Technical Sessions at FCS to include RCS

By Jennifer Gangi, FCHEA

On behalf of the Organizing Committee for the 2017 Fuel Cell Seminar and Energy Exposition (FCS&EE), I am pleased to announce that the Technical Program is now available online at www.fuelcellseminar.com. By popular request, the technical topics have been expanded this year to include presentations on safety, codes and standards for fuel cell technologies and hydrogen infrastructure.

More than180 presentations and 40 technical posters will be provided over Wednesday and Thursday afternoons by our industry's top researchers, scientists, and speakers.  Session tracks will cover a wide-range of topics including:

  • Infrastructure Safety;
  • National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Hydrogen Fueling Activities;
  • Regulations, Codes & Standards;
  • International, State, Regional Hydrogen Infrastructure Plans;
  • Transportation Deployment, Including Heavy-Duty Vehicles;
  • Hydrogen Generation & Energy Storage;
  • Renewable Hydrogen Pathways;
  • Activities Supporting Fuel Cell Commercialization;
  • Technology Advances, Including SOFC, PEM, Catalysts, Electrolysis, and much more!

In addition, other special events that will take place during the FCS&EE include a mini-symposium hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy on H2@Scale, Plenary sessions, a Supply Chain Exchange event, and an Exhibit Hall featuring a range of companies from all around the world.

The 2017 Fuel Cell Seminar and Energy Exposition will take place from November 7-9, 2017, at the Long Beach Convention Center, in Long Beach, California.

Preferred pricing ends after October 16th, so please register soon to save money!

NFPA Update

By Karen Quackenbush, FCHEA

NFPA 2: Hydrogen Technologies Code, and NFPA 55: Compressed Gases and Cryogenic Fluids Code, are currently on the Annual 2019 revision cycle at the First Draft stage.

The First Draft Ballot has been posted for NFPA 55 Technical Committee Members. The First Draft Ballot for NFPA 2 is expected to be posted shortly. Once balloting by Technical Committee Members is complete, First Draft Reports will be prepared and posted for public review. The deadline for posting the First Draft Reports is February 28, 2018. The public will then have the opportunity to make public comments until May 9, 2018.

The results of the public comment phase will be made available in the Second Draft Report, which will be posted no later than January 23, 2019, on the NFPA website.

Stakeholders who wish to make an amending motion after issuance of the Second Draft Report can file a Notice of Intent to Make a Motion (NITMAM), until February 20, 2019. If any NITMAMs are received, they will be posted on the NFPA website no later than April 3, 2019.

For further information on the NFPA process, please visit http://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/standards-development-process/how-the-process-works.

Interview with ISO TC 197 Chair

By Karen Quackenbush, FCHEA

In this eighth installment of FCHEA’s "Interview with the ISO/TC 197 Chairman" series of articles, Dr. Andrei V. Tchouvelev shares his enthusiasm over the progress and activities of the ISO/TC 197 work program.

The discussion comes in the middle of a very busy month for Dr. Tchouvelev who acknowledges that it is an exciting time for hydrogen technologies. “In September alone, we are busy preparing for significant activities at an international conference, preparing for the 2017 ISO/TC 197 Plenary and working group meetings that will take place in China in December, and advancing documents on the path to International Standards”, Dr. Tchouvelev exclaimed.

“I led two activities at the 7th International Conference on Hydrogen Safety (ICHS 2017), which was held in Hamburg, Germany on September 11-13, 2017”, he continued.

“First, as part of the traditional topical lecture on ISO/TC 197, I invited Herve Barthelemy and Nick Barilo to a Mini-round table to share relevant international activities related to the hydrogen infrastructure rollout. The key point of my update was to highlight, via a forensic investigation of a specific example, the discrepancy between sometimes idealistic (and inconsistent) standard requirements and the reality of hydrogen components availability in the global market place. Later in the conference, a similar example was presented by Air Liquide. These examples underscore the fact that the current hydrogen components market is still microscopically small and international standards must be practical to assist the industry bravely marching through the valley of death”, Dr. Tchouvelev stated. “This also prompted me to conclude that this discussion should be continued at the upcoming ISO/TC 197 plenary meeting in China, where we will hold a mini-round table on the standardization of hydrogen components within the Business Plan segment of the agenda”.

