Innovation in energy and raw materials - ISO · 2016. 7. 13. · 1 Comment Kevin McKinley, ISO Deputy Secretary-General, Back to basics 2 World Scene Highlights of events from around

The Magazine of the International Organization for StandardizationVolume 2, No. 6, June 2005, ISSN 1729-8709

ISO Focus

• Arcelor CEO : “ In a global economy, standardization is a must ”

• ISO General Assembly in Singapore

Innovation in energy and raw materials

1 Comment Kevin McKinley, ISO Deputy Secretary-General, Back to basics

2 World Scene Highlights of events from around the world

3 ISO SceneHighlights of news and developments from ISO members

4 Guest ViewGuy Dollé, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board, Arcelor

7 Main FocusISO Focus is published 11 times a year (single issue : July-August). It is available in English.

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Contents

ISO Focus June 2005

On the road again…

• Plastics and energy – A cradle-to-cradle relationship• Biodegradability of plastics – a path to prevent pollution• From Iron ore to steel : standardizing the process• Rubber : standards for the black art• Cutting out the complexities of coal classification• ISO/TC 203 : What is energy and energywares ?• Expanding solar water heating market needs ISO standards• ISO gears wind power• Saving billions of dollars : ISO standards for natural gas• Hydrogen from dream to reality

37 Developments and Initiatives• Loh Khum Yean, Chief Executive of SPRING Singapore,

which will host the 28th ISO General Assembly in Singapore this September

40 New this month• ISO 22000 standard for safe food supply chains

41 Coming up

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Innovation in energy and Innovation in energy and raw materialsraw materials

CommentBack to basics

Standardization in these fields must therefore be very forward-think-ing to pave the way for increased mar-ket share. At least three key challenges exist. First, there is a need to convince and coordinate with players in the appli-cation sectors such as transportation and electrical utilities. Secondly, there is the challenge of ensuring that the wheel is not reinvented and that best use and link-age is made to existing standards in oth-er areas such as the oil and natural gas sectors. Finally, it’s essential that such forward-thinking standardization also makes the right connection with evolv-ing regulatory discussions and frame-works being developed within countries, regions and at the global level such as Working Groups of the United Nations Economic Commissions.

So, even the “ back to basics ” ISO standards on energy and raw materials are challenged by globaliza-tion and the imperative of sustainable development.

Energy and raw materials are hard-ly new areas in international standardization. This month’s

ISO Focus addresses these founda-tional standards in ISO. Consistent and reliable test and analytical methods as well as specifications for equipment and processes related to exploration, mining, storage, distribution and use have been the focus of many of ISO’s technical committees. However, these same energy and material sectors now need to address the global challenges of improved production efficiencies, emerg-ing technologies, reduced energy and material consumption, and decreased environmental impacts.

“ Standards for a sustainable world ” is more than the tagline for ISO’s Strategic Plan 2005-2010. The statement also embodies a global vision of how ISO contributes to economic and social progress through its activities. This is achieved through timely and mar-ket-relevant standardization that results in facilitation of global trade ; improve-ments in quality, safety, security, envi-ronmental and consumer protection, as well as the rational use of resources ; and the global dissemination of technol-ogies and good practices. This vision also highlights the need for continued evolution in standardization related to energy and raw materials.

Political and economic forces are also having a serious impact on the world’s energy and raw material needs. Giant emerging economies are tipping the scales of demand and consump-tion. For example, China and India’s rapid expansion have propelled them into being amongst the largest energy consuming nations in the world. So what are the implications for standard-ization ? Certainly one element is the increased attention that these emerg-ing economies are starting to place on preparing and involving their experts to impact the development of ISO stand-ards that support their market interests.

Another element is the growing inter-est that such economies have in assum-ing more leadership positions in ISO technical committees, subcommittees and working groups. Finally, the bal-ance of participation and influence is also starting to shift influence within ISO with, for example, an impressive increase in the participation levels of Asian countries in the past number of years.

Kevin McKinley ISO Deputy Secretary General

“ ISO standards on energy and raw

materials are challenged by globalization and the imperative of

sustainable development ”

Finite energy resources and raw materials coupled with ever-growing world economies are challenging ISO to provide standards that support sus-tainable development. However, not all of these challenges are created equal. Standardization in the widely commer-cialized areas of plastics, rubber, iron ore and steel has existed for decades, in some cases, centuries. The challenge for these areas is to adjust the sound base of existing test methods and analysis standards to consider new composite and material technologies, the recycling of materials, product lifecycle considera-tions and environmental impacts during production. This is in contrast to stand-ards for newer energy systems based on hydrogen, wind and solar energy that must deal with a number of economic and technological barriers. In the case of hydrogen, implementations are more in the development and demonstration phases and, as a result, there has not yet been widespread commercializa-tion in this sector.

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ISO Focus June 2005 1

World Scenethings, the activities of ISO/TC 224, Service activities relating to drinking water supply sys-tems and wastewater systems – Quality criteria of the service and performance indicators.

More information : www.un.org/esa/sustdev/

World sustainable building conferenceSome 1 500 building researchers, practitioners, officials, industry representatives and students from all over the world will gather for the World Sustainable Building Conference in Tokyo, Japan, on 27 and 28 September 2005, to exchange the latest knowledge and experience on sustainable buildings.

WTO Members, including the acceptance of conformity assessment results, and will consider, inter alia, the issue of recognition of conformity assessment results.

More information : www.wto.org

Global efforts on water, sanitation and human settlementsThe thirteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) reached agreement on a range of policy measures aimed at speeding up implementation of water, sani-tation and human settlements goals.

Under the terms of the outcome document, which will be sub-mitted to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for review at its annual session in July, the Commission empha-sized the need for a substantial increase in resources to come from all sources if developing countries were to achieve the internationally agreed develop-ment targets.

The Commission’s first policy session following the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) refocused international attention on the UN Millennium Declaration. This latter contains two development targets that relate directly to water and human settlements – namely to halve by 2015 the proportion of people unable to reach or afford safe drinking water, and, by 2020, to have significantly improved the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.

ISO made available a paper, which included, among other

construction, which will be contributing to the conference.

More information : www.sb05.com/

World Petroleum Congress 2005The 18th World Petroleum Congress (WPC), which is to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 26 to 29 September 2005, will focus on the theme, “ Shaping the Energy Future : Partners in Sustaina-ble Solutions ”.

Energy is the lifeblood of economic and social develop-ment and, while oil and gas will not last forever, they will be essential for global developments in the fol-lowing decades. Transitions must take place towards cleaner forms of energy production and use, and the petroleum industry will be part of this development.

Trends and outlooks integral to the future success of the indus-try are the focus of discussions and presentations at the Congress. Delegates will explore interna-tional business opportunities and threats, exchange ideas on global issues, network and share the latest information on technological, economic, environmental and social developments.

High-level government and industry delegations from the 60 member countries of the WPC, and more than 3 500 thousand executives, 250 students and 400 journalists are expected to take part in this event.

ISO will participate for the first time in the Congress and address the theme of current trends for management and reporting standards – from quality to social responsibility – and highlight the importance of the technical specification ISO/TS 29001 for implementing ISO 9001-based quality man-agement systems in the oil and natural gas industry.

More information : www.18wpc.com

WTO examines supplier’s declaration of conformityThe World Trade Organization’s Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO TBT) Committee held a workshop on Supplier’s Dec-laration of Conformity (SDoC) in March 2005, in Geneva, Switzerland.

