May 2019

May 2019 Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Safety Report

Interview with the ISO/TC 197 Chairman

by Karen Quackenbush, FCHEA

In this eleventh installment of FCHEA’s "Interview with the ISO/TC 197 Chairman" series of articles, Dr. Andrei V. Tchouvelev discusses electrolyzer technologies.

“ISO 22734: Hydrogen generators using water electrolysis - Industrial, Commercial, and Residential applications, has been approved for circulation as a Final Draft International Standard”, Dr. Tchouvelev announced. This is the final stage prior to approval for publication”.

The ISO Technical Committee on Hydrogen Technologies, ISO/TC 197 has been working on electrolyzer standards since 2001.  ISO 22734-1: Hydrogen generators using water electrolysis process -- Part 1: Industrial and commercial applications, was published in 2008. This was followed by ISO 22734-2: Hydrogen generators using water electrolysis process -- Part 2: Residential applications, published in 2011. The most recent activity began in 2015, and focused on harmonizing Part 1:2008 with Part 2:2011, combining the two parts into one standard, adding alkaline exchange membrane technologies to the scope, updating references and defining requirements necessary to accommodate current and emerging markets.

Dr. Larry Moulthrop served as Convenor for both Part 1 and Part 2, as well as the harmonized version coming out for final vote. “This has certainly been a large and important undertaking”, Dr. Tchouvelev acknowledged, “and Dr. Moulthrop is commended for his expertise and dedication to driving this work forward, ensuring the standards are in place to facilitate wide-scale, international deployment of these critical technologies”.

Dr. Tchouvelev cited the significance of recent progress in the development of electrolzer technologies and applications. He suggested the timing for stakeholders from the industry, research, standardization and policy communities, to develop robust International Standards through ISO/TC 197 on electrolyzers is no accident.  “Interest in electrolysis is growing world-wide”, he noted. Increased interest in enabling use of more renewable energy through electrolysis, hydrogen energy storage, and fuel cells is evident in large national efforts such as H2@Scale in the United States, and Power-to-Gas projects in Europe and Canada, to name just a few”, Dr. Tchouvelev explained.

Dr. Tchouvelev noted that “the increased use of electrolysis for renewable energy projects can avoid the need to curtail wind and other renewable energy production, increasing efficiency and decreasing carbon emissions. In fact, there is likely a need for further standards to cover electrolyzer performance under duress for energy grid balancing, where intermittent energy supply and demand is the norm and the electrolyzer response times are near instantaneous – but that is for another day”, he concluded.

UAV Standards Update

by Karen Quackenbush, FCHEA

In addition to FAA rules and certification requirements, a number of national and international standards activities are underway which address Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), sometimes referred to as Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs), or drones.

National Activities:

The ANSI Unmanned Aircraft Systems Standardization Collaborative (UASSC) has a mission to coordinate and accelerate the development of the standards and conformity assessment programs needed to facilitate the safe integration of UAVs into the national airspace system of the United States. The collaborative is also focused on international coordination and adaptability, with the goal of fostering the growth of the UAV market.

The group has developed a standardization roadmap which identifies existing standards and standards in development, as well as related conformance programs, defines where gaps exist, and recommends additional work that is needed. The roadmap includes proposed timelines for completion of the work and lists organizations that potentially can perform the work. To download the roadmap, you will need to fill in a short request form here.

International Activities:

The International Standard Organization (ISO) Technical Committee 16 Subcommittee 20 develops International Standards on Unmanned Aircraft Systems.

When you look at drone laws throughout the world there is still a lot of variation between countries. About a third of the countries in the world don’t have any drone laws at all, and there are some countries that ban drones altogether, in some cases because they simply don’t know how to deal with them. Even within the U.S., drone laws can vary widely from one state to the next, sometimes in direct contradiction with federal law.

To address all of this variation, the ISO’s international standards aim to establish rules that everyone can agree on, which will help normalize drone operations throughout the world.

According to the ISO website, “These international standards will help create a global structure for what constitutes responsible drone use. In much the same way that the FAA’s Part 107 rules have helped foster the spread of commercial drone operations in the U.S., these international standards can potentially help drone adoption spread more quickly and responsibly throughout the world.”

The standards underway by the ISO focus primarily on data security, air safety, privacy, and creating pathways to facilitate UAV implementation in a variety of commercial scenarios.

