ISO 19881:2025

Gaseous hydrogen - Land vehicle fuel containers

This document specifies requirements for the material, design, manufacture, marking and testing of serially produced, refillable containers intended only for the storage of compressed hydrogen gas for land vehicle operation. These containers: a) are permanently attached to the vehicle; b) have a capacity of up to 1 000 l water capacity; c) have a nominal working pressure that does not exceed 70 MPa. This document is applicable only to fuel containers containing gaseous hydrogen according to ISO 14687 for fuel cell and internal combustion engine land vehicles. This document specifies requirements for hydrogen fuel containers acceptable for use on-board the following types of land vehicles: light-duty vehicles, heavy-duty vehicles and industrial powered trucks, such as forklifts and other material handling vehicles. Requirements for other types of land vehicles such as rail, off-road, etc., can be derived with due consideration of appropriate service conditions.

Hydrogène gazeux — Réservoirs de carburant pour véhicules terrestres

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 12-Jun-2025
• ICS: 43.060.40 - Fuel systems
• ICS: 71.100.20 - Gases for industrial application
• Technical Committee: ISO/TC 197 - Hydrogen technologies
• Drafting Committee: ISO/TC 197 - Hydrogen technologies
• Current Stage: 6060 - International Standard published
• Start Date: 13-Jun-2025
• Due Date: 12-Nov-2024
• Completion Date: 13-Jun-2025

Relations

• Revises: ISO 19881:2018 - Gaseous hydrogen - Land vehicle fuel containers
• Effective Date: 06-Jun-2022

Overview

ISO 19881:2025 - Gaseous hydrogen - Land vehicle fuel containers specifies requirements for the material, design, manufacture, marking and testing of serially produced, refillable onboard containers for compressed gaseous hydrogen used in land vehicles. It applies to containers that are permanently attached, have up to 1 000 L water capacity, and a nominal working pressure ≤ 70 MPa. The standard is limited to gaseous hydrogen fuels conforming to ISO 14687 and covers fuel containers for light‑duty vehicles, heavy‑duty vehicles and industrial powered trucks (e.g., forklifts). Requirements for other vehicle types (rail, off‑road) can be derived with appropriate service condition considerations.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Scope and service conditions: standard service conditions, container categories, service life, periodic in‑service inspections, pressure and temperature ranges, maximum filling cycles, gas composition and installation requirements.
• Material qualification: requirements and tests for metals, aluminum alloys, nonmetallic liners and composite materials - including tensile, impact, sustained load cracking (SLC), corrosion and UV resistance assessments.
• Container types: provisions for Type 1 (metal) through Type 4 (nonmetallic liner with composite reinforcement) containers; requirements for liners, bosses and interfaces.
• Design and structural requirements: wall thickness rules, composite reinforcement design and stress analysis, modified stress ratio testing, hybrid designs and resistance to external loads.
• Manufacture and assembly: fabrication controls, threaded openings, welding and bonding considerations for different container types.
• Marking, testing and conformance: mandatory marking, pre‑service and periodic testing, and criteria for demonstrating conformance for serial production.

Practical applications

• Design and production of onboard hydrogen fuel tanks for fuel cell and hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles.
• Material selection and qualification for manufacturers of metal and composite hydrogen containers.
• Guidance for testing laboratories and certification bodies performing type approval, periodic inspections and conformity assessments.
• Engineering reference for vehicle OEMs, integrators, fleet operators and maintenance organizations to ensure safe installation, service life management and regulatory compliance.

Who should use this standard

• Hydrogen fuel container manufacturers (metal and composite)
• Vehicle OEMs and system integrators
• Testing and certification bodies
• Regulatory and safety engineers
• Fleet operators deploying hydrogen vehicles and material handling equipment

Related standards

• ISO 14687 (hydrogen fuel quality) - referenced for acceptable gaseous hydrogen composition.
• Requirements for other vehicle types (rail, off‑road) may be derived from ISO 19881 with appropriate service condition adjustments.

