As hydrogen fuel cell vehicles move from demonstration to commercialization, early customers expect safe, convenient, customer-friendly fueling.  Customers also require assurance that the fuel they receive is of appropriate quality and accurate quantity.  Hydrogen quality affects fuel cell stack performance and lifetime, as well as other factors such as valve operation. If fuel quality is inadequate the vehicles will not perform to customer expectations.  However, requirements for very high fuel quality may increase the cost of producing the hydrogen beyond what customers are willing to pay.

Developing appropriate hydrogen quality standards requires balancing vehicle and fuel cell requirements with hydrogen production methods and costs. Cost-effective test and sampling procedures must be validated to support standards development.  Real-world data from existing hydrogen stations and vehicles is needed to validate methods and optimize the standards development process.

The California Fuel Cell Partnership, with support from members in the auto, energy, government, and technology industries, has collected real-world hydrogen quality data from existing stations and vehicles operating in California.  Through active involvement in standard development organizations such as SAE and ASTM, this real-world information helps to support the development of hydrogen quality standards.

As it enters a third phase of operation, the CaFCP is focused on building a market foundation to support commercialization.  CaFCP’s efforts in gathering and analyzing real-world hydrogen quality data is a key component necessary in establishing this foundation.

Keywords: “Hydrogen Quality” “Fuel Cell Vehicles” “Commercialization”