Qualification of an IR Test Bench for Hydrogen Quality at High Pressure

Determining the quality of hydrogen fuel is essential to ensure the lifetime of fuel cells. Even the smallest contaminations in the low ppm range can lead to failure or massive loss of performance. In this study carbon dioxide and moisture in hydrogen were recognized and quantified in the concentration range from 1–10 ppm (CO
2
) and 2–50 ppm (H
2
O), respectively, by recording infrared (IR) spectra of pure hydrogen and contaminated hydrogen, forming the difference spectrum and analyzing the absorption bands around the valence vibrations at different pressure levels.