SAE Fuel Cell Standards Committee Gears Up After Short Summer Break
Mike Steele, Chairman, SAE Fuel Cell Standards Committee


The SAE Fuel Cell Standards Committee is comprised of several Working Groups (WGs), each with their own area of expertise: Safety, Interface, Emissions, Performance, and Terminology.

Safety Working Group
The Safety Working Group is progressing with revisions to SAE J2578, General fuel cell vehicle safety, first published as a Recommended Practice in December of 2002. The draft of SAE J2579, Fuel systems for FC vehicles, is being developed along with the update to J2578. This WG has also published a Technical Information Report (TIR) SAE J2760, Pressure Vessel Terminology, in May of 2006. This Technical Report attempts to communize terminology between the pressure vessel and container communities.

Interface Working Group
The Interface Working Group is progressing with a revision to SAE J2600, Compressed hydrogen vehicle fueling connection devices, to contain a standard geometry for 700 bar refueling technologies. Candidate designs were presented to the Group at the June meeting and it is anticipated that a final decision be made by years end.

SAE J2600 contains the requirements for the receptacle geometry. Of course, then, this specifies the station nozzle mating requirements. J2600 also sets forth design requirements for the nozzle in that environmental, durability, and construction details for compliance with J2600 are laid out in detail. However, what the nozzle looks like outside of the receptacle mating envelope is totally up to the nozzle designer. It doesn't matter what the handle looks like as long as it passes all of the requirements in the Standard. Ultimately the market will decide which one is accepted by the public.

As the nozzles and receptacles must fit perfectly, yet not be interchangeable with other pressures or fuels, i.e., a 700 bar nozzle cannot be connected to a 250, 350, or 500 bar receptacle, non-interchangeability is addressed in the barrel length of the receptacle. A higher pressure nozzle cannot be connected to a lower pressure receptacle.

SAE J2600 deals with the refueling of vehicles with compressed hydrogen only. The WG has just entered into the realm of liquid refueling and is working on SAE J2783, which will be the liquid counterpart to J2600. Just as J2600 is related to ISO 17268, J2783 will be related to ISO 13984. The SAE J-number was just recently assigned and there has been a meeting to discuss a timeline and approach. SAE WG has passed on to CSA the responsibility for creating a "blended" fuel interface.

The next revision of J2600 will, hopefully, include receptacle geometries for 500 (called H50) and 700 bar (called H70) devices. We are also looking at including a low-pressure receptacle geometry (H11) to be used for refueling hydride tanks.

Using the barrel-length scheme to discriminate between pressure levels, it is conceivable to extend the pressure ceiling to something above 700 bar, but there has been no substantive discussions on this point to date.

This document will be used by potential nozzle/receptacle suppliers as templates for the creation of devices for use by the auto industry.

Once J2600 is updated and published, there will be a standard configuration for refueling nozzles or vehicle-mounted receptacles. Without these, there is a potential for a fragmented interface between the refueling infrastructure and the vehicle manufacturers.

The Interface WG would like to have the next revision published by the end of this year or first quarter of next year. Until this is published, as more vehicles/refueling stations are introduced the possibility increases that vehicle "A" and vehicle "B" may have different receptacle geometries and may not be compatible with a given refueling station. The SAE Fuel Cell Standards Committee is mindful of this potential and is working to get a revision on the street as soon as possible. However, the document will move forward on the basis of sound engineering evaluation of the candidate designs and not be based on vehicle/station introduction timetables.

The Interface WG is also pursuing updates to SAE TIR J2719, Information report on the development of a hydrogen quality guideline for fuel cell vehicles. This work is proceeding in conjunction with activities within ISO TC197 WG12 as well as industry members and other NGOs.

Other tasks within this WG include continuation of development of SAE J2601, Vehicle-to-station communications and fueling protocols for gaseous hydrogen surface vehicles. This document is critical to the successful development of the refueling infrastructure. Because of the cross-cutting nature of this subject, the WG is closely allied with several CSA Technical Committees.

Emissions Working Group
The Emissions Working Group is putting the final touches on SAE J2572, the Recommended Practice for measuring the fuel consumption and range of FCVs and HEVs using compressed hydrogen. Publication is anticipated in the first quarter of next year.

Performance Working Group
The Performance Working Group is proceeding with development of two documents that will provide uniform testing procedures for PEM FC stacks to be used for automotive applications as well as a procedure for evaluating the durability performance of automotive FCs.

Terminology Working Group
The Terminology Working Group is currently revising SAE J2574, Fuel cell vehicle terminology, to incorporate the latest definitions in use by both other relevant SAE documents and developing international Standards.