REAL-WORLD HYDROGEN TECHNOLOGY VALIDATION

REAL-WORLD HYDROGEN TECHNOLOGY VALIDATION Sprik, S. 1, Kurtz, J. 2, Wipke, K. 3, Ramsden, T. 4, Ainscough, C. 5, Eudy, L. 6, and Saur, G. 7 1-7 NREL, 1617 Cole Blvd, Golden, CO, 841, USA 1 sam.sprik@nrel.gov, 2 jennifer.kurtz@nrel.gov, 3 keith.wipke@nrel.gov, 4 todd.ramsden@nrel.gov, 5 chris.ainscough@nrel.gov, 6 leslie.eudy@nrel.gov, 7 genevieve.saur@nrel.gov ABSTRACT The Department of Energy, the Department of Defense s Defense Logistics Agency, and the Department of Transportation s Federal Transit Administration have funded learning demonstrations and early market deployments to provide insight into applications of hydrogen technologies on the road, in the warehouse, and as stationary power. NREL s analyses validate the technology in realworld applications, reveal the status of the technology, and facilitate the development of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, manufacturing, and operations. This paper presents the maintenance, safety, and operation data of fuel cells in multiple applications with the reported incidents, near misses, and frequencies. NREL has analyzed records of more than 225, kilograms of hydrogen that have been dispensed through more than 18, hydrogen fills with an excellent safety record. 1. INTRODUCTION HYDROGEN TECHNOLOGY VALIDATION AT NREL Technology validation confirms whether or not component and system technical targets have been met under realistic operating conditions. Operating as a United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) Laboratory, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has a hydrogen technology validation team working to validate hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and fueling infrastructure and to provide technology status as part of DOE's hydrogen technology validation activity. Work for others and interagency agreements also enable NREL to work with the Department of Defense (DOD) Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Our projects involve gathering extensive hydrogen fuel cell data from systems and components under real-world conditions, analyzing these detailed data, and then comparing results to technical targets and providing technology status. While the raw data are protected by NREL, analysis results are aggregated into public results called composite data products (CDPs). These publicly available CDPs help the development community understand the state of fuel cell technologies, identify areas for continued improvement, and provide data metrics that are important in evaluating the business case for these fuel cell markets without revealing proprietary data. 2. DATA HANDLING HSDC AND THE FLEET ANALYSIS TOOL Data are securely housed and analyzed within NREL s Hydrogen Secure Data Center (HSDC). Based on agreements with the companies, quarterly deliveries to the HSDC include operation, maintenance, and safety data. Internal analysis of the data is completed quarterly and public releases of data occur every six months. CDPs aggregate data across multiple systems, sites, and teams while detailed data products (DDPs) contain individual data analyses identifying individual contributions to CDPs. DDPs are only shared with the partner who supplied the data. Data exchange may happen more frequently based on data, analysis, and collaboration. Fig. 1 shows this process graphically. 1

Figure 1. Data flow for HSDC projects Most of the analysis in the HSDC is performed using a software tool developed at NREL named Fleet Analysis Toolkit. The opening screen is shown in Fig. 2. This tool processes data from multiple projects covering fuel cell cars, buses, material handling equipment (MHE), plug-in electric vehicles, stationary fuel cells, backup fuel cells, test stand fuel cells, and hydrogen infrastructure. The tool is continually updated with the addition of new projects and with new analyses as needed. Figure 2. Opening screen of NREL Fleet Analysis Toolkit You can access reports and presentations from NREL s technology validation activities, including those containing all the CDPs, through NREL s website [1]. 3. LEARNING DEMONSTRATIONS AND EARLY MARKET DEMONSTRATIONS This section describes three different areas of hydrogen technology validation at NREL light-duty vehicles and stations, buses, and early fuel cell market demonstrations. 3.1 Light-Duty Vehicles and Stations The Controlled Hydrogen Fleet and Infrastructure Analysis project, also referred to as the National FCEV Learning Demonstration, started in 23 and is expected to end in early 212. This project is DOE funded. Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 show pictures of the light-duty vehicles and companies involved. Since project inception, 155 vehicles have been deployed. These vehicles stored hydrogen as liquid (4 vehicles), at 35 bar (83 vehicles), and at 7 bar (68 vehicles). The 23 vehicles still in the project, 2

