NFPA Consolidation of Hydrogen Requirements Update
Karen Hall, National Hydrogen Association


The NFPA Standards Council, which oversees all of the code and standard activity at NFPA, has received a request to create a new hydrogen technologies code. Currently hydrogen technology requirements are addressed in several NFPA documents that are the responsibility of different technical committees. This document would consolidate all existing NFPA hydrogen technology requirements into a single document and would also be expanded to fill in any gaps in existing NFPA hydrogen safety requirements.

NFPA has at least 8 documents that would be part of the consolidation process and these 8 documents are the responsibility of 8 different NFPA technical committees. This can make coordination difficult. The Standards Council is looking for input on the idea of consolidating all of the NFPA hydrogen requirements into a single document. NHA staff has requested member comments in order to form an NHA position on whether there is industry support for a "NFPA 2 Hydrogen Code" document.

There are pros and cons of this type of approach. In fact, industry did not support a similar proposal from ICC three years ago. At that time, industry felt that it is important to include the hydrogen requirements in the applicable code, such as the fuel gas code or the mechanical code. In the case of the ICC's International Fuel Gas Code, the compromise was reached to have a separate chapter on hydrogen in the code. Members of the code committee raised concerns that the code had been specifically written for gases with different properties and used at very low pressures. Therefore, materials compatibility as well as assumptions on pressures built into the codes could result in incompatibility of the document with planned hydrogen use.

On the other hand, having a separate code allows all hydrogen requirements to be collated into a single document, which could improve the ease of use for the code official as well as the project planner. It also provides an opportunity for a Technical Committee utilizing hydrogen energy experts to oversee this consolidated code.

During the Hydrogen Coordinating Group meeting on June 7, concerns were raised about the implications of a possible consolidation on hydrogen requirements for industrial uses. It was also suggested that another solution might be the consolidation of requirements for a particular application, such as hydrogen refueling stations.

Carl Rivkin, Senior Chemical Engineer at NFPA has stated, "The purpose of consolidating requirements would be to put them all in one document that is developed by hydrogen experts. This would increase ease of use, ensure consistency, and create a committee that has broad expertise in hydrogen technologies. The hydrogen requirements would no longer be in the documents that they were removed from."

Many NHA members responded to this request. Results were mixed. While all respondents agreed that it is important to have technical consistency among the codes, not everyone agreed that consolidation of the codes is the answer.

Anyone interested in commenting on this proposed project is invited to do so in writing. Please include information on resources on the subject matter, the names of those interested in participating on the Committee (if established), the names of other organizations actively involved with this subject, and why you do or do not support such a project. Responses should be sent to Codes and Standards Administration, NFPA, 1 Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02169-7471, by July 5, 2005. For anyone that requires additional information on the proposed project, please contact NFPA Codes and Standards Administration.