Real-World Hydrogen Technology Validation

International Conference on Hydrogen Safety –ICHS 2011, San Francisco, California, September 12-14, 2011
Conference Paper NREL/CP-5600-52082, March 2012 (Preprint)
Real-World Hydrogen Technology Validation
Sprik, S. 1, Kurtz, J. 2, Wipke, K. 3, Ramsden, T. 4, Ainscough, C. 5, Eudy, L. 6, and Saur, G. 7
1 sam.sprik@nrel.gov, 2 jennifer.kurtz@nrel.gov, 3 keith.wipke@nrel.gov, 4 todd.ramsden@nrel.gov, 5 chris.ainscough@nrel.gov, 6 leslie.eudy@nrel.gov, 7 genevieve.saur@nrel.gov
1-7 NREL, 1617 Cole Blvd, Golden, CO, 80401, USA
Abstract
The Department of Energy, the Department of Defense’s Defense Logistics Agency, and the Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration have funded learning demonstrations and early market deployments to provide insight into applications of hydrogen technologies on the road, in the warehouse, and as stationary power. NREL’s analyses validate the technology in real-world applications, reveal the status of the technology, and facilitate the development of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, manufacturing, and operations. This paper presents the maintenance, safety, and operation data of fuel cells in multiple applications with the reported incidents, near misses, and frequencies. NREL has analyzed records of more than 225,000 kilograms of hydrogen that have been dispensed through more than 108,000 hydrogen fills with an excellent safety record.
Introduction—Hydrogen Technology Validation At NREL
Technology validation confirms whether or not component and system technical targets have been met under realistic operating conditions. Operating as a United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) Laboratory, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has a hydrogen technology validation team working to validate hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and fueling infrastructure and to provide technology status as part of DOE's hydrogen technology validation activity. Work for others and interagency agreements also enable NREL to work with the Department of Defense (DOD) Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA).
Our projects involve gathering extensive hydrogen fuel cell data from systems and components under real-world conditions, analyzing these detailed data, and then comparing results to technical targets and providing technology status. While the raw data are protected by NREL, analysis results are aggregated into public results called composite data products (CDPs). These publicly available CDPs help the development community understand the state of fuel cell technologies, identify areas for continued improvement, and provide data metrics that are important in evaluating the business case for these fuel cell markets without revealing proprietary data.
Free Full Text Source: http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy12osti/52082.pdf