meaning they report data to NREL, all store hydrogen on board at 7 bar. The graph in Fig. 5 shows how these numbers change over time. Figure 3. Ford/BP and Chevron/Hyundai-Kia project partners through end of 29 Figure 4. Daimler, GM, and Air Products teams continuing through 211 Cumulative Vehicles Deployed/Retired 1 18 16 14 12 1 8 6 4 2 - Vehicle Deployment by On-Board Hydrogen Storage Type 7 bar on-road 35 bar on-road Liquid H2 on-road 7 bar retired 35 bar retired Liquid H2 retired (2) 155 23 45 83 4 NREL cdp_fcev_25 Created Mar-1-11 3:37 PM (1) Retired vehicles have left DOE fleet and are no longer providing data to NREL (2) Two project teams concluded in Fall/Winter 29 Figure 5. Number of fuel cell vehicles in learning demonstration and type of hydrogen storage Twenty-four hydrogen fueling stations were deployed within the National FCEV Learning Demonstration. Hydrogen at these stations was either delivered or produced on site. Delivery involved either compressed gas or liquid hydrogen. On-site production included electrolysis and reformation of natural gas. Fig. 6 displays how these stations were distributed through 29 and the status as of the 4 th quarter of 21. Fig. 7 shows the cumulative number of stations by quarter. By the 4 th quarter of 21, 3

Number of Stations # of Stations 9 stations were retired and 15 stations were still operating, 9 of which were continuing outside the project. 11 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 NREL cdp_fcev_32 Created Mar-1-11 4:18 PM Learning Demonstration Hydrogen Stations By Type Delivered Compressed H2 Natural Gas On-Site Reforming Station Type Operating Outside of Project Operating Within Project Historical 25-29* On-Site Electrolysis Delivered Liquid H2 *Some project teams concluded Fall/Winter 29. Markers show the cumulative stations operated during the 25-29 period Figure 6. Station types in National FCEV Learning Demonstration 25 2 Cumulative Stations Continuing Outside of Project Retired Stations Current Project Stations 9 15 1 9 5 6 NREL cdp_fcev_31 Created Mar-14-11 9:52 AM Reporting Period Figure 7. Learning demonstration station status by quarter 3.2 Buses The goal of the bus evaluations is to determine the status of fuel cell systems for buses, and provide the lessons learned to aid other fleets in implementing the next generation fuel cell systems into their operations. Transit buses are one of the best early transportation applications for fuel cell technology. Buses operate in congested areas where pollution is already a problem. These buses are centrally located and fuelled, highly visible, and subsidized by government. By evaluating the experiences of these early adopters, NREL can determine the status of bus fuel cell systems and establish lessons learned to aid other fleets in implementing the next generation of these systems. 4

Both DOE and FTA fund NREL's hydrogen and fuel cell evaluations for buses. A joint plan describes these evaluations [2], and Table 1 summarizes both current and planned DOE- and FTA-funded projects. This table shows the estimated timing for NREL's evaluations. The schedule for planned evaluations is subject to change as each project progresses. Table 1. Bus evaluation list and timeline 3.3 Early Fuel Cell Market Demonstrations Early fuel cell market demonstrations are focused primarily on using fuel cell technologies for material handling equipment (FCMHE), backup power, and prime-power applications. DOEsponsored demonstration projects support fuel cell market transformation activities and help foster the growth of fuel cell markets. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds are used for most of the DOE projects. In addition, DOD funds early fuel cell demonstration projects. Fig. 8 contains pictures of early market fuel cell applications, such as pallet jacks, stock picker forklifts, an auxiliary power unit (APU), and a backup power unit along with their supporting infrastructure, including a tube trailer and dispensers. The map in Fig. 9 shows locations of early market demonstrations across the U.S. 5

Figure 8. Pictures of early market fuel cell applications FC Unit Locations - ARRA 125 1 75 5 25 NREL cdparra_em_3 Created: Feb-9-11 1:26 AM Material Handling Equipment (8 Sites and 54 FC Units) Backup Power (85 Sites and 21 FC Units) Stationary (1 Sites and 6 FC Units) APU (1 Sites and 1 FC Units) Number of FC Units in State/Site Figure 9. Map with ARRA fuel cell sites across the U.S. Fig. 1 shows the number of material handling units in operation for each quarter by class for ARRAfunded fuel cells. Class I material handling units are counterbalanced and what the general public usually refers to as a forklift. Class II units are stock pickers and generally have a very tall reach. Class III units are pallet jacks that move pallets around warehouses and are used for loading and unloading trucks. Through the 4 th quarter of 21, 38 units have been deployed. For DLA sites, 6 units, all class I, have been deployed through the 4 th quarter of 21, as shown in Fig. 11. 6