In creating the standards the ISO has drawn on existing flight rules and protocols. Three more documents will be added to the drafted standards in the future, which will cover general specifications for UAVs, manufacturing quality, and UTMs (Unmanned Traffic Management systems).

Also included in the standards is the requirement that human intervention be maintained as the fail-safe for all drone operations, including autonomous operations, so that a person will always be present and accountable for drone flights, even as technology advances.

The creation of these standards represents a historic moment for the drone industry. Through the establishment of these standards and rules, we can hope to see drone adoption continue to spread around the globe, with safe and responsible practices spreading alongside that adoption.

Standards and/or projects currently under the direct responsibility of ISO/TC 20/SC 16 are as follows:

• ISO/DIS 21384-1 [Under development]

• Unmanned aircraft systems -- Part 1: General specification

• ISO/CD 21384-2 [Under development]

• Unmanned aircraft systems -- Part 2: Product systems

• ISO/DIS 21384-3 [Under development]

• Unmanned aircraft systems -- Part 3: Operational procedures

• ISO/DIS 21384-4 [Under development]

• Unmanned aircraft systems -- Part 4: Terms and definitions

• ISO/DIS 21895 [Under development]

• Categorization and classification of civil unmanned aircraft systems

• ISO/AWI TR 23629-1 [Under development]

• UAS Traffic Management (UTM) -- Part 1: General requirements for UTM -- Survey results on UTM

• ISO/AWI 23629-7 [Under development]

• UAS Traffic Management (UTM) -- Part 7: UTM data and information transfer at interface of traffic management integration system and UAS service suppliers -- Data model related to spatial data for UAS and UTM

• ISO/AWI 23665 [Under development]

• Unmanned aircraft systems -- Training for personnel involved in UAS operations

Center for Hydrogen Safety Launched

by Nick Barilo, Director of the Center for Hydrogen Safety

Building on sixteen years of hydrogen safety experience, the U.S. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has partnered with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) to establish the Center for Hydrogen Safety (CHS). The CHS is intended to be recognized as a global, neutral and nonprofit resource.

 This resource supports and promotes the safe handling and use of hydrogen across industrial and consumer applications in the energy transition. The CHS will facilitate access to hydrogen safety experts; develop comprehensive safety guidance, outreach and education materials; and provide a forum to partner on world-wide technical solutions. Participation in CHS provides assurance that groups of experts have a common communication platform with a global scope to ensure safety information, guidance and expertise is available to all stakeholders. CHS will help ensure that:

• Safety is a fundamental principal for those deploying the technology

• Neutral and trustworthy hydrogen safety resources will be sustained and have global impact

• Safety is not a significant impediment to stakeholder and public acceptance of hydrogen technology

The Center for Hydrogen Safety was officially launched on April 2, 2019. The press release can be found here.

For further information visit www.aiche.org/chs.

RCS at the 2019 DOE AMR

(Taken from DOE AMR website; https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/annual_review19_codes.html)

The U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program 2019 Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting took place from April 29 – May 1 in Arlington, Virginia. In addition to several awards relating to codes, standards, and regulations (see related article), there were a variety of oral presentations as well as poster presentations focused on safety, codes and standards activities.

Safety, Codes and Standards R&D Overview, Laura Hill, U.S. Department of Energy

SAFETY, CODES AND STANDARDS PRESENTATIONS

1. Fuel Quality Assurance R&D and Impurity Testing in Support of Codes and Standards, Tommy Rockward, Los Alamos National Laboratory

2. R&D for Safety, Codes and Standards: Hydrogen Behavior, Ethan Hecht, Sandia National Laboratories

3. Hydrogen Quantitative Risk Assessment, Alice Muna, Sandia National Laboratories

4. Hydrogen Safety Panel, Safety Knowledge Tools and First Responder Training Resources, Nick Barilo, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

5. NREL Hydrogen Sensor Testing Laboratory, William Buttner, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

6. H-Mat Overview: Polymers, Kevin Simmons, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

SAFETY, CODES AND STANDARDS POSTERS

1. National Codes and Standards Deployment and Outreach, Carl Rivkin, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

2. R&D for Safety, Codes and Standards: Materials and Components Compatibility, Chris San Marchi, Sandia National Laboratories

3. Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association Codes and Standards Support, Karen Quackenbush, Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Energy Association

Presentations from the Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program may be found online at https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/annual_review19_proceedings.html.

