Update on UL 2267 Standard for Safety: Fuel Cell Power Systems for Installation in Industrial Electric Trucks
Laurie Florence, Underwriters Laboratories Inc.

UL 2267 Standard for Safety: Fuel Cell Power Systems for Installation in Industrial Electric Trucks, is currently under revision. 

Scope of UL 2267: The requirements cover fuel cell power systems currently noted as intended to be installed in type E, industrial trucks used in locations as defined in the Fire Safety Standard for Powered Industrial Trucks including Type Designations, Areas of Use, Conversions, Maintenance and Operations NFPA 505, and the National Electrical Code NFPA 70. The scope only covers those systems that incorporate a permanently mounted pressure vessel containing compressed hydrogen gas for designs that are fueled without the pressure vessel being removed from the industrial truck (on board fueling). At this time, the standard is limited to systems with maximum pressures of 25 MPa or 35MPa. 

The standard was published in May 2006 as an ANSI standard, and is available through UL. The document was recently revised to address those areas of UL 2267 affecting high pressure fuel containment to appropriately address safety concerns of current technology. Specific revisions to address the following concerns were recently completed:

  1. Develop cycling and other tests of high pressure systems as needed,
  2. Address instructions and markings, and
  3. Address End of Life Criteria

The revisions were developed by UL's UL 2267 Standard Technical Panel (STP) High Pressure Task Group which included members from the automotive sector, fuel cell industry, industrial truck industry, government, laboratories, and academia. These revisions include:

  • scope changes to address current technology including limiting the scope to systems with maximum pressures of 25 MPa or 35MPa and onboard refueling;
  • revision of high pressure system terms, addition of diagrams and a comparison table of high pressure terms to better harmonize with related standards;
  • compliance of hydrogen pressure vessels to ISO TS 15869 for heavy usage industrial truck service (i.e. a minimum of 11,250 full fill cycles representing a 10 year life);
  • restrictions on the types of materials that may be utilized for the hydrogen pressure vessels;
  • revisions to the piping and component requirements for the high pressure hydrogen lines including reference to ASME B31.12 for hydrogen piping;
  • a revised overpressure and over-temperature protection section to include requirements based upon current protection mechanisms for high pressure hydrogen systems; and
  • nameplate and documentation for end of service life of the hydrogen pressure vessels.

The revised UL 2267 standard with the recent high pressure section changes is available for purchase on UL's website www.ul.com.

However, even though the work of the High Pressure Task Group has been completed, there is a current proposal bulletin out for balloting that addresses tank replacement markings, changes to vibration and other testing and additional proposals for the pressure vessel section. The ballot closing date is July 11, 2011. Follow up revisions to the standard such as replacing the "Type E" industrial truck designation with the new industrial truck "Type CGH" (compressed gaseous hydrogen) designation in accordance with NFPA 505 are planned, to address developments in the industry and the codes that affect it.

UL proposal bulletins are available to the UL STP members free of charge and are available to the general public for purchase at UL's website www.ul.com. 

Additional background information on UL 2267 was presented in a short course at the 2009 Fuel Cell Seminar, and is available online atwww.hydrogenandfuelcellsafety.info/2009/dec/shortCourse_florence.pdf.

For additional information, please contact Laurie Florence atlaurie.b.florence@us.ul.com. 

FCHEA RCS Priorities Matrix
Robert Wichert, Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association

The Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association (FCHEA) maintains a matrix of the regulation, codes, and standards (RCS) activities of interest to our members. These activities are characterized as "essential to or enables commercialization," "Important to Commercialization," and "Supports Commercialization." The matrix further shows whether the activities that fit under these headings currently enjoy a high level of effort, a moderate level of effort, or a low level of effort. 

The matrix is a living document, evolving as activities progress and commercial timeframes come within the RCS planning horizon. FCHEA members have the opportunity to provide feedback on the matrix any time. In addition, as RCS needs are identified by FCHEA Task Groups and the National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Codes & Standards Coordinating Committee (NHFCCSCC), these needs are folded into the matrix. 

The most recent version of the matrix is available here (52 kb PDF). FCHEA members can access the most recent version any time atwww.fchea.org/members/wg01members.htm. 

International Conference on Hydrogen Safety Update

Final preparations are underway for the 4th International Conference on Hydrogen Safety, which will take place September 12-14, 2011 in San Francisco, California USA. The conference, which is held under the auspices of the International Association for Hydrogen Safety (IA-HySafe), carries endorsements from the U.S. Department of Energy, the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy (IPHE), and the International Energy Agency (IEA) Hydrogen Implementing Agreement (HIA). 

The conference scope, as described on the official website atwww.ichs2011.com, describes what can be expected from this unique conference: "The conference will be hosted by Sandia National Laboratories and will improve public awareness and trust in hydrogen technologies by communicating a better understanding of both the hazards and risks associated with hydrogen and their management. Since the ICHS 2011 will focus on safety issues and measures to encourage more extensive use of hydrogen-based technologies, its contents will be different from other hydrogen conferences."

Please see the conference website for program details and venue details: www.ichs2011.com.

In addition, we have just learned that IA-HySafe is also offering a workshop on Friday, September 9; the Friday before the start of the International Conference on Hydrogen Safety. This one-day workshop is aimed at persons who are not yet experts in hydrogen safety but have an interest in knowing more about how to handle it safely. There is a separate registration process for this one-day workshop. Please click here to download the registration form and draft program.

Lessons Learned Update
Linda L. Fassbender, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

PNNL has posted a new installment of the quarterly Lessons Learned Corner (LLC) on the Hydrogen Incident Reporting and Lessons Learned website. This installment, "Learning from Burst Disk Failures," can be accessed atwww.h2incidents.org/ll_corner/lessonlearned_burst_disk.asp. 

The majority of the pressure-related safety event records in the H2Incidents.org database involve burst disks. The key lessons learned from these safety events are summarized in the LLC, followed by brief accounts of the 12 burst disk safety event records in the database, with links provided to each record. 

Previous installments of the Lessons Learned Corner are available in the Archives at www.h2incidents.org/ll_corner/ll_archives.asp. 

SAE Publishes Pressure Terminology Document

The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has recently announced publication of a new document: J2760_201106 - Pressure Terminology Used in Fuel Cells and Other Hydrogen Vehicle Applications. 

The SAE Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV) Standards Committee is developing recommended practices for Fuel Systems in Fuel Cell and Other Hydrogen Vehicles. As a part of this effort, pressure terminology definitions were developed.

The purpose of this document is to disseminate definitions for pressurized systems and containers such that other technical groups are aware of the information.

To learn more or purchase this document, visitwww.sae.org/technical/standards/J2760_201106.