Cumulative Systems 1,2 Deployed Cumulative Systems 1,2 Deployed 4 35 Class III Class II Class I Fuel Cell Units Deployed - ARRA 3 38 25 2 26 26 172 15 136 131 131 1 5 NREL cdparra_mhe_1 Created: Mar-1-11 2:18 PM 76 122 4 4 6 14 35 35 21 Q1 21 Q2 21 Q3 21 Q4 Figure 1. Fuel cell MHE units deployed under ARRA 11 1 9 8 Class III Class II Class I Fuel Cell Units Deployed - DLA 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 4 3 2 1 NREL cdpdla_mhe_1 Created: Mar-24-11 1:54 AM 29 Q1 29 Q2 29 Q3 29 Q4 21 Q1 21 Q2 21 Q3 21 Q4 Figure 11. Fuel cell MHE units deployed for DLA 4. Operational Data Fig. 12 shows details on how fuel cells have been operated as well as how much hydrogen has been dispensed for multiple applications. From the data reported, forklifts have the most hydrogen fills and most hours accumulated. This is due to the number of forklifts deployed as well as their daily duty cycle. Buses are driven a lot each day, but not as many buses are in operation as forklifts. Light-duty vehicles, in general, do not accumulate many hours per day unless in specialized service, but they have used about the same amount of hydrogen over 9 thousand kilograms as buses. 7

Total Hours: 614,31 Hours 218 49,272 Hydrogen Amount 32 114,29 39,477 96,286 45,251 9,865 Total H 2 kgs: 226,66 Miles Hydrogen Fills Total Miles: 3,42,186 4,541 547,653 28,23 NREL cdp_comb_2 Created: 4/13/211 4:27 PM 2,872,533 75,364 Total H 2 Fills: 18,135 Figure 12. Fuel cell and hydrogen use across applications Different applications of fuel cells have distinct operational characteristics. Fig. 13 shows how fueling rates differ across applications. You can see from the graph that fuel cell buses (FCBs) have much higher fueling rates than fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), which have higher rates than FCMHE units. This is mainly due to the size of the tanks for the applications. Due to the smaller tank in the forklift and the amount of time the forklift is in operation, the tank cycle life could be approached early. Figure 13. Cross-application fueling rates Fig. 14 shows fueling events by quarter for ARRA funded projects with over 38 thousand fills. Fig. 15 shows fueling amounts by quarter for DLA with over 2 thousand kilograms of hydrogen dispensed. 8

Hydrogen Dispensed [kg] Cumulative Amount [1 kg] Number of Fills Cumulative Fuelings [1] 16 Fueling Events By Quarter - ARRA 25 14 12 Cumulative Fuelings = 38,863 2 1 8 6 All Sites By Quarter Cumulative By Site 15 1 4 2 5 NREL cdparra_mhe_3 Created: Mar-21-11 3:29 PM 29Q1 29Q2 29Q3 29Q4 21Q1 21Q2 21Q3 21Q4 Figure 14. Fueling events by quarter (MHE ARRA) 35 3 All Sites By Quarter Cumulative By Site Hydrogen Dispensed to Material Handling Equipment By Quarter - DLA Cumulative Hydrogen Dispensed = 2,88 kg 2 18 16 25 2 14 12 1 15 8 1 5 6 4 2 NREL cdpdla_mhe_4 Created: Mar-25-11 1:18 AM 29Q1 29Q2 29Q3 29Q4 21Q1 21Q2 21Q3 21Q4 Figure 15. Fueling amounts by quarter (MHE DLA) 5. Safety and Maintenance Data Safety and maintenance data are collected and reported for light-duty, infrastructure, and material handling projects. Incidents and near misses are defined for consistent reporting across the projects. An incident is defined as an event that results in any of the following: A lost-time accident and/or injury to personnel Damage/unplanned downtime for project equipment, facilities, or property Impact to the public or environment Any hydrogen release that unintentionally ignites or is sufficient to sustain a flame if ignited Release of any volatile, hydrogen-containing compound (other than the hydrocarbons used as common fuels) 9