The Office of Fossil Energy–Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Program presentations and posters will be published on the National Energy Technology Laboratory Conference Proceedings website.

2019 Annual Merit Review Awards

(Reprinted from https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/annual_review19_awards.html)

Each year, at the Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting, the Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program presents awards for contributions to the overall efforts of the Program and to recognize achievements in specific areas.

Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program Awards

• Glenn Schelffler, GWS Solutions of Tolland, LLC

This award recognizes Glenn Scheffler for his outstanding contributions to the hydrogen and fuel cells domestic and international codes and standards communities. He has been an irreplaceable part of the community for over 40 years, including 37 years of service at United Technologies Corporation before joining the Safety, Codes and Standards program as a consultant. For four decades, Glenn has played a pivotal role in helping to pave the way for safe and timely deployment of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Glenn chaired the SAE Fuel Cell Committee's Safety working group that developed technical standards for fuel cell electric vehicles (J2578) and hydrogen vehicle fuel systems (J2579). Glenn has also contributed heavily to the international regulations, codes and standards community. As the lead delegate for the United States for ISO Technical Committee 197, Glenn is the convener for Working Group 24, which created the first international standard for hydrogen refueling stations. He serves as the U.S. Technical Expert for the UN Global Technical Regulation (Phase I and II), which will ultimately inform the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard. Glenn's expertise is well respected within the safety, codes and standards community, both domestically and internationally. That expertise has also been instrumental to the Hydrogen Safety Panel, where he has served as an active member for more than 10 years, further ensuring the safe deployment of hydrogen technologies.

• Dave Edwards, Air Liquide

This award is presented to Dr. Dave Edwards of Air Liquide for outstanding leadership in advancing hydrogen technologies, particularly hydrogen global analysis, infrastructure, and DOE's H2@Scale initiative. Dr. Edwards' presentations at high-profile technical events, such as the 2019 Transportation Research Board annual meeting, H2@Scale workshops, and other global venues, are routinely exceptional, are well received, and facilitate the development of strong industry partnerships. Moreover, DOE program managers rely on Dr. Edwards often to review and inform technical analyses relevant to the H2@Scale concept. His technical guidance has helped shape key DOE roadmaps and targets, particularly in the area of hydrogen and fuel cells for heavy-duty transportation. He was instrumental in initiating a national U.S. study on the market potential and impact of hydrogen and fuel cells across multiple industries and sectors. Over the last several years, he has demonstrated outstanding leadership and dedication to strengthening collaboration and communication to help advance DOE's Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program.

Hydrogen Fuel R&D — Storage

• Thomas Gennett, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

• Philip Parilla, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

• Katherine Hurst, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

This award recognizes Tom Gennett, Phil Parilla, and Katie Hurst of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for their years of leadership and excellence in managing the Hydrogen Storage Program's adsorption validation laboratory. This group has not only provided reliable adsorption data for accurate comparisons of material properties, but they have also been instrumental in publishing measurement protocols and standards to enable improved reliability of adsorption measurements across the field. They have recently completed an international, multi-laboratory round robin study on volumetric capacity measurements, for which the results demonstrate a marked improvement of measurement consistency and reliability across the storage community.

Fuel Cell R&D

• Jacob Spendelow, Los Alamos National Laboratory

This award recognizes Dr. Jacob Spendelow of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for outstanding leadership demonstrated in conducting the fuel cell project "Advanced Electrocatalysts through Crystallographic Enhancements." Jacob led a large team of scientists from LANL, State University of New York Buffalo, Brown University, University of Pennsylvania, and EWII Fuel Cells. Jacob and his team developed new intermetallic platinum-cobalt (PtCo) catalysts with atomic-level ordering that stabilizes cobalt (Co) atoms within the catalyst nanoparticles, reducing the leaching rate of Co and maintaining high Co content even after durability testing. The key innovation in 2018 was the development of a new synthetic method that enables simultaneous achievement of small nanoparticle size (<4 nm) and a high degree of ordering. Previous efforts to develop intermetallic PtCo nanoparticles were limited by excessive particle growth that occurs during the ordering process. By avoiding this particle growth, the LANL catalyst maintains high surface area and high catalytic activity while also exhibiting improved durability. The catalysts achieved a mass activity of 0.56 A/mgPGM after 30,000 voltage cycles, which corresponds to a loss of only 20% after 30,000 cycles (Target: <40%).

