First Draft Reports for NFPA 2 and NFPA 55 Open for Public Comment

by Karen Quackenbush, FCHEA

The first draft of both NFPA 2 and NFPA 55 are posted on the NFPA website and are open for public comment.  Public comment is open until May 9th.  Second draft meetings for both Technical Committees will be scheduled for July and August.

Here are the links to view the First Draft Report and to submit Public Comments:

NFPA 2: https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/all-codes-and-standards/list-of-codes-and-standards/detail?code=2&tab=nextedition

NFPA 55: https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/all-codes-and-standards/list-of-codes-and-standards/detail?code=55&tab=nextedition

If you wish to make comments on extracted material, it is imperative that you make those comments to the source document.  For example, public comments on material extracted into NFPA 2 from NFPA 55 must be made to NFPA 55. 

NFPA staff is working with the Chapter 10 task group (NFPA 2) and the Hydrogen Equipment Enclosure task group (NFPA 2) to provide materials by May 9th as public comment. There will then be an opportunity to review such materials at second draft.

Hoses and Valves Drafts out for Review

by Karen Quackenbush, FCHEA

Two documents which are a part of the Gaseous Hydrogen Fueling family of documents at ISO are out for vote. For background, please see related article from July 2015 at http://www.hydrogenandfuelcellsafety.info/july-2015/?rq=interview.

ISO/FDIS 19880-3, Gaseous hydrogen — Fueling stations — Part 3: Valves. National bodies are voting to approve the technical content of this FDIS for publication.

ISO/DIS 19880-5, Gaseous hydrogen — Fueling stations — Part 5: Hoses and hose assemblies. National bodies are voting to approve the technical content of this DIS for publication.

Members of National Bodies for ISO/TC 197 are encouraged to submit their votes as requested by the administrator of the mirror committee in their country, to allow time to obtain a consensus U.S. position before the close of voting.

CSA North American Forum Report is Now Available

by Karen Quackenbush, FCHEA

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) has approved the release of the Final Report from the North American Hydrogen Codes and Standards Forum.

The links below provide the executive summary and report availability for the public in English and French.

https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/transportation/alternative-fuels/resources/20633

https://www.rncan.gc.ca/energie/carburants-remplacement/ressources/20634

For background information, please see related article in the May 2017 edition at http://www.hydrogenandfuelcellsafety.info/may-2017/?rq=interview#Update3.

Station Locator Update Announcement

by Steve Lommele, NREL

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) Alternative Fueling Station Locator (afdc.energy.gov/stations) has undergone a major makeover! The updated Station Locator offers new features and an improved user interface built on the same reliable, comprehensive, and fuel-neutral data that our partners have come to trust. Some of the notable new features include more analysis and search capabilities on the “Analyze and Download Data” tab, the ability to search for multiple fuel types at once, and the ability to download a spreadsheet of your search results. Check out the Clean Cities Blog (cleancities.energy.gov/blog) for more information on the changes. We welcome thoughts and suggestions regarding the new Station Locator at any time.

In an ongoing effort to ensure a more standard fueling experience, we are working to more accurately categorize hydrogen stations. Previously, hydrogen stations were classified as private or public. Under this classification, public stations could have limited infrastructure, restricted hours (e.g., requiring a call ahead), and restricted payment types (e.g., the user must have an account with the fuel provider).

Moving forward, public hydrogen stations will also be classified as “retail” and “non-retail,” and this information is now visible on the new Station Locator. In order to be classified as retail, a station must have unrestricted public access during standard business hours, meet SAE J2601 standards, and accept standard payment methods, such as credit cards, onsite. When a user searches the Station Locator for hydrogen stations, only retail stations are automatically returned. Of course, non-retail information is still be captured and available via additional search functionality. Users may expand their search to include all public hydrogen stations by selecting the "include non-retail stations" check box.

As always, please email us at technicalresponse@icf.com if you have questions or thoughts about the Station Locator. We are continually looking for ways to engage with the industry, and welcome your feedback on ways we can keep succeeding in those efforts.

Update on the Global Technical Regulation for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Vehicles

by Nha Nguyen, DOT

A meeting of the Hydrogen and Fuel-cell vehicles GTR Informal Working Group (IWG) was held February 5-7, 2018. There was a large turned out with over 60 participants consisting of representatives from governments, auto and tank industries, standard organizations and academia.

At this meeting, the IWG continued discussions on various technical issues such as material compatibility, tank tress rupture, fire test parameters and clarification of existing GTR test procedures. 

Due to the complexity of the technical items and to manage the efficiency of the IWG, 5 task forces were formed to address specific items:

  1. Task Force #1 - Heavy duty vehicles and buses
  2. Task force #2 - Fueling receptacle requirements
  3. Task force #3 - Recommendations for test procedures
  4. Task force #4 - Fire test
  5. Task force #5 - Recommendations from ISO TC197

The IWG is making good progress and on track to complete its work by the WP.29 mandate of 2020. The next meeting is being scheduled for June 2018 in Korea.

BACKGROUND:

In June 2013, the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) and the Executive Committee of the 1998 Agreement (AC.3) established a global technical regulation (GTR No. 13) for hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles (HFCV).  The GTR No. 13, was developed during phase 1 by the subgroup safety (SGS), consists of safety provisions for the hydrogen fuel vessel, fuel system and high voltage system of HFCV.  Subsequently, the GTR has been adopted and transposed into national regulations by several contracting parties under the 1998 Agreement.  Some of the provisions that required long term research were deferred to phase 2. 

In March 2017,  AC.3 gave an approval to a joint proposal submitted by the Japan, Republic of Korea and the European Union to establish an informal working group (IWG) to work on phase 2 of the GTR No. 13 under the framework of the 1998 Agreement.

The phase 2 of GTR No. 13 is sponsored by the European Union, Japan and Republic of Korea.  The IWG is led by co-chairs (the United States and Japan), vice-chairs (Republic of Korea and China), and a secretary (OICA).