ISO attended the workshop, and, in the course of discussions, highlighted ISO/IEC 17050:2004, which offers a framework for the outline content and sub-stantiation of a “supplier’s declaration of conformity (SDoC)”.

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An SDoC is one of the ways by which a supplier may seek to demonstrate conformity. This might be required, for example, by health, safety or environ-mental regulations – or is desir-able because conformity gives potential purchasers greater confidence. The publication of ISO/IEC 17050 puts at the disposal of suppliers and manu-facturers an SDoC methodology with greater transparency, added rigour and globally harmonized practice – which is likely to increase the use of this option in world trade.

Presentations from WTO Members on SDoC from a governmental perspective, and on the choice of SDoC from a manufacturer’s and a supplier’s perspective were also highlighted.

The workshop, which was held back-to-back with the regular meeting of the TBT Committee, is part of the Committee’s work programme on conformity assessment. The TBT Committee is planning a second workshop in early 2006 that will look at different approaches to conformity assessment used by

The building sector represents a major platform for social and economic activities to create and improve our living environ-ment. Meanwhile, it has a con-siderable impact on our natural and built environment, as well as on human beings, consuming a significant proportion of the limited resources of the earth including energy, raw material, water and land. Sustainability of a built environment and related activities is therefore a key issue that needs to be inte-grated into our consciousness and our preoccupations to create a sustainable future.

The conference, with the slogan “ Action for Sustainability ”, will focus on how to bridge the gaps between environmental, social and economic aspects, as well as gaps between the stake-holder’s concerns and gaps between differing regional concerns.

Several ISO technical committees and subcommittees are associat-ed with the overall goal of sus-tainable buildings, including ISO/TC 59, Building construction, SC 17, Sustainability in building ©

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SDoC

2 ISO Focus June 2005

ISO SceneISO Secretary-General concludes visits to Nordic countriesISO Secretary-General Alan Bryden recently paid official visits to three Nordic countries in April 2005, which encom-passed a series of several meetings with representatives of ISO members, their stake-holders and key government officials.

During his visits to IST (Ice-land), SIS (Sweden) and SN (Norway), the ISO Secretary-General underlined the increas-ing need for, and expectations placed in, International Stand-ards to support a sustainable global economy. Particular emphasis was given on their significant contribution to a country’s economic competi-tiveness and social development as recommended by the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.

The subcommittee, which worked on new standards and further developing

existing ones, is divided into four working groups : e-Business ; Metadata, Database languages ; SQL/Multimedia and application packages.

More information : [email protected]

DEVCO discussion group themesThe discussion group themes to be developed at the 39 th meeting of ISO’s committee for developing country matters (DEVCO) on 19-20 September, 2005, in Singapore, have now been determined.

ISO’s action plan for developing countries was also underlined and encouraged.

ISO Central Secretariat achieves recertification to ISO 9001:2000The Central Secretariat of ISO in Geneva, Switzerland, has achieved full-site recertification of conformity to the ISO 9001:2000 quality management standard.

This means that an independ-ent auditor has verified that the quality management system at ISO Central Secretariat meets the standard’s requirements, which include, in particular, organizational processes in place to ensure customer satis-faction and continual improve-ment. In the case of ISO Cen-tral Secretariat, the “ custom-er ” is a worldwide member-ship of 151 national standards institutes and a network of some 2 900 standards-develop-ing technical bodies.

The Central Secretariat, which employs 151 people from 21 countries, supplies a full range of support services to the organization’s members and standards developers. These services include coordination of the standards-development programme, administration of voting on draft standards, the final editing and publication of standards, and information, communication and public relations as well as the opera-tion of a “ 365/7/24 ” IT infra-structure and tools supporting the ISO system.

ISO does not issue ISO 9001:2000 certificates. These are issued independently of ISO by certification bodies under their own name and responsibility.

Standardization community management courseIEC, ISO and ITU-T1) organized a course, targeting middle man-agers of the members of the three organizations, with the objective of preparing the next generation of standardization managers throughout the world.

The Standardization Community Management Course (SCM Course), an initiative undertaken by ISO, IEC and ITU-T under the auspices of the WSC (World Standards Cooperation), took place in Geneva on 11-24 April 2005, with the participation of thirty-plus managers coming from the three organizations (photo above). It was the second such event to be organized by the three organizations.

With titles like ‘ What are international standards? ’, ‘ Why are international stand-ards essential ? ’ and ‘How are international standards used ? ’, plenary sessions focused on the general, with breakout ses-sions hosted by the individual organizations going into more detail on their working practices.

Other sessions focused on the history of standards, the impor-tance of standardization, legal issues, the working practices of the three organizations and how standards are marketed.

More information : itu.int/ITU-T/e-flash/

Data management and data exchangeInformation technology standards are used as a basis for developing programme packages. Experts estimate that the ISO/IEC 9075 standards series, for example, has contributed to the boom in the billion-dollar industry dealing in databases, development tools and a wide range of application software. The committee responsible for these standards is ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology.

Some 60 delegates and experts from 11 countries including Australia, China, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and the USA attended a meeting of JTC 1/SC 32, Data manage-ment and data exchange, from 18 to 22 April 2005, in Berlin.

These were occasions to under-line the scope and breadth of ISO’s portfolio of standards for products, services, materials, processes and conformity assessment and to outline ISO’s work to address new sectors such as services, food safety, security, environment, information technology, management system standards as well as social responsibility.

The other key issues for ISO that were explored during Mr. Bryden’s visit included the ISO’s Strategic Plan 2005-2010, ISO Code of Ethics, ISO 2005-2010 Action Plan for develop-ing countries, policy on global relevance, and enhanced com-munication ISO/IEC toolbox for conformity assessment. The support of Nordic countries to

ISO Secretary-General Alan Bryden with the Board of Standards Norway.

This discussion groups will provide DEVCO delegates with a good opportunity for a lively exchange of views on the following themes :

• Establishing an effective national quality infrastructure – Focus on issues faced by Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

• Enhancing developing coun-try participation in the stand-ardization process - New ini-tiatives.

• Good Regulatory Practice – International Standards for Technical Regulations.

The selection of themes for the discussion groups was among those taken by the Committee’s Chairman’s Advisory Group (CAG) at its April meeting in Geneva.

The DEVCO Chairman’s Advisory Group is responsible for monitoring ISO actions in favour of developing countries. DEVCO CAG consists of nine members, six of whom are from developing countries and three from developed countries.

1) ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector

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Guest View

Guy Dollé

Guy Dollé is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique. He began his career in

1966 with the Irsid Steel Research Center.

He joined Usinor in 1980 as head of the plates and tubes division, becoming chairman of GTS in 1985. He was named Executive Vice-President of Usinor Aciers in 1986 with responsibility for all hot-roll production.

Following the merger of Usinor Aciers with Sollac, Mr. Dollé became head of production for the northern region of the new Sollac entity and was appointed vice-president, industrial affairs in November 1987. From 1993 to April 1995, he served as chairman and chief executive officer of Unimétal. Mr. Dollé was named Usinor executive vice-president in charge of strategy, planning and international affairs in 1995, and in 1997 became head of the Stainless Steel and Alloys Division. He was appointed senior executive vice-president of Usinor in 1999.

In the Arcelor Group, Guy Dollé is CEO and Chairman of the Management Board.

