Results of the HySafe meetings held in Karlsruhe, Germany, Sept. 16-19
Karen Hall, National Hydrogen Association
Karen Hall has recently been appointed as an industry advisor for the European Commission Network of Excellence for Hydrogen Safety "HySafe" and attended the open meetings, advisors meetings, and HyPer project meetings held by HySafe on September 16-19 in Karlsruhe, Germany. Key issues identified include the following:
- HySafe is scheduled to end in February 2009. Activities are underway to complete efforts and get documents published, although some activities are behind schedule.
- HyPer -the effort to publish a hydrogen installation guideline for Europe- is moving ahead. A rough draft was provided for a select review team. In addition to information contained in similar guides from the US and other sources (DOE/PNNL permitting guides, IEC/TC 105 guidelines, UK installation guide, NFPA, etc), there is a great deal of information that is specific to Europe, including some basic information on the European conformity (CE) mark and European regulations. There is also a lot of data developed under this project to help address set-back distances, flame speed, etc. This draft is in the process of being reorganized and incorporating comments from reviewers. Release for public review is scheduled for November.
As there are many documents to maintain and much work to build upon, the member partners of HySafe are in the process of setting up an association of hydrogen safety to continue after HySafe is ended. They are struggling with the basics right now, including name, funding, scope, etc. The organizers have agreed to share information with the NHA for consideration for inclusion in future editions of the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Safety Report.
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