“Second, I Chaired a Safety Plenary that features a talk by Nick Barilo of PNNL, on US Hydrogen Safety Panel Experience; a presentation on the Outcome of the Research Priorities Report (RPW2016) by Jay Keller representing HySafe, and two topical presentations on Risk Perception and Technology Acceptance (on HYACINTH, a study by the European Union on FCEV Rollout by Paul Upham, and a discussion on trust building by Thomas Jordan and Christian Büscher). The latter subject is of particular importance to hydrogen community since building the public trust towards hydrogen & fuel cell technologies is paramount for their commercial success. All of these activities are very relevant to the development of international standard for hydrogen, since they provide a number of guiding vectors”, Dr. Tchouvelev explained.

“The ISO/TC 197 Plenary meeting will take place on December 7th and 8th, 2017 in Foshan, China”, and Working Group meetings will be held on Monday December 4th and Tuesday December 5th also in Foshan, China”, he mentioned. “As well, building on the success of last year, I am happy to confirm there will be a Strategic Meeting/Workshop on Wednesday December 6th in Foshan”, he announced. “This time the Strategic Planning Meeting will be jointly organized by ISO/TC 197 and the Chinese National Mirror Committee, and is expected to be attended by over 400 people.  It will be focused on two main topics: real-world experience in the deployment of H2 fueling stations in dense urban / city environment (morning session) and technological advancements in HFC technologies and infrastructure (afternoon session).  The technical presentations will feature leading Chinese and international experts. Stay tuned for the detailed agenda that will be released shortly!”, Dr. Tchouvelev exclaimed.

“Finally”, Dr. Tchouvelev noted, “there is significant progress being made in the Working Groups on the family of documents for gaseous hydrogen fueling stations, as well as other documents in the TC 197 work program.”

Here is a list of ISO/TC 197 documents which have been circulated for comment and approval in the past few months:

  • ISO/CD 14687.2, Hydrogen fuel quality — Product specification
  • ISO/DIS 19880-2, Gaseous hydrogen — Fueling stations — Part 3: Dispensers
  • ISO/DIS 19881, Gaseous hydrogen – Land vehicle fuel containers
  • ISO/DIS 19882, Gaseous hydrogen — Thermally activated pressure relief devices for compressed hydrogen vehicle fuel containers
  • ISO/DIS 19880-8, Gaseous hydrogen — Fueling stations — Part 8: Fuel quality control
  • ISO/DIS 17268, Gaseous hydrogen land vehicle refueling connection devices
  • ISO/DIS 16111, Transportable gas storage devices — Hydrogen absorbed in reversible metal hydride
  • ISO/CD 19880-5.2, Gaseous hydrogen — Fueling stations — Part 5: Hoses and Hose Assemblies
  • ISO/DIS 19880-3.2, Gaseous hydrogen — Fueling stations — Part 3: Valves

“It is a very busy and exciting time for hydrogen technology standards”, Dr. Tchouvelev concluded.

IEC TC 105 Update

By Karen Quackenbush

The next plenary meeting of IEC Technical committee No. 105: Fuel cell technologies, will be held in Seoul Korea from on November 9th, 2017.

On 8th of November 2017 a Joint conference will take place at the Woosuk University.

Registered experts of IEC/TC 105 can access the preliminary reports online. Please note many items are on a Consent Agenda, and will only be discussed at the plenary meeting, if at least one of the P members or one of the officers has requested a discussion at least two weeks before the TC 105 plenary meeting. Therefore, if you are planning to attend the plenary meeting and would like to ensure an item is discussed, please send your request, along with technical comments, by email to the secretary of TC 105.

The deadline for on-line registration is 5th November, 2017.

Did You Know? Postal Service revising Publication 52

by Karen Quackenbush, FCHEA

The Postal Service is revising Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail, in various sections to provide new mailing standards for lithium batteries. Publication 52 was developed to provide expanded requirements for the mailing of hazardous, restricted, and perishable materials.

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-07-26/pdf/2017-15624.pdf