ISO Focus : As the CEO of Arcelor, could you please begin by giving our readers some general information about your corporation ?

Guy Dollé : Arcelor is a leading player of the global steel industry with a total production of 47 million tons of steel. With a turnover of 30 billion euros in

Guy Dollé: The company places its commitment to sustainable development at the heart of its strategy and ambitions to be a benchmark for economic per-formance, labour relations and social responsibility. Sustainable development plays an important cultural role in a group like Arce-lor: continuous progress, best practice sharing, key perform-ance indicators monitoring, com-pliance with the highest stand-ards, all contribute to strengthen the links between Arcelor enti-ties as well as between Arcelor and its stakeholders. Arcelor sus-tainable strategy is based on our 4P model for People, Planet,

Profit, Partners. It covers eight dimen-sions : profitability, health and safety, environment, open dialogue with stake-holders, skills development, innovation, corporate governance, and last but not least corporate citizenship.

Steel is the most recycled material and can be recycled indefinitely. By stating that its ambition is to devel-op steel solutions for a better world, Arcelor demonstrates its commit-ment to provide its clients with the best products that have the highest direct or indirect added value. For example, in the automotive indus-try, Arcelor has a technological lead in high strength steels. These inno-vative steel grades allow increasing passenger safety while at the same time reducing vehicle weight, thus helping to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

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“ In a global economy, standardization is a must.”

2004, the company holds leading posi-tions in its main markets : automotive, construction, household appliances and packaging as well as general industry. The company – number one steel produc-er in Europe and Latin America – ambi-tions to further expand internationally in order to capture the growth potential of developing economies and offer tech-nologically advanced steel solutions to its global customers. Arcelor employs 95 000 people in over 60 countries.

ISO Focus : You have declared that Arcelor is dedicated to sustainable development and the company’s ambition is to develop ‘ steel solu-tions for a better world ’. Can you please elaborate on this ?


ISO Focus : What kind of Internation-al Standards do you believe are funda-mental to enabling the steel industry to bring a positive contribution to sus-tainable development? Can you say how these standards bring added value to your products and Arcelor’s compet-itiveness on world markets?

Guy Dollé: Arcelor, as a global compa-ny, must be able to rely on internation-ally recognized and efficient standards. All our entities are already under ISO 9001:2000 management. I have been also very pushy to have all Arcelor produc-tion facilities ISO 14001 certified. We are close to achieving this target : 96 % of our production units have already obtained their certification. With the Health&Safety department, we have recently launched a unique internal audit method which will be deployed over three years on all the sites to ensure a compliance with the OHSAS 18001 requirements. All these standards contribute to continuous improvement in Arcelor. They are also a key element for our business since they are internation-ally recognized and very often required by our clients who have very stringent requirements. This approach is an abso-lute ‘ must have ’ to constantly meet and exceed the certification requirements of our customers.

ISO Focus: As a member of the UN Global Compact, you have committed to undertake the application of the nine principles of the Global Compact and promote its diffusion to your vari-ous stakeholders. How important is it for a company operating in today’s global market to be ‘ socially con-scious ’ ?

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Arcelor Headquarters in Luxembourg.

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The Belgo Juiz de Fora production site in Brazil. The wire rod rolls are listed and controlled to check if they comply with Arcelor’s strict quality criteria and correspond to the customer’s order.

The Dome of the Reichstag, Berlin.

The Building and Construction System unit is developing synergies between the Long Carbon Steels and Flat Carbon Steels sectors in order to promote innovative solutions, tailored to the needs of customers.

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Guest View

Guy Dollé: We adhered to the UN Glo-bal Compact on September 3, 2003, after an entire year spent with our legal and purchasing departments working on the integration of specific requirements to be met by our suppliers in terms of compli-ance with the UN Declaration of Human Rights, and the ILO Declaration on Fun-damental Principles and Rights at Work, as well as on the of implementation of environmental management systems. We currently work on a Code of Ethics that will complete Arcelor’s Principles of Responsibility and will help us comply with the recently added Global Compact 10th principle, on the fight against cor-ruption. Why is it that important? I do think a large multinational like Arcelor can and should play an important role in promoting principles contributing to a better global economy and to fair com-petition. You cannot be a leader in your industry if you are not a reference in the way you conduct your business.

es, if any, faced by Arcelor from this lack of harmonization and what are the key actions that need to be taken to address this issue? What role do you see for ISO?

Guy Dollé: In a global economy, stand-ardization is a must. It is a pre-requi-site for effectiveness; performance and optimization of our production activi-ties, but also with our trading partners since harmonization help us to speak the same business language. The absence of standards leads to unbalanced com-petition and impairs free trade. Stand-ardization of the metrics, of the assess-ment tools and methods, of the manage-ment systems and of the audit systems is key for the development of the glo-bal economy. ISO is a key contributor to help harmonization and will keep on playing a crucial role for allowing peo-ple and companies to talk the same lan-guage.

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ISO Focus: Many trade experts pre-dict that unless trading partners adhere to international standards, then the costly problem of satisfying techni-cal requirements specific to countries or regions will continue to persist. What in your opinion are the challeng-

Deck and towers of the Millau viaduct.

At 343 metres, it is the world’s highest bridge. It is almost 2.5 km long, and sets new records in terms of technology. The bridge weighs 290 000 tons and incorporates 62 300 tons of steel. Arcelor delivered 36 000 tons of plates for the deck and 4 600 tons for the towers.

1950

1 000

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0196

0197

0198

0199

0200

0

900

Million metric tonnes

Year World

1970 595

1975 644

1980 717

1985 719

1990 770

1995 752

1996 750

1997 799

1998 777

1999 789

2000 848

2001 850

2002 902

2003 965

Average growth rates % per annum

Years World

1970-75 1.6

1975-80 2.2

1980-85 0.1

1985-90 1.4

1990-95 - 0.5

1995-00 2.4

2000-03 4.4

World crude steel production

1950 to 2003

Source : International Iron and Steel Institute.

World Steel in Figures, 2004 edition. (www.worldsteel.org)


Main Focus

Plastics and energyA cradle-to-cradle relationship

by Michael M. Fisher, Chair, ISO/TC 61, Plastics

This issue of ISO Focus with its emphasis on energy and raw mate-rials offers an excellent opportu-

nity to take another look at plastics and plastic products. Plastics and energy represent a lifelong partnership, and this article examines the relationship between plastics and energy from pro-

duction through recycling. With support from International Standards, modern, durable, lightweight plastics offer prod-uct manufacturers unparalleled freedom to design innovative products ranging from packaging, to medical equipment, to automobiles, to the homes we live in. A key energy-related attribute of plastic materials is often energy conservation – a point highlighted in this article. ISO technical committee ISO/TC 61, Plas-tics, was formed in 1947, the same year as ISO itself, and continues to assist the plastics industry and its diverse global customer base through the development of globally-relevant International Standards in the field of plastic materials and prod-ucts that support innovation, technology transfer, and international trade.