Number of Reports A near miss is defined as: An event that, under slightly different circumstances, could have become an incident An unplanned hydrogen release insufficient to sustain a flame For the incidents and significant near misses where new information can be learned, the data are uploaded to the H2incidents.org website [3]. The uploaded data are reported as originating from the learning demonstration without naming the company involved. For the light-duty vehicles, the safety reports include 13 events. These vary from several traffic accidents where the hydrogen system worked properly and shut down as designed, to detected leaks while fueling and hydrogen alarms going off in the passenger compartment as well as in the fueling system. A tank scratch detected by visual inspection was also handled as a potential safety concern. Fig. 16 shows these events by quarter. Safety Reports - Vehicle Operation 3 2 Tank Scratch Traffic Accident H2 Leak - During Fueling H2 Alarm - Fuel System H2 Alarm - Passenger Compartment 1 NREL cdp_fcev_9 Created: Feb-18-11 2:32 PM Figure 16. Light-duty vehicle safety reports For the infrastructure supporting light-duty vehicles, a bar graph showing the number of reports by quarter along with the average number of reports by station are presented in Fig. 17. Note that five incidents were reported during this period. 1

Severity Number of Reports 5 4 Incident Near Miss Non-Event Avg # Reports/Station Type of Infrastructure Safety Reports by Quarter Through 21 Q4 3 2 1 NREL cdp_fcev_36 Created: Mar-14-11 11:18 AM 5Q2 5Q3 5Q4 6Q1 6Q2 6Q3 6Q4 7Q1 7Q2 7Q3 Reporting Period An INCIDENT is an event that results in: - a lost time accident and/or injury to personnel - damage/unplanned downtime for project equipment, facilities or property - impact to the public or environment - any hydrogen release that unintentionally ignites or is sufficient to sustain a flame if ignited - release of any volatile, hydrogen containing compound (other than the hydrocarbons used as common fuels) A NEAR-MISS is: - an event that under slightly different circumstances could have become an incident - unplanned H2 release insufficient to sustain a flame Figure 17. Light-duty infrastructure safety reports 7Q4 8Q1 8Q2 8Q3 8Q4 9Q1 9Q2 9Q3 9Q4 1Q1 1Q2 1Q3 1Q4 The categories of safety report types for the incidents are presented in Fig. 18. They show that the incidents involve equipment malfunctions and hydrogen releases. Total Infrastructure Safety Reports by Severity and Report Type Through 29 Q4 Incident Near Miss Alarms Only Automatic System Shutdown Electrical Issue Equipment Malfunction False Alarm/Mischief H2 Release - Minor, NO Ignition H2 Release - Significant, NO Ignition Manual System Shutdown Non-H2 Release Site Power Outage Structural Issue System Trouble, not Alarm Non-Event NREL CDP2 Created: Mar-11-1 2:45 PM 5 1 15 2 25 3 Number of Reports An INCIDENT is an event that results in: - a lost time accident and/or injury to personnel - damage/unplanned downtime for project equipment, facilities or property - impact to the public or environment - any hydrogen release that unintentionally ignites or is sufficient to sustain a flame if ignited - release of any volatile, hydrogen containing compound (other than the hydrocarbons used as common fuels) A NEAR-MISS is: - an event that under slightly different circumstances could have become an incident - unplanned H2 release insufficient to sustain a flame Figure 18. Infrastructure safety by report type for light-duty vehicle infrastructure Details about the primary factors of these events indicate that the incidents involved one calibration/settings/software controls issue, two operator/personnel errors, and two design flaws. You can see this information from the CDP in Fig. 19, which includes primary factors for incidents, near misses, and non-events. 11

Severity Primary Factors of Infrastructure Safety Reports Through 29 Q4 Incident Near Miss Calibration/Settings/ Software Controls Design Flaw Electrical Power to Site Environment (Weather, Power Disruption, Other) False Alarm Inadequate Training, Protocol, SOP Inadequate/ Non-working Equipment Maintenance Required Mischief, Vandalism, Sabotage New Equipment Materials Not Yet Determined Operator/Personnel Error System Manually Shutdown Non-Event NREL CDP37 Created: Mar-11-1 2:45 PM 5 1 15 2 25 3 Number of Reports An INCIDENT is an event that results in: - a lost time accident and/or injury to personnel - damage/unplanned downtime for project equipment, facilities or property - impact to the public or environment - any hydrogen release that unintentionally ignites or is sufficient to sustain a flame if ignited - release of any volatile, hydrogen containing compound (other than the hydrocarbons used as common fuels) A NEAR-MISS is: - an event that under slightly different circumstances could have become an incident - unplanned H2 release insufficient to sustain a flame Figure 19. Primary factors of light-duty vehicle infrastructure reports Safety reporting on buses is generally not required in the data provided to NREL. However, a few issues do come up due to the differences in design. Adding hydrogen storage to the top of a bus adds height to the bus. The extra height may cause interference between bus and overhangs, such as tree limbs that would not impact the rest of the bus fleet. Also, the added weight to the top of the bus changes its center of gravity, which affects handling of the bus. The following three figures show the maintenance of MHE and infrastructure for the ARRA and DLA sites. Fig. 2 reveals that the majority of events and labor hours associated with those events involve the hydrogen production unit and the compressor. 12

