ISO TC 197 Working Group 12 Update
by Karen Hall
Vice President, Technical Operations of the National Hydrogen Association

ISO TC 197 met in San Francisco on January 24-26, 2005. Four countries were represented. The purpose was to finalize the corrigendum to remove PEM fuel cells for road vehicles from the existing ISO 14687:1999 Hydrogen fuel - Product specification, and to continue drafting the new technical specification for hydrogen fuel for this application. The group had been considering removing all fuel cell applications from the standard, however it was decided this was outside the scope of the working group. This action will be pursued seperately by the US TAG - see related article.

Progress was made on reaching agreement on several constituents, however additional consensus is required on many others. WG 12 members present will take back issues raised during the meeting to the manufacturers and suppliers in their respective countries. These include:

• Definition of purity versus quality/concentration


• Total hydrocarbons and aromatics


• Determination of whether methane and/or ethane should be categorized as a hydrocarbon or an inert, and at what level


• Noncondensable (Inert) level


• CO2 levels


• O2 levels


• Water levels


• Ammonia levels


• Potassium and sodium levels


• Particulates - amount and sizes


• Liquid hydrogen specification


• Methanol


• Test methods for all constituents on table as presently written


• US to review Japanese test methods for ammonia. Japan to provide English version if possible