Plastics productionAlthough the first plastic devel-

oped in the 19th century was cellulose-based, plastics are today unique among society’s materials in that they are pre-dominately based on fossil energy feed-stocks – namely, petroleum and natural gas. The manufacture of plastic resins utilizes two forms of energy – proc-ess energy and feedstock energy. The feedstock energy (related to the fossil fuel-based chemical content of the poly-mer) contributes to the so-called embed-ded energy of plastics. This symbiosis between plastics, petroleum, and natural gas means that the global success of the plastics industry depends in part not only on the standards work of ISO/TC 61 (see box, page 11), but on the work of sev-eral ISO technical committees serving


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Figure 1 : Plastics share of petroleum consumption in western Europe(Source : VKE)

Figure 2 : Energy consumption of a passenger car

Source : APC and DOW

Energy and heating

Chemicals

Other

Transport

Manufacture

Use and maintenance

Recycling potential (without plastics)

Recycling potential (plastics)

45 %

42 %

8 %

5 %

87.1 %

87.1 %

7.1 %

4.8 %

1 %

Chemicals 8 % � Plastics = 4 %

Plastics production uses a relatively small share

of petroleum resources. As illustrated in figure 1, overall

chemical production in western Europe uses only about 8 % of petroleum with

plastics using only half of this amount.

Main Focus

the global energy industry. Examples are ISO/TC 8, Ships and marine tech-nology, ISO/TC 28, Petroleum products and lubricants, ISO/TC 67, Materials, equipment and offshore structures for petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries, ISO/TC 193, Natural gas, ISO/TC 197, Hydrogen technolo-gies, and ISO/TC 207, Environmental management.

in the United States and Japan. In well integrated refineries in the USA, up to 10 % of petroleum may go into chem-ical production. On the basis of local supply, the USA-based plastics industry also uses a significant amount of natu-ral gas as a hydrocarbon feedstock, but again, plastics represent a minor pro-portion of overall use.

Much is heard these days about a hydrogen economy. Plastics are linked to hydrogen through natural gas – a key feedstock for both plastics and hydro-gen – as well as through fuel cell tech-nology, vehicle lightweighting, and oth-er applications such as building insula-tion, and through feedstock recycling processes such as gasification, that are currently under development.

There is renewed interest in the potential to manufacture plastics from bio-derived feedstocks (see article by Dr. Sawada, Convenor, ISO/TC 61/SC 5/WG 22 on Biodegradable plastics, page 12). Interestingly, since there is growing interest in the use of biomass for energy as well as for chemical feed-stocks, a gradual transition from fossil fuel feedstocks to renewable feedstocks is not likely to significantly disrupt the close relationship that exists between plastics and energy.

Opportunities for growth Major markets for plastics and

plastics composites include packag-ing, building and construction, elec-trical and electronic products, auto-motive, household/consumer items, large industry applications, and agri-culture. From a global perspective, all of these markets offer significant opportunities for growth and are sup-ported by ISO/TC 61 standards. Take, for instance, the automotive sector, which represents a significant market oppor-tunity for plastics. About 12 % of the world’s population has access to per-

It is worth noting that plas-tics production uses a relatively small share of petroleum resources, with most petroleum going into transporta-tion fuels and heat and power genera-tion. As illustrated in Figure 1, overall chemical production in western Europe uses only about 8 % of petroleum con-sumption with plastics using only half of this amount. The situation is similar

“ Plastics and the plastics industry are well positioned

to fulfil tomorrow’s opportunities for more sustainable materials,

technologies, and products.”



sonal transportation, and cars and light trucks contain on average about 12 % plastics by weight.

A key to understanding the rela-tionship between plastics and energy is the life-cycle process. Figure 2 illus-trates that in the case of the automobile, for example, the use phase dominates energy considerations, not manufactur-ing or recovery. Therefore, technolo-gies that can reduce fuel consumption have the potential to make the great-est positive impact on energy conser-vation and reduced emissions. The use of lightweight plastics and composites has made a significant contribution to vehicle lightweighting, and plastics are

Physical-chemical properties and SC 6, Ageing, chemical and environmental resistance) will be key to demonstrat-ing plastics’ life-cycle performance and sustainability attributes.

Life-cycle energy conservation

Recently, an interesting study conducted in Europe by GUA1) exam-ined the life-cycle energy conservation attributes of a broad range of plastic products compared to the same products where the plastics were considered sub-stitutable by alternative materials. The study is available on the PlasticsEurope

“ A key to understanding the relationship between

plastics and energy is the life-cycle process.”

proving themselves to be an enabling technology for new energy-efficient engine designs such as fuel cells. The work of ISO/TC 61’s three materials subcommittees (SC 9, Thermoplastic materials, SC 12, Thermosetting mate-rials, and SC 13, Composites and rein-forcement fibres) has a critical role to play in enabling plastics use in future automotive architectures. The four ISO/TC 61 subcommittees focusing on prop-erty testing (SC 2, Mechanical proper-ties, SC 4, Burning behaviour, SC 5,

website (www.plasticseurope.org). In total, 32 case studies in a broad cross-section of plastics markets and 174 prod-ucts were investigated. An extrapolation to all substitutable plastics resulted in a total energy savings of 1020 million gigajoules/year – equivalent to 22.4 mil-lion tonnes of crude oil saved. There was a corresponding savings in green-house gas emissions of 97 megatonnes/

year. Savings were particularly evident in the packaging sector.

It is not too early to predict that technological advances in materials (mac-romolecular engineering/nanotechnology/biotechnology/composites and hybrid materials) will encourage new standards work. Such work will serve future mar-ket needs in automotive, electrical and electronic equipment, and building and construction applications, where life-cycle energy impacts are greatest.

A confluence of legislative, reg-ulatory, and sustainability considera-tions along with industry initiatives con-tinues to stimulate growing interest in the development and implementation of technologies for plastics recovery at the end of the product’s life-cycle – in both the developed and develop-ing countries. Infrastructure issues are significant since the secondary materi-als industry today is largely focused on metals and paper. Nevertheless, there is a developing plastics recycling indus-try with global reach that sees stand-ardization as an important station on the road to sustained growth. ISO/TC 61 is actively engaged and working with a broad cross-section of national, regional, and international stakehold-ers to develop appropriate International Standards in the field of plastics recov-ery and recycling.

1) Gesellschaft für umfassende Analysen (Corporation for Comprehensive Analyses).

Plastics recovery offers another example where energy considerations come directly into the picture and can have overwhelming significance. There are three reasons for this : • plastics contain substantial embed-

ded energy,

• plastics can often have their greatest positive impact on resource conser-vation during use, rather than dur-ing recovery (e.g., automobile light-weighting and refrigerator/building insulation),

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Main Focus

Emissions

to

air

water

and

soil

Raw material/ Feedstock

Secondaryraw material

Finishedproducts

Indigenousfuel

Waste forrecovery

Consumer /Last owner

LANDFILLEDMATER IA L

Utilisation Production and Recovery Use Disposal

Fuel

Recoveredenergy

Transform ationprocess

Compost/ Humus

Recycledproduct

Energy

Semifinishedproducts

Discardedwaste

Productsfor re-use

Natural

Resources

• plastics can be recovered by multiple routes that involve the production of solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels and chemical feedstocks (feedstock recy-cling), heat and electricity through direct combustion (energy recovery), as well as mechanical recycling. The reuse of plastics products must also be considered.

Fostering sustainabilityThe contribution of plastics to

sustainable development requires that consideration be given to environmen-tal aspects, including recovery, as well as economic growth and social progress. To meet this need within ISO/TC 61, WG 2, Guidance on environmental pro-visions in plastics standards, was formed several years ago to provide guidance on environmental provisions in plastics standards. The initial, high profile thrust of WG 2 was the development of ISO 17422:2002, Plastics – Environmental aspects – General guidelines for their inclusion in standards. The work of this

and health and safety attributes, as well as environmental considerations.