Infrastructure Maintenance By Category All Sites Thru 21Q4 Number of Events Total Events = 363 87% were unscheduled H2 production unit compressor Labor Hours Total Hours = 2427 87% were unscheduled preventative maintenance 8% 2% 9% 31% dispenser system control & safety 8% valves & piping 1% MISC 1% 13% 23% MISC includes the following categories: Data collection electrical other storage 13% 35% NREL cdp_mhe_18 Created: Mar-18-11 9:2 AM Figure 2. Maintenance of material handling infrastructure by category Fig. 21 and Fig. 22 include material handling maintenance data for ARRA and DLA, respectively. Outside of preventative maintenance, the most frequent categories include thermal management, sensors, the energy storage system, and operator protocol. Fuel Cell System Maintenance By Category - ARRA All ARRA Sites Thru 21Q4 Number of Events Total Events = 1149 83% were unscheduled 14% THERMAL MANAGEMENT SENSORS ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE Labor Hours Total Hours = 1676 87% were unscheduled 13% ELECTRICAL FUEL SYSTEM CONTROL ELECTRONICS 6% 12% UPGRADE SOFTWARE OTHER AIR SYSTEM 6% 11% MISC 9% 22% 1% 1% MISC includes the following categories: FC STACK MANUFACTURING DEFECT VALVES ACTUATORS SERVICE OPERATOR PROTOCOL 11% 11% NREL cdparra_mhe_12 Created: Mar-3-11 4:58 PM Figure 21. Maintenance of ARRA MHE by category 13

Severity Fuel Cell System Maintenance By Category - DLA All DLA Sites Thru 21Q4 Number of Events Total Events = 1432 76% were unscheduled 2% ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE OPERATOR PROTOCOL OTHER UPGRADE Labor Hours Total Hours = 3459 75% were unscheduled 9% THERMAL MANAGEMENT CONTROL ELECTRONICS 15% 16% FUEL SYSTEM SENSORS ELECTRICAL MISC 5% 8% 9% 11% MISC includes the following categories: VALVES SERVICE SAFETY SOFTWARE AIR SYSTEM FC STACK 4% 7% 1% 13% NREL cdpdla_mhe_12 Created: Mar-24-11 1:5 AM Figure 22. Maintenance of DLA MHE by category Material handling infrastructure safety events are reported in the CDP in Fig. 23. The reported data include four incidents all due to releases of liquids or gases that were not hydrogen. Infrastructure Safety Reports by Severity - All Sites and Report Type 21Q4 Near Miss Incident NREL cdp_mhe_41 Created: Mar-9-11 2:26 PM Alarms Only Equipment Malfunction H2 Release - Minor, NO Ignition Non-H2 Release Other 1 (user defined) Structural Issue 2 4 6 8 1 12 14 16 Number of Reports An INCIDENT is an event that results in: - a lost time accident and/or injury to personnel - damage/unplanned downtime for project equipment, facilities or property - impact to the public or environment - any hydrogen release that unintentionally ignites or is sufficient to sustain a flame if ignited - release of any volatile, hydrogen containing compound (other than the hydrocarbons used as common fuels) A NEAR-MISS is: - an event that under slightly different circumstances could have become an incident - unplanned H2 release insufficient to sustain a flame Figure 23. MHE infrastructure safety reports by severity One MHE incident occurred for ARRA fuel cells. It involved a significant release of hydrogen. Over 5 minor leaks and 2 electrical issues were reported, as shown in Fig. 24. 14

