Source: Energy & Management Powernews, March 30, 2022
The testing and certification company Tüv Süd has opened a hydrogen testing laboratory in Garching near Munich. It is to analyze the suitability of components for hydrogen applications.
Hydrogen places high demands on the component and product safety of tanks, valves, lines, sensors, pressure regulators, fuel cells, stacks or distribution systems. With the help of testing laboratories, Tüv Süd wants to support companies in testing their components and systems for hydrogen suitability. The testing company wants to assist with design validation, material selection and qualification, and even type approval and certification.
The knowledge of all country-specific relevant standards and guidelines should, according to the testing experts, enable successful national and international market access. The laboratory now opened in Garching, 17 kilometers north of the Bavarian capital, is intended to offer "all possibilities" for reliably and economically evaluating the H2 suitability and safety of components and systems, as Martin Sekura assures. Sekura is Hydrogen Business Development Manager at Tüv Süd.
Pressure cycle resistance and leak tightness of the test samples are tested in Garching. Their behavior under flow, overpressure or bursting are also subjected to analysis. For hydraulic tests, environmental simulations and electromagnetic compatibility, other hydrogen test laboratories currently being built by Tüv Süd at its Straubing and Mannheim sites will be available.
The new test laboratory in Garching is unique, according to Sekura. Not only the most modern equipment would be used there. All types of materials and components can also be tested there for their suitability for use with gaseous and liquid hydrogen - "and across all industries." That includes components for stationary fuel cells or for power plants and industrial facilities, but also vehicle tanks or components for mobile fuel cells.
According to Tüv Süd, the lab's first pilot customers include a seal manufacturer, a producer of carbon-fiber pressure vessels and an automotive supplier.
Author: Davina Spohn