International Safety Codes & Standards, New Delhi, India - 29 August 2009

India Workshop Draws International Interest

An international hydrogen safety workshop was held on Saturday, 29 August in conjunction with the 2009 World Hydrogen Technologies Convention. Over 60 people participated. Perspectives on hydrogen energy and Hydrogen/Compressed Natural Gas blends were provided from a variety of experts.

Dr. R. K. Malhotra, Executive Director of the R&D Centre at Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. opened the workshop.

Mr. V. C. Agrawal, Director of HR and SHE at Indian Oil Corporation, Ltd provided the context from the Indian Health and Safety perspective, describing the human health and safety needs relating to hydrogen and hydrogen/CNG blends.

Mr. Jeff Serfass, General Manager of the Partnership for Advancing the Transition to Hydrogen (PATH), described the role of PATH in assisting countries with hydrogen codes, standards, and regulations. He indicated this is the second workshop PATH has supported in India , and that there are opportunities for other countries to hold similar workshops. In addition, PATH is planning a webinar on hydrogen codes and standards in the next six months.

Mr. A. Mishra of the Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD) described India ’s experiences with installation codes for CNG and anticipated issues for H2/CNG blends.

Karen Hall, National Hydrogen Association, presented an overview of relevant international standards and regulations, including the robust set of international efforts working to put hydrogen standards and regulations in place for commercialization.

Dr. Jim Ohi described the U.S. coordinated approach that could serve as a model India and other countries by providing a case study on how the government-led coordinated efforts in the U.S. has advanced hydrogen and fuel cell codes, standards and regulations.

Mr. Naser Chowdhry of Air Products and Chemicals described the rich industry experience contributing to hydrogen codes and standards, and gave an in-depth review of some key critical component and system specifications.

Mr. Tom Joseph of Bethlehem Hydrogen presented a detailed review of NFPA 52 and NFPA 55, including the latest developments in separation distances and dispensing. He also highlighted how the provisions within these installation codes could be adapted for Indian Hydrogen and H-CNG installations.

The workshop featured a panel discussion which was comprised of the following experts:

Chair: Dr. R. K. Malhotra, IOCL

Moderator: Karen Hall, NHA

Panelists: Jeff Serfass, PATH ; Dilip Chenoy, SIAM; M. K. Chaudhari, ARAI; Roger Marmaro, Hythane Company; Tom Joseph, Bethlehem Hydrogen; B. Basu, IOCL; Jim Ohi, representing DOE

Panellists described their views of the issues raised, and all participants were encouraged to contribute to the discussion. A number of issues were raised:

Is it legal for India to adopt NFPA documents?

India currently has many CNG vehicles on the road, and there is significant interest in reducing emissions further by moving towards H2/CNG blends. Do H2/CNG refuelling nozzles and receptacles need to be different than CNG nozzles/receptacles? If so, why?

Different pressures?

There are environmental benefits of H2/CNG blends, and these vehicles need to be able to accept CNG when H2/CNG is not available; however CNG-only vehicles that are not designed for blends should not be able to take H2/CNG. Discussion – Is there a safety reason to support this view? What are the reasons that existing CNG vehicles should not be able to accept H2/CNG blends when they are available?

Guidance is needed in the form of “Dos and Don’ts”, clearly describing the responsibilities of the Original Equipment Manufacturers and the User.

Thanks to codes and standards, permitting times are cut. India is experiencing issues similar to the U.S. in the 1990’s and early 2000’s with delays on approvals.

Industrial hydrogen is available now in India and can be used in H2/CNG vehicles.

Local vendors need to tap into the experiences of global companies to supply components.

Policy decisions must be made public.

Public education and awareness

Policy and support for demos

Existing stations used existing requirements (the most conservative requirements).

The workshop spent the few remaining minutes discussing the next steps – how to bring it all together from India ’s perspective. It was agreed that the issues raised would be taken back to the U. S. Department of Energy, and appropriate follow-up steps would be considered.