Standardisation and Innovation are Driving Hydrogen-based Technologies
The 13th HyTruck Breakfast Briefing featured by the Polish New Mobility Association (PSNM), focused on HRS standardisation and low-temperature fuel cells.
Paweł Piotrowicz from TÜV SÜD Polska Sp. z o.o. gave an introduction to HRS standardisation and unification. TÜV SÜD is a company of German origin, today comprising more than 1,000 locations and almost 28,000 experts globally. The core business is testing, inspection and certification.
To avoid many company-specific standards, as for plug connectors during the rollout of electric vehicles, standardisation of technical solutions for HRS re-fuelling has been addressed timely.
ISO 17268 and ISO 19880-8 were identified as essential standards
However, standards must keep up with rapid technological development while maintaining safety issues.
Although a lot of standards have been introduced voluntarily, Mr. Piotrowicz strongly recommends applying design review, hazard and operability analysis, compliance review before commissioning, preparation of guidelines, refuelling protocol, review operation and maintenance plan and certification during planning, testing and commissioning process.
It was also brought up that EU regulations RED III and AFIR greatly impact HRS development, and these directives act as the main drivers for HRS ramp-up in Europe.
High-quality standardisation is needed to increase safety, unification and cost minimisation
Marcin Orlikowski from IMPACT Clean Power Technology presented a heavy-duty fuel cell power pack with an enhanced lifetime. The Toshiba low-pressure fuel cell was introduced and its technical parameters were described during the presentation.
When compared to more traditional high-pressure fuel cells, low-pressure fuel cells have some advantages like simplified design, efficient cooling and stable long-term full-power operation.
The low-pressure fuel cell operates in overpressures of 10-20 kPa, making compressors and humidifiers unnecessary, leading to a simpler and more robust unit design. These fuel cells also suffer only a minimal voltage drop of 3% during long operation periods.
Porous bipolar plates extract water formed in the oxidation process of hydrogen from the cells to avoid needing an external humidifier unit.
Low-pressure fuel cells can achieve a lifetime of 80,000 hours, compared to the average fuel cell lifetime of 10,000 hours. Typical applications are in marine transport, rail traffic, heavy-duty trucks and energy storage systems. The prototype is about to be tested in real-life applications.