Keywords: ISO 19881:2025, gaseous hydrogen, land vehicle fuel containers, hydrogen storage, hydrogen tank testing, composite hydrogen tanks, 70 MPa, ISO 14687, fuel cell vehicle tanks.

Standards Content (Sample)

International
Standard
ISO 19881
Second edition
Gaseous hydrogen — Land vehicle
2025-06
fuel containers
Hydrogène gazeux — Réservoirs de carburant pour véhicules
terrestres
Reference number
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Contents Page
Foreword .vi
Introduction .vii
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 2
4 Service conditions . 6
4.1 General .6
4.1.1 Standard service conditions .6
4.1.2 Container category .6
4.1.3 Service life .6
4.1.4 Periodic in-service inspections .6
4.2 Pressures .6
4.2.1 Nominal working pressures .6
4.2.2 Maximum pressures . .6
4.3 Maximum number of filling cycles . .7
4.4 Temperature range .7
4.4.1 Settled gas temperatures .7
4.4.2 Container temperatures .7
4.4.3 Extreme gas temperatures .7
4.4.4 Test temperatures .7
4.5 Gas composition .7
4.6 External surfaces .8
4.7 Installation requirements .8
5 Conformance . 8
6 Material qualification tests and requirements . 8
6.1 General .8
6.2 Material requirements.9
6.3 Metal containers and metal liners .9
6.3.1 Material properties .9
6.3.2 Impact test for steel .9
6.3.3 Tensile tests for metals .10
6.3.4 Sustained load cracking (SLC) test for aluminium alloys .10
6.3.5 Corrosion tests for aluminium alloys .10
6.4 Ultraviolet resistance of external coatings .10
6.5 Fibres . .10
6.6 Resins .10
6.7 Nonmetallic liners (Type 4) .10
6.8 Bosses for Type 4 containers .11
7 Wall thickness.11
7.1 Type 1 containers .11
7.2 Liners for Type 2, Type 3, and Type 4 containers .11
7.3 Composite reinforcement for Type 2, Type 3, and Type 4 containers .11
7.3.1 Stress analysis .11
7.3.2 Composite reinforcement stress ratios .11
7.3.3 Modified stress ratio test. 12
7.3.4 Hybrid designs . 12
7.4 External loads on containers . 12
8 Threaded openings .12
9 Manufacture .12
9.1 General . 12
9.2 Metal containers and metal liners . 12

iii
9.3 Nonmetallic liners . 13
9.4 Composite containers with metallic liners . 13
9.5 Composite containers with nonmetallic liners . 13
9.6 Brazing . 13
9.7 Welding . . 13
9.8 End closing by forming .14
9.9 Mounting and protection.14
9.10 Batch definitions .14
9.11 Design qualification tests .14
10 Production tests and examinations. 14
10.1 General .14
10.2 Hydrostatic proof and volumetric expansion test . 15
10.3 Leak test .16
11 Batch tests . .16
11.1 General .16
11.2 Batch material tests .16
11.3 Coated containers .16
11.4 Burst test .17
11.4.1 Batch burst test .17
11.4.2 Periodic burst test .17
11.5 Ambient cycle test.17
11.5.1 Batch cycle test .17
11.5.2 Periodic pressure cycling test .18
12 Rejected containers and liners .18
12.1 Physical test .18
12.2 Leak test .19
12.3 Hydrostatic proof and volumetric expansion test .19
12.4 Ambient cycle test.19
12.5 Burst test .19
13 Thermally-activated pressure relief devices . 19
14 Records of manufacture . 19
15 Marking and dispatch . 19
15.1 Markings .19
15.1.1 General .19
15.1.2 Marking information . 20
15.2 Dispatch inspection . . 20
16 Quality assurance .20
17 Design qualification tests .20
17.1 General . 20
17.2 Test requirements.21
17.3 Category A, B and C: design qualification tests . 22
17.3.1 Test requirements . 22
17.3.2 Ambient cycling test . 22
17.3.3 Environmental test . 23
17.3.4 Extreme temperature cycling test .24
17.3.5 Hydrostatic burst test . 25
17.3.6 Flaw tolerance test . 25
17.3.7 Drop test .27
17.3.8 Fire test . 28
17.3.9 High temperature pressure static test . 35
17.3.10 High strain rate impact test . 35
17.3.11 Permeation test . 35
17.3.12 Boss torque test . 36
17.3.13 Hydrogen gas cycling test . 36
17.3.14 Leak before break test .37