Plastics and the plastics industry are well positioned to fulfil tomorrow’s opportunities for more sustainable mate-rials, technologies, and products. Some of these opportunities will be revolution-ary but most will be evolutionary, and ISO/TC 61 standards will prove to be a leading indicator of both market success and market potential in the years ahead. A greater understanding of the interplay of materials and energy from a life-cycle assessment perspective will be of grow-ing importance. As noted in the ISO/TC 61 Business Plan, the centre of gravity of the plastics industry is beginning to shift from North America and Europe to the Middle East (feedstock supply and production) and Asia (market growth). ISO/TC 61 will be evolving to reflect these market dynamics while continu-ing to maintain its focus on global rel-evancy and technical excellence.

Plastics recovery and integrated resources management

The diagram is especially informative because of the chosen boundary conditions. It places resource recovery at product end-of-life in the broader context of resource utilization (materials and energy) in the product manu-facturing stage, highlights the use phase and its environmental impact, and draws a distinc-tion between fuel recovery, energy recovery, and the recovery of secondary raw materials (recyclates). It also places resource recovery and waste disposal in an economic context and places fuel recovery on equal footing with other material recovery options from a life-cycle assessment (LCA) perspective. The important subject of standards for solid recovered fuels is being addressed in CEN/TC 343, Solid recovered fuels.

Source: Borealis

group has now turned to plastics recovery and, most recently, to the development of ISO 15270, Plastics – Guidelines for recovery, which is currently out for bal-loting at the Draft International Stand-ard stage. There is little question that environmental aspects of plastic materi-als and products will receive increasing attention in the coming years. As noted in ISO 17422, a balanced approach to plas-tics recycling is needed that recognizes the importance of product performance


Full of energyThe discovery of new plastics

occurred at a significant pace during the first half of the 20 th century, but com-mercialization of both high volume com-modity plastics and specialty engineer-ing plastics began to see major growth beginning in the 1950s. The formation of ISO/TC 61, Plastics, in 1947 was time-ly, and the need for international tech-nical standards became more and more evident as plastics began to penetrate markets long held by traditional mate-rials. Today, ISO/TC 61 serves a global, dynamic, and growing industry.

Accelerating growth in major mar-kets during the 1990s resulted in vigorous standards development activity. An inter-esting example beyond materials specifica-tions and testing was the series of labelling standards that have had interest beyond the technical audience of ISO/TC 61. Since 2000, the number of active work items has

decreased somewhat which may reflect a level of industry “ maturity ”. The forces of innovation, sustainable development, and globalization will surely lead to an expanded work programme in the future. Today ISO/TC 61 has responsibility for 533 International Standards.

ISO/TC 61 liaises with a broad range of committees and organizations in and outside of ISO – including ISO/TC 45, Rubber and rubber products, CEN/TC 249, Plastics, ASTM D20, Plastics, and several IEC technical committees. More and more, new horizontal commit-tees are being formed within the Inter-

national Standards community and else-where with the potential to impact and be impacted by plastics and the plastics industry. Examples are the new IEC/TC 111 on environmental standardization in the electrical and electronics field and the new initiative to establish an ISO nanotechnologies committee. ISO/TC 61 will actively engage these commit-tees wherever the process brings value. To help maintain relevancy, ISO TC/61 will be revising its Business Plan annu-ally. Readers are encouraged to read the recently revised Business Plan located on the ISO Web site.


About the author

Michael M. Fisher, PhD, is senior director, technology for the American Plastics Council (APC) in Arlington, Virginia. APC represents the interests of

major resin producers and is part of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), the leading trade association representing the business of chemistry in the United States. His responsibilities focus on plastics in the automotive and electrical and electronic markets with an emphasis on future growth and product stewardship issues. He received his doctorate in polymer and physical chemistry from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in 1970. Dr. Fisher has chaired ISO/TC 61, Plastics, since March 2002 and can be reached at [email protected].

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naturally by light, oxygen, water or micro-organisms in the natural environment. Often they are not disposed of proper-ly, which is a great source of plastics lit-ter (Figure 1). Ocean litter has spread, endangering many forms of marine life. On land, plastics comprise a significant part of municipal solid waste.

The environmental impact of per-sistent plastics waste has become a major issue. Biodegradable plastics are now emerging as one of the available options to solve this environmental issue. Var-ious plastics, including biodegradable plastics, can be recycled, although com-plete recycling is difficult : plastic litter, for instance, which comes mainly from consumers, is difficult to recycle. Oth-er examples include agricultural mulch film, wrapping film and fishing tackle, such as rods, lines and hooks. Biode-gradable plastics are especially useful for such applications which are difficult or too expensive to recycle. Of course,

the biodegradability characteristics of plastics must be suited to the final dis-posal route of the material – biodegrad-able plastics that are sent to composting facilities should be biodegradable under composting conditions.

It therefore becomes very impor-tant to develop test methods to deter-mine the biodegradability of such plas-tics. Some 10 years ago, there were no ISO International Standards for the bio-degradability of plastics. In 1993, at the 42 nd meeting of ISO/TC 61, Plas-tics, in Italy, the new working group on biodegradability, WG 22 of subcom-mittee SC 5, Physical-chemical prop-erties, was created based on the ini-tiatives of the Japanese delegation. It is entirely thanks to the Chair of TC 61/SC 5, Dr. S. H. Eldin, that WG 22 was established within this subcom-mittee, and a highly successful first WG meeting was attended by more than 30 participants.

Biodegradability of plasticsa path to prevent pollution

by Dr. Hideo Sawada, Convenor, ISO/TC 61, Plastics, SC 5, Physical-chemical properties, WG 22, Biodegradability

Globally, natural resources are used to produce all sorts of convenient products but, unfortunately, an

enormous number of these products – plastics, for example – have caused wide-spread pollution. Many plastics, unlike natural polymeric materials such as cel-lulose and starch, are unable to degrade

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Since its formation in 1993, the main work of WG 22 has been the development of standard test methods, specifications and definitions for bio-degradability of plastics and the group has provided a valuable service in this field. The first standard was published in 1999 and, to date, a total of nine stand-ards have been issued and 11 standards are being maintained.

The structure of SC 5/WG 22 is as follows : SC 5 Chair, Dr. S. H. Eldin (Switzerland) ; SC 5 Secretary, Mr. Todd Sandler (USA), WG 22 Convenor, Dr. Hideo Sawada (Japan) : Member coun-tries of WG 22 are Belgium, Canada, Chi-na, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, Switzer-land, the UK and USA.

Multidisciplinary teamwork

Biodegradation is multidiscipli-nary by nature. Chemistry, physics, bio-chemistry, agriculture, microbiology, soil science, toxicology, pharmacy, medical science and ecology are all key elements in biodegradation. The development of biodegradation standards thus requires close teamwork among people in var-

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About the author

Dr. Hideo Sawada is Advisor of BPS (Biodegradable Plastics Society, Japan). After graduating from Osaka University, he started his career in 1956 with Daicel

Chemical Industries, Ltd. in Japan. He has nearly 45 years experience in the field of polymer science, both in industry and consultancy. His recent interests are concentrated in biodegradable plastics. He is the convener of ISO/TC61/SC5/WG22 on biodegradability of plastics, and the author of more than 200 publications.

Author’s acknowledgementThe author wishes to thank all the members of WG 22 for their commitment to the development of ISO standards on biodegradability of plastics, and especially Dr. Eldin and Mr. Sandler for their suggestions.

