027.

Manufacturers would be able to earn credits selling zero-emission medium and heavy-duty vehicles beginning in model year 2021.  Plug-in hybrid vehicles with some all-electric range and other near-zero-emission vehicles would earn partial credits under this program.  The regulation allows credits to banked and traded.

Manufacturers that sell less than 500 trucks annually in California are exempt from this regulation, however, they have the option to opt-in to the program to earn credits selling zero-emission trucks.

The proposal would also require government agencies and private organizations with gross revenues in the United States greater than $50 million or that own or dispatch 100 or more class 2b or greater vehicles to report information about their fleet to the California government

The CARB Board will be meeting to discuss this proposed regulation on December 12, 2019 at 9:00 AM in Sacramento, California. 

Written comments on this regulation will be accepted through December 9, 2019.

More information on this rulemaking is available on the CARB website at https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/rulemaking/2019/advancedcleantrucks.

Hydrogen Powered Drones

by Karen Quackenbush, FCHEA

Ballard recently published an article on their blog by Phil Robinson, who is leading the effort at ASTM to develop a national standard on fuel cells for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications: ASTM WK60937:New Specification for Design of Fuel Cells for Use in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).

The article is titled, “Hydrogen Powered Drones—Are They Ready to Deliver Your Packages?”, and includes a discussion on progress in UAV regulations and standards.

To read the blog, please click here.

California Seeking Feedback on Hydrorgen Station Permitting Guidebook

GO-Biz is updating the 2015 Hydrogen Station Permitting Guidebook. As a valued part of the hydrogen and FCEV community, we would greatly appreciate your review and comments on the attached draft copy.

We welcome any and all comments, and are specifically looking for ways to improve the content. Are there key pieces missing? Are there inaccuracies? We have also left a few comments in the draft as prompts or outstanding questions/items to address.

For those familiar with the 2015 version, here are some key differences and additions in the update:

  • Provides the current state of play and, when possible, offers insights about emerging trends in the market;

  • Updates to California’s vehicle and infrastructure investments;

  • Trends for increasing renewable/carbon-free hydrogen for transportation;

  • New section on the importance of and opportunities in the medium- and heavy-duty (MD/HD) sector and inclusion of insights for permitting infrastructure in this sector throughout the document;

    • NOTE: The 2015 version only included a mention of buses. Since then, the MD/HD market has advanced. While there are many differences between the weight classes, this guidebook is focused on permitting, where many similarities exist with LD stations. HD stations are typically larger and do require some additional considerations (i.e., power demand, Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA) considerations, etc.) and we’ve tried to bring those forward throughout the text. If there are other opportunities to tease out additional meaningful differences, please feel free to highlight them.

  • Expanded discussion on connecting to the grid;

  • Discussion on the Hydrogen Station Equipment Performance (HyStEP) device and future plans for hydrogen station verification; and

  • Code updates from the 2020 edition of National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 2 Hydrogen Technologies Code.

The draft permitting guidebook can be downloaded here.

Please submit them in track changes directly to Gia Vacin by email at gia.vacin@gobiz.ca.gov by Friday, December 6, 2019.