Facilitating Data Collection of Maintenance Events to Populate the Hydrogen Component Reliability Database (HyCReD)

The Hydrogen Component Reliability Database (HyCReD) is a collaborative project between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the University of Maryland, and hydrogen stakeholders to improve safety and reliability for hydrogen facilities by implementing component reliability data taxonomies that support hydrogen infrastructure failure rate analysis. The project aims to quantify failure rates of hydrogen components through high-quality data collection and analysis on root causes and maintenance needed. HyCReD provides a common database for cataloging hydrogen component failures that exists for reliability research in many other mature industries [2]. The database fills a gap for the hydrogen community by providing a scientifically rigorous approach to quantitative risk assessment, prognostic health management, and reliability-centered maintenance analysis. High-level results will be aggregated and anonymized to protect company sensitive information; detailed results will be used to help address issues of hydrogen components. These advanced analytics will support accelerated deployment of hydrogen infrastructure by enabling better: * Design and safety of projects (safety codes and standards development) * Infrastructure reliability and cost (component failure rates, maintenance protocols) * Component R&D needs (robust supply chain) A key to a successful HyCReD implementation is facilitating the ease of reporting and data quality in the database that can be used for analysis. Maintenance data was a previously identified gap in initial efforts to populate and validate the database taxonomies [3]. Collection of maintenance data will be instrumental in identifying failure modes and rates, identifying incipient component failures or reduced performance, cataloging best practices for maintenance routines and methods for prognostic health management, and quantifying the risk and effect of different failure modes. Several key priorities are identified for streamlined data collection to achieve quality and detailed failure data: applicability, ease of use, accessibility, and information security. The HyCReD team has now begun deployment of the database to several companies and groups that have signed nondisclosure agreements to facilitate the data collection of failures in industry hydrogen refueling station infrastructure. This paper will provide an update on the process of HyCReD deployment, including the development of a coding guide for facility personnel to reference and ensure data quality and consistency from one station to another, as well as implementation of contextually dependent data fields of system taxonomy and formatted entries to provide ease of use. The goal is to communicate the lessons learned from the rollout to technicians and engineers in the field and the need for high-level of security to protect all stakeholders.