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“ The main work of WG 22 has been the development

of standard test methods, specifications

and definitions for biodegradability of plastics

and the group has provided a valuable service in this field.”

Figure 1 : Plastics can be a great source of litter when they are not disposed of properly.

Figure 2: Participants at the 1st workshop on round-robin test of ISO 14855-2 in 2004.

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Main Focus

ious fields and our members include experts from all these fields. In addi-tion, international collaboration among European, North American and Asian countries is important. For example, we carried out an international round-robin test on ISO 14855 Part 2 in co-operation with the USA, Japan, China, India, Ita-ly, Belgium and Sweden (Figure 2 pre-ceeding page).

Of course, joint research and development that involves industry, governments and academia is need-ed on a worldwide basis. In addition to ISO, two major organizations in the USA and Europe have developed standards for biodegradable plastics. The first is ASTM International Sub-committee D20.96 on Environmental Degradable Plastics, chaired by Prof. Narayan, which has established exten-sive volumes of test methods. In Europe, CEN TC 249, Plastics, WG 9, Char-acterization of degradability, is devel-oping standards for biodegradability of plastics. The convenor of this working group, Dr. Degli Innocenti, acts as the liaison between ISO/TC 61/SC 5/WG 22 and CEN TC 249/WG 9.

nyl alcohol (PVA), polyhydroxybutyrate-valerate (PHBV) and certain polyesters can be biodegraded. These plastics, like natural polymeric materials such as cel-lulose and starch, are converted into car-bon dioxide, water and biomass by natu-rally occurring micro-organisms that live in soil and water (Figure 3). In the pres-ence of oxygen, aerobic biodegradation will occur and these plastics will be bio-degraded into water, carbon dioxide and biomass. Carbon dioxide and water will enter into the perpetual natural cycle. Car-bon atoms are continually recycled with-in the ecosystem from one molecule to another by means of the carbon cycle.

Evaluating biodegradability

In order to evaluate biodegradabil-ity, the consumption of oxygen or evolved carbon dioxide needs to be determined. Oxygen consumption is determined in ISO 14851 and ISO 17556, while the carbon dioxide evolved is determined in ISO 14852, ISO 14855 Part 1, ISO 14855 Amendment 1, ISO 14855 Part 2 and ISO 17556.

The composting infrastructure, which is a key consideration in the ulti-mate disposal of biodegradable plastics, is growing in North America, Europe and Asia. ISO 14855 Part 1 involves the test methods related to composting. ISO 14855 Part 2 provides a compact labo-ratory test method for composting con-ditions (Figure 4).

There has never been such a com-pact laboratory test method to measure biodegradability under composting con-ditions. On the other hand, disintegra-tion is the physical breakdown of pol-ymers into very small fragments with-out any visible, distinguishable piec-es of plastic. The test methods for dis-integration under composting condi-tions are described in ISO 16929 and ISO 20200.

Biodegradation through the action of micro-organisms

Many synthetic plastics are una-ble to degrade naturally by light, oxygen, water or micro-organisms. Some synthetic plastics, however, such as polycaprolac-tone (PCL), polylactic acid (PLA), polyvi-

“The development of biodegradation standards requires close teamwork among people in various fields and our members include experts from all

these fields.”

Figure 3: Polycaprolactone samples decom-pose when buried in soil for 9 months.

“ WG 22 intends to integrate test methods

and characteristics into one logical test

scheme and specification with a single set

of criteria.”

Composting is an aerobic bio-degradation process and plastics which biodegrade in the natural environment or enter into composting facilities are environmentally friendly if the degra-dation products are found to be ecolog-ically benign.

When oxygen is not present, anaerobic biodegradation will occur. In the absence of oxygen, biodegrada-ble plastics will be converted into car-bon dioxide, methane and biomass by the action of anaerobic micro-organisms. It is possible to determine biodegrada-bility in an anaerobic environment by measuring the evolution of biogas (car-bon dioxide and methane), as is devel-oped in ISO 14853 and 15985.

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Figure 4: These apparatuses are used to determine biodegradability under composting conditions, and are described in ISO 14855-2.


Making biodegradability claims

To identify biodegradable plas-tics and make claims of biodegradabili-ty and compostability, a test scheme and specification is needed. ASTM Interna-tional, CEN and the Biodegradable Plas-tics Society (BPS, Japan) have developed their own test schemes and specifications. Based on their own specifications, DIN CERTCO (Germany), the Biodegrada-ble Products Institute (USA) and BPS have developed their own certification and labelling systems to distinguish bio-degradable plastics and products.

There are still minor differenc-es between these systems. There is a need for a global harmonization of test schemes and specifications in ISO. WG 22 intends to integrate test methods (bio-degradation and disintegration) and char-acteristics (environmental toxicity, lim-its for heavy metals, etc.) into one log-ical test scheme and specification with a single set of criteria. Such a standard will be useful for consumers, manufac-turers and legislators.

ISO/TC 207, Environmental man-agement, Subcommittee SC 3, Environ-mental labelling, prepared ISO 14021 Environmental labels and declaration – Self-declared environmental claims (Type II environmental labelling) – in which ISO 14851, ISO 14852, ISO 14853 and

ISO 14855, all developed by WG 22, are adopted as appropriate test meth-ods. These test methods are now wide-ly used to determine the biodegradabil-ity of plastics in EN 13432 and ASTM D 6400.

ISO standards for biodegradability of plastics

Aerobic, Aqueous (ISO 14851, 14852)

Aerobic, Composting (ISO 14855)

Use of activated vermiculite instead of mature compost (ISO 14855 Amendment 1)

Gravimetric method, laboratory scale (ISO/CD 14855 Part 2)

Anaerobic, Aquatic (ISO 14853)

Anaerobic, High solid (ISO 15985)

Aerobic, Soil Burial (ISO 17556)

Disintegration, Pilot scale (ISO 16929)

Disintegration, Laboratory scale (ISO 20200)

Test scheme and specification (ISO/CD 17088)

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From Iron ore to steel :standardizing the process

by Satoji Maehara, Chair, ISO/TC 102, Iron ore and direct reduced iron, and Chair, ISO/TC 17, Steel

To the traveller, the distant view of a blast furnace signals the unmis-takable approach to a steel town.

Drive across the pampas beyond Belo Horizonte in Brazil, and first you will see a large steel complex far away on the horizon, then Ipatinga where many steel-mill workers live. Descend by plane across Lake Michigan to Chicago, and massive steelworks and blast furnaces

vided in accordance with a procedure called sample division, the final sub-division being chemically analyzed and physically tested to determine the grade of the bulk lot aboard the ves-sel. Generally, business transactions between mining and steel companies are based on grades determined in this manner. Therefore, methods of sam-pling, analysis and testing iron-ores are very important.

Iron ores stockpiled in the yard are conveyed to the blast furnace and charged from the top together with coke so that the iron-ore layer and the coke layer are piled up alternately on top of each other. Air at about 1 200° C is blast-ed in from the lower part of the furnace and superheated by the combustion of coke at some 2 200° C, causing mol-ten iron to flow down into the hearth at the base of the furnace. This molten pig iron is then transferred to the next refining process. Thus, the blast fur-nace converts a product of the primary industry – iron ore – into pig iron for the secondary industry.

loom large in your sights. Fly over the Alps to Genoa and you will see a blast furnace on the Mediterranean coast. These are the giants of the iron and steel industry.

