Abstract
As part of FCH-JU funded HyCoRA project running from 2014 to 2017, 28 gaseous and 13 particulate samples were collected from hydrogen refueling stations in Europe. Samples were collected with commercial sampling instruments and analysis performed in compliance with prevailing fuel quality standards. Sampling was conducted with focus on diversity in feedstock as well as commissioning date of the HRS. Results indicate that the strategy for sampling was good. No evidence of impurity cross-over was observed. Parallel samples collected indicate some variation in analytical results. It was however found that fuel quality was generally good. Fourteen analytical results were in violation with the fuel tolerance limits. Therefore, eight or 29 % of the samples were in violation with the fuel quality requirements.Violation of the tolerance for impurities in fuel was observed in some samples. Nitrogen, oxygen and organics were the predominant impurities quantified. Particulate impurities were found to be within fuel quality specifications. No correlation between fuel quality and hydrogen feedstock or HRS commissioning date was found. Nitrogen to oxygen ratios gave no indication of samples being contaminated by air. A comparison of analytical results between two different laboratories were conducted. Some difference in analytical results were observed.
Highlights
Hydrogen has become a major energy vector within sustainable transportation
The results shows that no samples have not been contaminated by air, nor have cross-contamination between samples been observed by the applied strategy for preparation of sampling vessels
The sampling strategy presented in this study has been used to perform the sampling campaign on hydrogen quality providing 28 reliable samples to be analysed according to ISO 14687
Summary
Hydrogen has become a major energy vector within sustainable transportation. At the end of 2017 there were approximately 330 hydrogen refueling stations (HRS) around the world, most of these being publicly accessible for hydrogen refueling. When conducting hydrogen fuel quality control, sampling from the dispenser nozzle at representative pressure and gas velocity would be most representative of the hydrogen fuel accepted by the fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). This sample would contain impurities sourcing from hydrogen production methods and feedstock, impurities sourcing from the transport of hydrogen from production to HRS, and the impurities sourcing from the HRS itself. Analysis of gaseous samples collected from HRS should be performed to check for fuel compliance with prevailing fuel tolerance standards (SAE International, 2015; CEN, 2018; International Organisation for Standardization, 2019c). In a second part of the article, discussion on laboratory inter-comparison will be presented highlighting potential laboratory bias and impact on the final hydrogen quality results (false results)
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