VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND LTD

Automotive fuel cell grade

hydrogen – requirements and

cost issues

MARANDA seminar

9.10.2017, Espoo, Finland

Jaana Viitakangas

211/10/2017 2

Automotive fuel grade hydrogen

US DoE 2015 Fuel Cell Technologies Market Report, August 2016,

https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2016/10/f33/fcto_2015_market_repor

t.pdf

Scandinavian Hydrogen

Highway Partnership

http://www.scandinavianhy

drogen.org/shhp/h2-

stations/

H2stations.org

https://www.netinform.de/H2/H2Stations/H2Statio

ns.aspx?Continent=EU&StationID=-1

H2 mobility

http://h2-mobility.de/en/h2-mobility/

FCEV report, IHS Markit, 2016

http://news.ihsmarkit.com/press-release/automotive/global-hydrogen-

fuel-cell-electric-vehicle-market-buoyed-oems-will-launch-1

311/10/2017 3

Automotive fuel grade hydrogen – requirements

ISO 14687-2:2012: H2 fuel for road vehicles

Impurity

Level in ISO 14687-

2:2012 (ppm(V))

Hydrogen fuel index 99,97 %

Total non-hydrogen gases 300

Water (H20) 5

Total hydrocarbons (Methane basis) 2

Oxygen (O2) 5

Helium (He) 300

Total nitrogen (N2) and argon (Ar) 100

Carbon dioxide (CO2) 2

Carbon monoxide (CO) 0,2

Total sulphur compounds (H2S basis) 0,004

Formaldehyde (HCHO) 0,01

Formic acid (HCOOH) 0,2

Ammonia (NH3) 0,1

Total halogenated compounds 0,05

Max. particulate concentration 1 mg/kg(H2)

Problem of ”total”: a

comprehensive list of

compounds needed

Too tight limits due to the lack

of valid measurements (with

representative conditions)

Problem of measurement: no

traceable approach

Adequate limits

required for

competitive pricing!

411/10/2017 4

Automotive fuel grade hydrogen – cost

H2

QA

(analysis)

€

€

€

€

€

€

HRS

Currently, the ISO 14687 considers mainly the contaminants from the production process,

and lacks proper consideration of possible impurities from transportation and station.

511/10/2017 5

Automotive fuel grade hydrogen – cost

H2 fuel quality assurance

Proper H2 fuel QA is required to secure

sufficient quality to avoid impurity induced incidents

Public acceptance

Too tight H2 fuel QACost of H2 fuel

Market penetration

611/10/2017 6

Automotive fuel grade hydrogen

VTT competence

Hydrogen impurity studies in miniature

automotive-alike test-bench

Studies of the effect of impurities on FC since

2013 (EU funded projects HyQ, HyCoRA,

HYDRAITE)

HyCoRA: HCHO & HCOOH limits could be 200

and 100 x the current ISO limit

Measurement in relevant conditions

Only a very small effect was seen due to 2 ppm

HCHO or 20 ppm HCOOH

Change of standard together with Japanese

results

240 min

~ 15 mV

6.0

H2

2.5

H2

6.0 H2

~1.6 ppm HCHO 2.0

711/10/2017 7

Automotive fuel grade hydrogen

VTT competence

Currently starting to work

Impurities and the effect of impurities possibly deriving

from LOHC

Impurities and the effect of impurities possibly deriving

from H2 delivery chain, especially from HRS

H2

H2

HRS

811/10/2017 8

Acknowledgements

HyCoRA project: The research leading to these results has received funding

from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)

for the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative under grant

agreement n° 621223.

http://hycora.eu/

Thank you

jaana.Viitakangas@vtt.fi