News
02. 02. 2009
A meeting of the UNECE GRSP informal working group on the safety of hydrogen vehicles (HFCV-SGS) held in the KTI
The Work Programme of the UNECE World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) includes the elaboration of a GTR (Global Technical Regulation) on liquid hydrogen fuelled vehicles. This work is addressed to two items: the development of the requirements and methods on emission and the related tests, as well as the determination of the special safety requirements and test methods relating to such vehicles.
The second item is dealt with by HFCV-SGS (a subgroup on safety issues concerning the hydrogen and fuel-cell vehicles), an informal working group of WP.29 World Forum's subsidiary party, the GRSP (Working Party on Passive Safety). Substantive professional, technical work is essentially performed within this framework. Representatives of the industry and institutions, experts of sectors and safety come together from time to time in different countries of the world in order to discuss the results of their activities and to contribute, by collating their findings, to the development of a regulation to be issued.
The informal working group addressed to the safety of hydrogen and fuel-cell vehicles (HFCV-SGS) decided to held its meeting of 19-21 January 2009 in the KTI. As a result of this decision - documenting the recognition of the activities of the Hungarian experts performed in the UN-ECE - the best 32 world-known experts (in addition to Europeans, the representatives of the USA, Canada, China, Japan and South-Korea) assembled in the Institute for Transport Sciences (KTI) in Budapest. The three-day, concentrated work lead to drafting the safety requirements related to high-pressure hydrogen storing and supplying systems. This work needs the comprehensive harmonisation of the interests, therefore, due to detailed, in-depth debates, the progress is relatively slow. The final result can be expected after one and a half year, when hopefully, the first fuel-cell vehicles manufactured in series will already appear and which, before their registration in traffic, will be type-approved just on the basis of the regulations drafted here.
János DEÁK
