ISO TC 197 Plenary Session
by Robert L. Mauro, U.S. Technical Advisory Group
The ISO TC 197 met in Montreal on the afternoon of June 14 and on June 15. Work groups on gaseous hydrogen connectors (WG 5) and basic considerations for hydrogen safety (WG 7) met on the mornings of June 12 and June 14, respectively. With nine of the 17 P-Members participating, the meeting was well attended because it was held in conjunction with the World Hydrogen Energy Conference. The countries in attendance were Argentina, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United States.
The meeting was successful from the U.S. perspective for the following reasons:
- All U.S. TAG comments to committee draft standards being developed by TC 220 for cryogenic vessels and IEC/TC 105 for fuel cells were approved as TC 197 comments to those technical committees;
- A U.S. proposal for a joint work group on reversible fuel cells was broadened to include overlap work items and unanimously approved by TC 197;
- A proposed new work item proposal by the U.S. on portable hydride storage, presented by Ned Stetson of Chevron Texaco Ovonics, was unanimously supported in concept and deemed an appropriate work item for this TC to consider.
- A similar presentation on a potential new work item proposal on hydrogen generation from fossil fuels, sponsored jointly by the U.S. and the Netherlands, presented by Mario Sandoval of Hydrogen Source, Engineering, as a joint work item to ISO TC 197 and IEC/TC 105, had each P-member present comment favorably upon the proposal.
Other items of note were the recognition given the U.S. TAG for its work on preparing comments on the differences between the ISO draft standards on liquid and gaseous tanks and the draft regulations on the same topics submitted to the ECE and WP.29. Specifically mentioned in this regard were Steve Woods of Honeywell, Harold Beeson of NASA, and Norm Newhouse of Lincoln Composites.
The item notable for its absence was a scheduled presentation on the EIHP, which was not included in the final agenda without comment. It might be that the issues regarding the EIHP and ISO/TC 197 are well on their way to being resolved and therefore, would have been counterproductive to rehash the issue.
The outcome of the Plenary was a series of resolutions from the meeting. Once the official minutes and resolutions are available, the NHA will inform stakeholders and let you know how to get a copy.
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