Today, a typical blast furnace can stand 100 m high, with an inner volume of 4,000m3. These enormous structures combine what economists term the “pri-mary” and “secondary industry.”

It’s a blastIron ores from Australia, Bra-

zil, India and other producing countries – the primary industry – are shipped in 100 000 to 250 000-ton-class large ore-carriers to steelworks in tidewater locations in importing countries. Then, iron ores unloaded at steel plants and transported on conveyor lines to stock-yards are sampled en route by statisti-cal methods. These samples are subdi-

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About the author

Satoji Maehara is Chair of both ISO/TC 102, Iron ore and direct reduced iron and ISO/TC 17, Steel. He has been head of the Standardization Center of JISF (The Japan Iron

and Steel Federation) since 1997, and is in charge of standardization in the domestic and international iron and steel sectors. Maehara is also a member of the Council of JISC (The Japanese Industrial Standards Committee) and sits on its Standards and Conformity Assessment Boards. After graduating from Osaka University in materials science he joined Nippon Steel Corporation as a metallurgical engineer, becoming a specialist in quality assurance and management.

“ Tailored ” steelPig iron containing about 4 % car-

bon is transferred from the blast furnace to the refining furnace. Here it is heat-ed by oxygen blown in to combust the carbon and accelerate refining. These two major processes – blast-furnace smelting and LD-converter refining – are excellent examples of the practical use of Lavoisier’s oxidation and reduc-tion theories.

The refining furnace removes impurities from the pig iron, melting it down to molten steel of the required specification. This is poured into a mould and solidified into a slab which is then rolled or forged into final shapes such as plate, sheet, tinplate, pipe, tube, rail-way rail, I-beam, and wire rod.

Depending on end use, steel prod-ucts are finely differentiated by quali-ty and properties through upstream and downstream processes. For automotive sheet, a number of measures are taken to attain extremely low carbon equivalents and other characteristics to achieve suf-ficient ductility during press-forming, resulting in flawless car-bodies. Rail-way rails, on the other hand, require high-carbon components for good abra-

sion resistance. Thus, steel products are effectively tailor-made by controlling chemical composition, reheating, roll-ing, heat treating and other heat hys-teresis, based on physical and chemi-cal principles.

tinuous mill flat rolled products, SC 15 for railroad rails and their fasteners, SC 16 for steels for reinforcement and pre-stressing of concrete, SC 17 for steel wire rod and wire products, and SC 19 for technical delivery conditions for steel tubes for pressure purposes.

For across-the-board standards, SC 1 handles methods of determination of chemical composition, SC 7 meth-ods of testing (other than mechanical tests and chemical analysis), and SC 20 general technical delivery condi-tions, sampling and mechanical test-ing methods.

“ To date, about 70 ISO iron and steel

standards have been updated by TC 102, and 280 by TC 17.”

Standardizing the industry

ISO/TC 102 was established in 1961 to develop Internation-al Standards covering the processes from ore mine to blast furnace. The technical commit-tee comprises three sub-committees : Sampling (SC 1), Chemical Anal-ysis (SC 2), and Physi-cal Testing (SC 3). SC 1 is responsible for scien-tific methods of extract-ing representative sam-ples of the lot and for measuring moisture and grain size. SC 2 is involved in methods of analyzing samples for iron content and impurities, while SC 3 is charged with methods for inspecting ore characteristics such as strength, reducibility and reduction-disintegration.

In addition to iron ore, sinters, pellets, other treated ores and reduced iron up-graded by pre-reduction are also used in iron manufacture – hence the TC 102 title Iron ore and direct reduced iron.

ISO/TC 17, Steel, established in 1947, develops International Stand-ards for a wide variety of secondary steel industry products, comprising SC 3, developing steels for structural pur-poses, SC 4 for heat-treatable and alloy steels, SC 9 for tinplate and blackplate, SC 10 for steel for pressure purposes, SC 11 for steel castings, SC 12 for con-

While both TC 102/SC 1 and TC 17/SC 1 specialize in chemical analy-sis, the former focuses on the analysis of “ iron ” content in iron ore and the latter on the analysis of carbon, sili-con, manganese, phosphorus, sulphur and other non-ferrous elements in steel products.

Rich legacy

Given the legacy of such a rich technical field, and generous contribu-tions from member country represent-atives, this has also been a very pro-ductive sector for International Stand-ards. To date, about 70 ISO standards have been updated by TC 102, some 280 by TC 17, and new standards are in development.

Blast furnace.

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Rubber :standards for the black art

by John Timar, Secretary of ISO/TC 45/SC 3, Raw materials (including latex) for use in the rubber industry

F rom boot soles to rocket parts, from car tyres to kitchen gloves, rubber is used in a million indus-

trial and household applications. And since no two applications require the same properties, rubber composi-tions combine many different ingre-dients. Rubber goods manufacturers require from the raw material suppli-ers ingredients with consistent prop-erties to ensure the desired end-use performance.

ISO technical committee ISO/TC 45, Rubber and rubber products, is responsible for the standardization of terms and definitions, test methods and specifications for rubber in any form, rubber products (including their dimensional tolerances), and major rub-ber compounding ingredients.

To accomplish this task TC 45 is divided into four subcommittees (SC) :

• SC 1, Hoses (rubber and plastic)

• SC 2, Testing and analysis

• SC 3, Raw materials (including latex) for use in the rubber industry

• SC 4, Products (other than hoses)

TC 45/SC 3 provides guidelines to ensure that the quality of rubber com-pounding ingredients are determined by uniform, reliable and reproducible test methods. It is also responsible for the preparation of International Standards covering the raw materials used in the manufacture of rubber products.

Formed in 1980, SC 3 may well encompass the less glamorous, less hi-tech end of the industry, but it is nev-ertheless involved in a field of great importance.

The standard routeThe route to an International

Standard, from concept to publication, generally follows two directions :

1. A standard covering this materi-al already exists and there is a per-ceived need to adapt it into an ISO standard.

2. No standard exists but it is felt nec-essary to develop one.

In the first case a Member Body will issue a New Work Proposal (NWP) attaching the existing standard, in the second case it will be the appropriate working group (WG) that issues the NWP.

The NWP is circulated to the Members of SC3. If accepted (accord-

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ing to ISO rules) and sufficient Mem-ber Bodies volunteer to participate in the work, then the new project will be adopted by the respective WG.

A small task force may be assigned to examine the NWP and organize an Interlaboratory Testing Program (ITP) to determine the reliability of the test methods under consideration. Measures of reliability – i.e. repeatability and repro-ducibility – are vitally important parts of most International Standards. The pro-posed text is then circulated, according to established ISO procedure, to the Mem-ber Bodies of SC 3.

Working in rubberThe technical committee com-

prises six working groups. The first, WG 1, deals with test equipment, sampling and preparatory work. Good test methods require reliable test equipment. Rubber articles are chemical products but they usually perform mechanical duties and must therefore be tested for their physi-cal properties. Thus, in addition to their chemical purity, the raw materials are tested for their performance in rubber compounds. WG 1 specifies the equip-ment for mixing compounds, the pro-cedures to be followed and some of the mechanical testing equipment.

Natural and synthetic rubbers

Three of the working groups deal with the basic rubber materials. WG 2 deals with latices, WG 4 natural rubber and WG 5 synthetic rubbers.

