- Vehicle & Fueling Systems
- Fueling Dispenser
- Hydrogen Production/Use Systems
- Fuel Cell
- Piping/Fittings/Valves
- Gasket
- Vehicle & Fueling Systems
- Fuel Cell Vehicle
- Vehicle & Fueling Systems
- Fueling Hose
- Hydrogen Storage Equipment
- Gas cylinder
A hydrogen release of this type is a significant event. The event highlighted a number of procedural contributing factors that will influence the manner in which these fuel cell systems will be serviced in the future. A complicating factor in this event was that multiple companies were involved, and communications among them were inadequate. It is likely that the condition existed from the original manufacture of the fuel cell systems, and may even have been understood by the Company A fuel cell team, but the history is not fully known since that team no longer exists. Company B’s investigation also discovered that a similar leak had been experienced at the same facility and a similar replacement had been required, but there was no corporate memory of the repair or the underlying failure mode.
If a situation arises as a result of consolidation or equipment transfer wherein another entity takes ownership or service and support responsibility for fuel cell systems, the full design history and operating records of the systems must be fully documented and accessible. This will allow for proper knowledge transfer of underlying design considerations or problematic reliability or safety-related issues, and potentially prevent this type of avoidable incident from occurring again.
Another lesson relates to how high-pressure components within the hydrogen fuel storage system are qualified following a repair. It is envisioned that in the near future, there will likely be regional service centers equipped with re-manufacturing capabilities to support commercial fuel cell deployments. These repair shops would be equipped with the infrastructure to properly purge and pressurize equipment with small-molecule gas to test for leaks.