iv
17.4 Change of design . 38
17.5 Category B: design qualification tests .41
17.5.1 General test requirements .41
17.5.2 Ambient cycling test .41
17.5.3 Hydrostatic burst test .41
17.5.4 Container test for performance durability .41
17.5.5 Container test for expected on-road performance .43
17.6 Category C: design qualification conditions and limitations .43
17.6.1 Marking information .43
17.6.2 Material tests for steel containers and liners .43
17.6.3 Material tests for aluminium alloy containers and liners .43
17.7 Qualification test results . 44
Annex A (normative) Visual inspection .45
Annex B (normative) Non-destructive examination .46
Annex C (normative) Records of manufacture .48
Annex D (normative) Pre-test checkout of burner .54
Annex E (informative) Design qualification test rationale .60
Bibliography .84

v
Foreword
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This document was prepared by Technical Committee TC 197, Hydrogen technologies.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO 19881:2018), which has been technically
revised.
The main changes are as follows:
— harmonization with UN GTR 13 Phase 2 with focused modifications to the fire test;
— fire test pre-test conditions included as Annex material.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

vi
Introduction
The purpose of this document is to promote the implementation of hydrogen powered land vehicles through
the creation of performance-based testing requirements for compressed hydrogen fuel containers. The
successful commercialization of hydrogen land vehicle technologies requires standards pertaining to
fuelling stations, vehicle fuel system components and the global homologation of standards requirements
for technologies with the same end use. This will allow manufacturers to achieve economies of scale in
production through the ability to manufacture one product for global use.
This document is based on the CSA Standard ANSI/HGV 2-2014 and UN GTR No. 13.