Fuel Cell R&D

• Shawn Litster, Carnegie Mellon University

This award recognizes Dr. Shawn Litster of Carnegie Mellon University for outstanding leadership in conducting the fuel cell project "Advanced PGM-Free Cathode Engineering for High Power Density and Durability." Shawn is leading a large team of scientists from Carnegie Mellon, State University of New York Buffalo, Giner, and 3M. In the first year of the project, the team achieved kinetic performance of 28.5 mA/cm2 at 0.90 V, exceeding the second-year target of 25 mA/cm2, and 113 mA/cm2 at 0.8 V in H2/air, which is the highest PGM-free electrode performance reported at this time. The success of the project is due to the team's strength in catalyst development, membrane electrode assembly fabrication, and characterization, and to the well-organized collaboration of industry, academic, and national laboratory partners led by Shawn.

Technology Acceleration

• Kevin Centeck, U.S. Army, Combat Capabilities Development Command Ground Vehicle Systems Center

This award recognizes Kevin Centeck for leadership and excellence in developing hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles and fueling systems. Kevin has worked to ensure close collaboration with DOE and national labs. He was responsible for the development of the collaboration agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) between the U.S. Army's Combat Capabilities Development Command Ground Vehicle Systems Center (formerly known as the Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, or TARDEC) and DOE. Kevin also led three interagency workshops on hydrogen and fuel cell topics.

Safety, Codes and Standards

• Kevin Simmons, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

• Nalini Menon, Sandia National Laboratories

• Barton Smith, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

• Mike Veenstra, Ford Motor Company

This award recognizes Kevin Simmons, Nalini Menon, Barton Smith, and Mike Veenstra for their outstanding work in the area of polymer materials compatibility for hydrogen service. This ongoing partnership between national laboratories and industry has met a critical need in the R&D community, developing new standards and test methodologies that will help to provide improved polymer material durability and reliability for the hydrogen industry.

NFPA 2 Update

The 2020 edition of NFPA 2 has been posted to the NFPA website, under the Next Edition tab.

As there were no certified motions, this is now considered a consent document which will not presented at the NFPA Technical Meeting in June. The anticipated issuance date is June 10, 2019.

The final date to file an appeal on this Annual 2019 Consent Standard is June 1, 2019.

DOE / FCHEA Fuel Cell R&D Workshop

By Karen Quackenbush, FCHEA

An FCHEA / Department of Energy Fuel Cells R&D Workshop was held on May 15, 2019.

Workshop objectives were as follows:

• Providing input into prioritization of R&D challenges related to fuel cell cost, durability, and performance, as well as low-PGM/PGM free catalyst development

• Assessing and informing cost and performance targets for fuel cell technologies

• Facilitating collaboration between laboratory researchers and industry stakeholders to inform R&D

• Discussing the role of government and the private sector in supporting R&D activities, including an overview of current capabilities of and opportunities for collaboration with the national laboratories

A link will be posted when a meeting report is available.

HGV 4.1 Standard for hydrogen dispensing systems out for Public Review

The draft HGV 4.1, Standard for hydrogen dispensing systems, document file for industry review and comment has been posted at the CSA Public Review website for feedback.

Please click here to access the file:   https://publicreview.csa.ca/Home/Details/3427

CSA would like to receive all Industry Review comments no later than Sunday, June 9, 2019.  Please make any comments on the draft via the online Public Review and Commenting System.

The 2019 Fuel Cell Seminar & Energy Exposition Call for Abstracts is Open!

Showcase your Research, Progress, Plans, and Products to hundreds of attendees!

The Call for Abstracts for the 2019 Fuel Cell Seminar & Energy Exposition (FCS&EE) is open and accepting submissions for oral and poster presentations! 

Whether you are involved in fuel cell, hydrogen, or component research and technical development, or focused on moving the industry forward through regulatory work, deployments, partnerships, strategy, or stakeholder outreach, the FCS&EE is the perfect venue to reach a large international and influential audience.

Abstracts are due by May 31!

View the full Topics and Sub-topics list at www.fuelcellseminar.com/abstracts.  If you would like to present on a topic area that is not reflected, please contact fuelcellseminar@fchea.org.

Registration is also now open for Exhibitors and Attendees.  Booth space is going fast, so visit us online at www.fuelcellseminar.com/exhibit and reserve your spot on the Expo floor today!

Don't forget to book your room at the reduced rate at the Renaissance Long Beach at www.fuelcellseminar.com/hotel/.