Building a safer hydrogen economy: KRISS and KGS join forces

The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS, President Lee Ho Seong) and the Korea Gas Safety Corporation (KGS, President & CEO Bahk Gyurng-Goog) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on April 22 at the KRISS in Daejeon. The agreement aims to promote the standardization of the hydrogen industry and establish a safe and reliable hydrogen economy ecosystem.

Through this partnership, the two institutions will work together to establish standards that ensure fairness in hydrogen trade and build a safety management framework to support the widespread adoption of these standards across hydrogen-related sites.

The core focus of the MOU is to expand field demonstrations by ensuring the safety of hydrogen flow calibration systems. In 2020, KRISS developed the ‘Hydrogen Flow Calibration System’ to verify flow meters at hydrogen refueling stations, ensuring that a precise amount of hydrogen is dispensed. This system is recognized as a technology that enhances the fairness of hydrogen trade by guaranteeing that consumers receive the exact amount of hydrogen for the amount paid.

The research team is currently conducting limited field validation studies of the equipment at some hydrogen refueling stations in Korea.

To carry out these field studies, the safety of the system must be evaluated annually under the special regulations of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, with oversight by the Korea Gas Safety Corporation (KGS), a specialized gas safety management institution. Due to the complex administrative procedures required for safety testing, it has previously been difficult to expand the scope of these field validation studies.

The two institutions have agreed to streamline the procedures for equipment registration and facility usage required for safety testing, and to implement institutional support measures.

In addition, the two institutions agreed to cooperate on

•  Hydrogen industry standardization to establish a safe hydrogen ecosystem
•  Establishing traceability and ensuring measurement consistency for hydrogen refueling station complex metering devices
•  Joint technical and R&D efforts for domestic and international research

The MOU signing ceremony was attended by KRISS President Lee Ho Seong and KGS President & CEO Bahk Gyurng-Goog, along with the heads of hydrogen industry-related departments from both institutions. After the ceremony, a lab tour was held, where attendees had the opportunity to observe the KRISS hydrogen flow calibration system in action.

KRISS President Lee Ho Seong stated,

“This agreement will establish a hydrogen trading system that the public can trust, and it will be a significant step toward enhancing the competitiveness of Korea’s hydrogen economy.”