Fuel Cell Codes and Standards

There are several agencies and certifying facilities that provide oversight or overviews and support development of fuel cell codes and standards. These organizations are listed in the following  

US Fuel Cell Council Through its Codes Standards Working Group, their mission is to become aware of all Codes Standards activities, gather information from all possible sources, and provide 

Code of Federal Regulations The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is a codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government. 

National Hydrogen Association The mission of the NHA is to foster the development of hydrogen technologies and their utilization 

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Implementation of the national templates is coordinated through the National Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Codes and Standards Coordinating Committee, created by the DOE,... 

To summarize, the templates continue to function as the seminal documents that help to create a more unified national approach to the development of hydrogen and fuel cell codes and standards. The templates and the National Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Codes and Standards Coordinating Committee that was formed to manage the templates have created a "virtual national forum" for SDOs, CDOs, industry, government, and other interested parties to address codes and standards issues, both immediate and long-term. 

M. Glass, Fuel Cell Codes and Standards Summit III Summary, April 5-7, 1999, Pacific Northwest Labs. 

With the help and cooperation of standards and model code development organizations, industry, and other interested parties, DOE has established a coordinated national agenda for hydrogen and fuel cell codes and standards. With the adoption of the Research, Development, and Demonstration Roadmap and with its implementation through the Codes and Standards Technical Team, DOE helps strengthen the scientific basis for requirements incorporated in codes and standards that, in turn, will facilitate international market receptivity for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. 

The NHA works with DOE, NREL, and others to coordinate codes and standards activities to avoid duplication of effort and enable hydrogen systems to be sited. This requires coordination with industry groups and standards organizations such as the International Organization for Standardization, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, lEC TC 105, the U.S. Fuel Cell Council, the Society of Automotive Engineers, Fuel Cell Propulsion Institute, National Fire Protection Association, and the DOE Fuel Cell Codes and Standards Summit. 

HarmonHy (2006). HarmonHy Harmonization of Regulations, Codes and Standards for a Sustainable Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology. Support Action funded by the European Commission under the 6th Framework Programme. www.harmonhy.com. 

Canadian interests span into hydrogen production, delivery and utilization, primarily in fuel cell applications in transportation, stationary and portable systems. Furthermore, codes and standards for hydrogen systems are an important area of activity. The range of future electrical requirements for early adopters, such as the military, is very wide with numerous applications for various electrically powered systems. The introduction of hydrogen as an energy carrier into the commercial and military sector offer similar and sometimes unique challenges in all the areas discussed. 

The rapid development and application of fuel cells throughout the world has created the need for fuel cell technology related codes and standards. Several organizations and committees are currently working on the development of codes and standards related to fuel cells. 

This section provides a brief overview of the existing and developing codes and standards related to fuel cell technologies. The discussion focuses on participating organizations, specific codes and standards and more generally applied codes and standards (e.g., the Uniform Building Code) that apply to system installation. 

Below is a listing and brief description of organizations involved in the development of codes and standards pertaining to fuel cell technology. 

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) NFPA is non-profit organization that publishes the National Electrical Code , the Life Safety Code , the Fire Prevention Code , the National Fuel Gas Code , and the National Fire Alarm Code . The mission of NFPA is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by providing and advocating scientifically based consensus codes and standards, research, training, and education. NFPA is developing a fuel cell specific code, NFPA 853, which will cover the installation of stationary fuel cells of at least 50 kW output. Publication is expected to occur in 2000. 

A summary of existing and pending fuel cell related codes and standards is presented in... 

NFPA 70 National Fire Protection Association 70 is also known as the National Electric Code (NEC). Revisions and addendum s to the code are currently being developed that specifically address fuel cells. Article 690 - Solar Photovoltaic Systems has been targeted for revision to include fuel cells and alternate energy sources systems. This proposal is not expected to be approved since the technological and operational differences between fuel cells and photovoltaic systems is considerable. A new article, currently identified and Article 691, has been proposed and applies to fuel cells for buildings or residential dwellings. This standard addresses the electrical interface between the fuel cell system and a building s electrical distribution panel. 

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