February 2003
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GRPE/ISO Harmonization
by Patrick Serfass, National Hydrogen Association

Since GRPE’s June 2001 meeting, where the Ad Hoc Working Group was formed to draft regulations for on-board hydrogen storage, significant effort has been expended between the Working Party on Pollution and Energy (GRPE) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to ensure the technical harmonization of GRPE draft regulations and ISO draft standards.

The GRPE draft regulations that currently exist were originally based on EIHP (European Integrated Hydrogen Project) drafts for on-board storage of liquid and gaseous hydrogen. In 2001, the ISO draft standards were in development when GRPE formed an Ad Hoc Working Group to write new regulations for similar devices. Since the formation of this Working Group, the two groups have been working together to develop two parallel sets of standards/regulations which achieve harmonization.

A brief timeline follows showing the actions and interactions of the two groups:

March 6-9, 200
Geneva, Switzerland
123rd Session of WP 29

  • At the request of the German Ministry of Transport, under the 1958 Agreement, WP-29 agreed to examine incorporating the new EIHP draft regulations into its work plan by referring consideration to the subsidiary body, GRPE.

June 2001
Geneva, Switzerland
GRPE Meeting

  • GRPE created an Ad Hoc Working Group to develop recommendations on the regulations based on EIHP drafts for the on-board storage of liquid and gaseous hydrogen.

November 29, 2001
Bonn, Germany
1st Meeting of the GRPE Ad Hoc Working Group

  • Approached completion of draft regulations
  • Agreed to work toward harmonizing the draft regulations and draft ISO standards

February 19, 2002
Munich, Germany
2nd Meeting of the GRPE Ad Hoc Working Group

  • Requested that ISO study the differences between existing GRPE draft regulations and two ISO draft standards for land vehicle fuel tanks: ISO 13985 (liquid H2), and ISO 15869 (gaseous H2 and H2 blends)

June 4-5, 2002
Nabern, Germany
3rd Meeting of the GRPE Ad Hoc Working Group

  • ISO submitted a report (prior to the meeting) by TC’s 22 and 197 highlighting the comparisons of EIHP draft regulations and ISO draft standards.
  • The ad hoc WG recognized the need to resolve the differences between the two documents.
  • No decision was made on whether the ISO standards will be called out in the GRPE regulations.

July 30, 2002
Munich, Germany
1st Meeting of the GRPE/ISO Group of Experts

  • Goal: to resolve differences between EIHP regulations and ISO standards
  • The majority of the known differences between the EIHP draft regulations and the ISO draft standards were resolved.

October 24-25, 2002
Vancouver, Canada
2nd Meeting of the GRPE/ISO Group of Experts

  • Goal: to resolve outstanding technical differences between EIHP regulations and ISO standards and comments which may affect harmonization
  • All technical differences were resolved.
  • At the end of the meeting, a major discrepancy concerning Type 1 (all metal) containers was discovered and the meeting adjourned without a resolution.

November 14-15, 2002
Cologne, Germany
4th Meeting of the GRPE Ad Hoc Working Group

  • The WG recognized the need to resolve the remaining differences between the EIHP and ISO documents.

January 22, 2003
Munich, Germany
3rd Meeting of the GRPE/ISO Group of Experts

  • Goal: to resolve outstanding harmonization issues between EIHP regulations and ISO standards, and address comments that may affect harmonization

Over the last six months, the GRPE/ISO Group of Experts have made progress in resolving the differences between the GRPE draft regulations and the ISO draft standards, but many harmonization issues remain to be resolved. Most issues stem from discrepancies with the parameters for the design and performance of Type 1 (all metal) containers in the following categories:

  • Pressure Cycling
  • Elongation for aluminum containers
  • Burst pressure ratio
  • Formula for wall thickness
  • Pressure level for the proof pressure test/volumetric expansion test
  • Aluminum tanks (ISO 7866) do not require ultrasonic inspection
  • Temperature and size limits

What's Next?
The GRPE/ISO Group of Experts will meet this week in Germany to resolve remaining harmonization issues.

“We hope this will be the culminating meeting which achieves harmonization on all outstanding issues,” said Volvo’s Paul Adams.

If the groups reach a consensus, the processes for developing the GRPE draft regulations and the ISO draft standards will split. Potentially, the GRPE draft regulations for gaseous hydrogen could be presented informally at the next GRPE meeting early this summer and presented formally at the second meeting in the late fall or winter. If approved after the formal presentation, the GRPE draft regulations will be eligible to go through the formal procedure to become ECE regulations and eventually Global Technical Regulations (GTRs). At this point, in Europe, ECE regulations would be legal requirements which supercede ISO standards.

Developing the GRPE draft regulations into ECE regulations may significantly assist European car manufacturers by using standards which support European fuel cell and hydrogen technologies. This could potentially accelerate the development of European hydrogen-related technologies. However, developers of competing technologies worry that the development of GRPE draft regulations that do not cite ISO standards will shut them out of the European market by unevenly supporting other hydrogen technologies. Currently, it is unclear how the ISO standards, once completed, will be incorporated into the ECE regulations.

The GRPE/ISO Group of Experts recently finished their last meeting on February 13 in Germany. The morning meeting on the 13th was scheduled to be followed by a one and a half day meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group.