Severity Severity Fuel Cell System Safety Reports by Severity - ARRA and Report Type 21Q4 Near Miss Incident Electrical Issue H2 Release - Minor, NO Ignition H2 Release - Significant, NO Ignition 1 2 3 4 5 6 Number of Reports An INCIDENT is an event that results in: - a lost time accident and/or injury to personnel - damage/unplanned downtime for project equipment, facilities or property - impact to the public or environment - any hydrogen release that unintentionally ignites or is sufficient to sustain a flame if ignited - release of any volatile, hydrogen containing compound (other than the hydrocarbons used as common fuels) A NEAR-MISS is: - an event that under slightly different circumstances could have become an incident - unplanned H2 release insufficient to sustain a flame NREL cdparra_mhe_27 Created: Mar-29-11 2:35 PM Figure 24. ARRA MHE safety reports by severity Two non-hydrogen fires affecting MHE were reported as incidents from DLA sites, as shown in Fig. 25. Over 2 minor hydrogen leaks were also reported along with water discharges and structural issues. Fuel Cell System Safety Reports by Severity - All Sites and Report Type 21Q4 Near Miss Incident H2 Release - Minor, NO Ignition Non-H2 Fire Structural Issue Water discharge 5 1 15 2 25 Number of Reports An INCIDENT is an event that results in: - a lost time accident and/or injury to personnel - damage/unplanned downtime for project equipment, facilities or property - impact to the public or environment - any hydrogen release that unintentionally ignites or is sufficient to sustain a flame if ignited - release of any volatile, hydrogen containing compound (other than the hydrocarbons used as common fuels) A NEAR-MISS is: - an event that under slightly different circumstances could have become an incident - unplanned H2 release insufficient to sustain a flame NREL cdpdla_mhe_27 Created: Mar-1-11 11:35 AM Figure 25. DLA MHE safety reports by severity 15

6. SPECIFIC EVENTS One reported incident involved a car accident. The severity of the accident involved frame damage that would have required replacement of part of the frame. The hydrogen systems shut down automatically as designed and no injuries were reported. The responders, except for a fleet manager, were not trained in hydrogen. A lesson learned was that periodic training is required to capture frequent personnel changes in emergency response agencies. Another incident involved vibrating equipment and two broken head fasteners. The system shut down automatically as designed due to high vibration. The combination of the cold water temperature (reducing the fatigue strength of the bolt), and the abnormally high number of cyclical stresses imposed by the imbalance from the hydraulic system check valve failure resulted in the failure of the fasteners. One other incident involved a fire at a fueling station due to a failed weld on a pressure switch near the compressor. Several lessons learned were reported from this incident, including redundant shutoff valves to prevent escalation, design features to reduce the likelihood of cascading events, and improving leak and fire detection systems and shutdown systems. Other events include breakaways at fueling stations not operating as intended, vehicle accidents where the hydrogen systems shut down as designed, and serviced equipment not put back together as designed. 7. CONCLUSIONS Based on the reported data, the light-duty vehicle learning demonstration had 13 safety reports for vehicles and 5 incidents for infrastructure. During this time, over 2.8 million miles were accumulated with over 9 thousand kilograms of hydrogen dispensed. For material handling, 3 safety incidents were reported for fuel cells and 4 safety incidents for infrastructure. Over 8 minor leaks were also reported for MHE and infrastructure combined. This was over 114 thousand hours of operation and over 39 thousand kilograms dispensed with over 75 thousand fueling events. These activities have shown excellent safety records. REFERENCES 1. http://www.nrel.gov/hydrogen/proj_tech_validation.html, NREL s Hydrogen Technology Validation website. 2. Eudy, L., Fuel Cell Transit Bus Evaluations, Joint Evaluation Plan for the U.S. Department of Energy and the Federal Transit Administration. NREL/TP-56-49342-1. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, September 21. 3. http://h2incidents.org, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory s public website for H 2 incidents. List of Acronyms APU ARRA CDP DDP DLA DOD DOE DOT FC auxiliary power unit American Recovery and Reinvestment Act composite data product detailed data product Defense Logistics Agency [U.S. Department of Defense] Department of Defense [U.S.] Department of Energy [U.S.] Department of Transportation [U.S.] fuel cell 16

FCMHE fuel cell material handling equipment FCB fuel cell bus FCEV fuel cell electric vehicle FTA Federal Transit Administration HSDC Hydrogen Secure Data Center [National Renewable Energy Laboratory] MHE material handling equipment NREL National Renewable Energy Laboratory [U.S. DOE] SOP standard operating procedure (see Figure 19) U.S. United States ZEBA Zero Emission Bay Area (from Table 1) ACKNOWLEDGMENT NREL s technology validation activities are supported by the DOE Fuel Cell Technologies Program under DOE contract DE-AC36-8GO2838, the DOT Federal Transit Administration under contracts IAG 1-1799 and IAG 9-1738, and the DOD Defense Logistics Agency under contract FIA-7-1687 with Logistics Management Institute. NREL collaborates with technology providers, operators, and end users, including vehicle developers, fuel cell developers, infrastructure providers, and fleet or site operators to perform technology validation activities. All figures were provided by NREL or by NREL subcontractors and used with permission. 17