vii
International Standard ISO 19881:2025(en)
Gaseous hydrogen — Land vehicle fuel containers
1 Scope
This document specifies requirements for the material, design, manufacture, marking and testing of serially
produced, refillable containers intended only for the storage of compressed hydrogen gas for land vehicle
operation. These containers:
a) are permanently attached to the vehicle;
b) have a capacity of up to 1 000 l water capacity;
c) have a nominal working pressure that does not exceed 70 MPa.
This document is applicable only to fuel containers containing gaseous hydrogen according to ISO 14687
for fuel cell and internal combustion engine land vehicles. This document specifies requirements for
hydrogen fuel containers acceptable for use on-board the following types of land vehicles: light-duty
vehicles, heavy-duty vehicles and industrial powered trucks, such as forklifts and other material handling
vehicles. Requirements for other types of land vehicles such as rail, off-road, etc., can be derived with due
consideration of appropriate service conditions.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes
requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references,
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 148-1, Metallic materials — Charpy pendulum impact test — Part 1: Test method
ISO 306, Plastics — Thermoplastic materials — Determination of Vicat softening temperature (VST)
ISO 7866:2012, Gas cylinders — Refillable seamless aluminium alloy gas cylinders — Design, construction and testing
ISO 9809-1:2019, Gas cylinders — Design, construction and testing of refillable seamless steel gas cylinders and
tubes — Part 1: Quenched and tempered steel cylinders and tubes with tensile strength less than 1 100 MPa
ISO 9809-2:2019, Gas cylinders — Design, construction and testing of refillable seamless steel gas cylinders and
tubes — Part 2: Quenched and tempered steel cylinders and tubes with tensile strength greater than or equal to
1 100 MPa
ISO 11363-1, Gas cylinders — 17E and 25E taper threads for connection of valves to gas cylinders — Part 1:
Specifications
ISO 11439:2013, Gas cylinders — High pressure cylinders for the on-board storage of natural gas as a fuel for
automotive vehicles
ISO 11926-1, Connections for general use and fluid power — Ports and stud ends with ISO 725 threads and
O-ring sealing — Part 1: Ports with O-ring seal in truncated housing
ISO 19882, Gaseous hydrogen — Thermally activated pressure relief devices for compressed hydrogen vehicle
fuel containers
ASTM D638, Standard Test Method for Tensile Properties of Plastics
ASTM D2344/D2344M, Standard Test Method for Short-Beam Strength of Polymer Matrix Composite Materials
and Their Laminates
ASTM D3359, Standard Test Methods for Rating Adhesion by Tape Test
ASTM D3418, Standard Test Method for Transition Temperatures and Enthalpies of Fusion and Crystallization of
Polymers by Differential Scanning Calorimetry
ASTM D4138, Standard Practices for Measurement of Dry Film Thickness of Protective Coating Systems by
Destructive, Cross Sectioning Means
ASTM D7091, Standard Practice for Nondestructive Measurement of Dry Film Thickness of Nonmagnetic
Coatings Applied to Ferrous Metals and Nonmagnetic, Nonconductive Coatings Applied to Non-Ferrous Metals
ASTM E8/E8M, Standard Test Methods for Tension Testing of Metallic Materials
ASTM E23, Standard Test Methods for Notched Bar Impact Testing of Metallic Materials
ASTM G154, Standard Practice for Operating Fluorescent Ultraviolet (UV) Lamp Apparatus for Exposure of
Materials
CGA C-1-2009, Methods for Pressure Testing Compressed Gas Cylinders and Tubes
ECE/TRANS/180/Add.13/Amend.1 UN GTR No. 13, UN Global Technical Regulation on Hydrogen and Fuel
Cell Vehicles
SAE J2579, Standard for Fuel Systems in Fuel Cell and Other Hydrogen Vehicles
SAE J2601, Fueling Protocols for Light Duty Gaseous Hydrogen Surface Vehicles
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https:// www .electropedia .org/
3.1
autofrettage
pressure application procedure, used in manufacturing composite containers with metal liners (3.15), which
strains the liner (3.15) past its yield point sufficiently to cause permanent plastic deformation that results in
the liner (3.15) having residual compressive stresses and the fibres having residual tensile stresses at zero
internal pressure
3.2
burst pressure
highest pressure reached in a container during a burst test
3.3
composite
filament and resin system
3.4
compressed hydrogen storage system
CHSS
system designed to store compressed hydrogen fuel for a hydrogen-fuelled vehicle, composed of a container,
container attachments (if any), and all primary closure devices required to isolate the stored hydrogen from
the remainder of the fuel system and the environment
3.5
container category
unique class of containers that are intended for a specific usage

3.5.1
Category A
class of containers that are intended to be used in light-duty and heavy-duty land vehicle applications,
regardless of the potential for further qualification to the UN GTR No. 13 for hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles
3.5.2
Category B
class of containers of 70 MPa nominal working pressure that are intended to be further qualified in
accordance with the UN GTR No. 13 for hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles
3.5.3
Category C
class of containers that are intended to be used on hydrogen powered industrial trucks
Note 1 to entry: For examples of industrial trucks, see ISO 5053-1.
Note 2 to entry: Requirements for fuel cell power systems for electrically powered industrial trucks, where Category C
containers can be used, can be found in IEC 62282-4-101.
3.5.4
container
pressure-bearing component on the vehicle that stores the primary volume of hydrogen fuel in a single
chamber or in multiple permanently interconnected chambers
3.5.5
container attachments
non-pressure bearing parts attached to the container that provide additional support and/or protection to
the container and that may be only temporarily removed for maintenance and/or inspection only with the
use of tools
3.6
container type
classification of container design as a function of its constituent parts
3.6.1
Type 1
metal container
3.6.2
Type 2
container which contains a metal liner (3.15) reinforced with a resin impregnated continuous filament
(hoop-wrapped (3.12))
Note 1 to entry: See 3.12.
3.6.3
Type 3
container which contains a meta
...