Latices are emulsified rubbers (or other polymers) in the form in which they are produced, either in the tree or in the factory. For certain articles the rubber is used in latex form. For easi-er transportation the latices are concen-trated and certain stabilizers are added. They are most frequently used to pro-duce thin membrane articles like surgi-cal gloves. Latex and additives in items for extended contact with the skin must be chosen carefully so that the end prod-uct does not harm users. Some 20 Inter-national Standards deal with latices and associated products.

Like most agricultural products, natural rubber, the subject of WG 4, poses its own specific challenges. Out-door production is affected by weather and infestation which can cause con-tamination and consistency problems. Six ISO International Standards (one in progress) have been established to address these issues.

About the author

John Timar has served as Secretary of ISO/TC 45 /SC 3 since 1992. He entered the rubber industry in 1953, joining the Ruggyanta-árúgyár company in

Budapest, Hungary, and then Polysar in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada in 1962, during which time he specialized in the development of compounding approaches to improve the heat resistance of common elastomers. He is a graduate of College of Chemical Technology in Budapest, and the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada.

pigment only. There are 19 International Standards covering carbon black with three in preparation.

Non-black compounding ingre-dients – the mandate of WG 6 – can be divided into two groups. One group is used instead of carbon black to achieve the required performance without the black colour. Hydrated and fumed sili-cas, clays, chalks, etc., are used exten-sively and they are governed by three ISO International Standards. The other types chemically convert the raw rub-ber in the compound into a vulcanizate. Sulphur is the primary chemical used but other auxiliary materials are intro-duced to accelerate or modify the chemi-cal reaction. Other non-black chemicals are required to protect the rubber article from environmental hazards. They are the subject of five International Stand-ards, and some under development.

Reclaiming rubberWith time new requirements

emerge. They may drive the formation of new working groups or modification of existing mandates. Currently the issue of handling products derived from recy-cled, ground or otherwise reclaimed rub-ber and ingredients is being debated.

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In addition to natural rubber there are many types of synthetic rubber. Some are used the same way as natural rubber but many possess special properties for specific purposes. Resistance to high temperature, oil and gasoline, ozone and other agents, vibration damping, and reduced permeability to gases and vapours are all properties which qual-ify them for specific niches. Each type of synthetic rubber requires specialized treatment and standards. Ten Interna-tional Standards already exist to cov-er synthetic rubbers, with several more under development.

Other ingredientsAdditional ingredients are need-

ed to endow rubber products with the desired characteristics. Some chemically alter the raw rubber while others improve strength, wear resistance or colour.

The black artThe most important “ non-chem-

ical ” compounding ingredient is car-bon black. Commonly it is considered to be soot that imparts the black col-our, but in rubber it also acts as a rein-forcing agent. Carbon blacks differ in particle size and surface area, in parti-cle agglomeration and in other charac-teristics. Many different carbon black grades are used in rubber compounds to achieve the desired product perform-ance, sometimes it is used as colouring

“ SC 3 may well encompass the less glamorous, less

hi-tech end of the industry, but it is nevertheless

involved in a field of great importance.”


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Main Focus

Cutting out the complexities of coal classification

by H.J. Pinheiro, Secretary, ISO/TC 27, Solid mineral fuels, and A.C. Cook, President, International Committee for Coal and Organic Petrology

C oal is one of the world’s main sources of energy. In the past, it was used widely in the domes-

tic, transport and other sectors. Now it is increasingly concentrated in two main areas: power generation and steel making. Coal is a fossil fuel. It is a combustible, sedimentary, organ-

ic rock (composed primarily of car-bon, hydrogen and oxygen) formed from vegetation, which has been con-solidated between other rock strata to form coal seams, and altered by the combined effects of microbial action, pressure and heat over a considerable time period.

Coal is generally classified into ‘ranks’1) which are based on the degree of transformation of the original plant material to carbon. The main ranks of coals, from those with the least carbon to those with the most carbon, are lig-nite, sub-bituminous, bituminous and anthracite.

ISO, unlike the Economic Com-mission for Europe of the United Nations (UN/ECE), had no major history in the area of coal classification until 1991, when ISO/TC 27, Solid mineral fuels, implemented a new working group WG

18 to prepare an ISO standard on the classification of coals for commercial purpose. This new initiative undertaken by ISO reflected the industrial and eco-nomic importance of coal as an energy source, and as a feedstock in industrial processes. At the time, the major chal-lenge rested on devising a classifica-tion system that would be simple and, with which the global coal industry – among them coal producers, market-ers and users – could feel comfortable, and would find useful in the interna-tional trade of coal (in Lemos de Sou-sa et al, 1998).

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1) The degree of “ metamorphism ” or coalification undergone by a coal, as it matures from lignite to anthracite, has an important bearing on its physical and chemical properties, and is referred to as the “ rank ” of the coal.



An ISO-endorsed classification system

The publication of the Interna-tional Codification System for Medi-um and High Rank Coals in 1988 by the UN/ECE was perhaps instrumen-tal in leading some ISO member bod-ies to counteract the UN initiatives, by supporting an ISO-endorsed classifi-cation system for coals. In fact, some representatives saw the need to imple-ment a classification system to be used for trade and utilization that would not necessarily be based or include pet-rographic parameters. During its first meeting in London (1993) ISO/TC 27 WG 18 decided on the following :

a) An ISO classification of coals is required to provide standardization and definition of terminology in use throughout the whole coal chain to assist in the international exchange of information on coals ;

b) An ISO classification of coals should encompass coals of all ranks while remaining simple ;

c) The ISO classification of coals would not include blend of coals ;

d) The parameters selected as the basis of an ISO classification of coals would be backed by appro-priate ISO standards and be capable of being determined with acceptable interlaboratory tolerances. Also, the classification should ideally provide an indication of rank, heating val-ues, caking properties and impuri-ty level ; and,

e) The working group should begin by developing a stand-alone “ ISO classification of coals by rank ” and thus avoid other complicating issues. This endeavour should seek to mod-ify ASTM D 388-92a, Classifica-tion of coal by rank, to the extent necessary to make it applicable to coals of all petrographic composi-tions as well as all ranks.

Key Facts About CoalWhy is coal so important to everyday life worldwide?

• Coal is the world’s most abundant, safe and secure fossil fuel – it is also cost-effective and can be burnt cleanly; coal is mined in 50 countries.

• Coal is the single largest fuel source for the generation of electricity worldwide. Currently over one-third of global electricity is generated from coal.

• Coal is the safest fossil fuel to transport, store and use.

• Abundant coal reserves means that coal users are guaranteed security of supply at competitive prices, hence electricity supplies for industrial and domestic use are assured.

Coal’s role in global energy and industry…• Over 23 % of primary energy needs world-

wide are met by coal.

• 39 % of global electricity is generated from coal ; Poland, South Africa, and China all rely on coal to produce over three-quarters of their electricity. India, Kazakhstan, the Czech Republic, Greece, Denmark, Ger-many and the USA all rely on coal for over 50 % of their electricity.

• 66 % of global steel production depends on coal feedstock, with around 543 mil-lion tonnes (Mt) of coal being used in steel blast furnaces and providing much of the electricity used to power electric arc fur-naces to produce the balance of global steel production.

• Global hard (black) coal production has grown by over 46 % in the last 25 years to 4037.5 Mt in 2003 ; major producers include China 1502 Mt, USA 892 Mt, India 340 Mt, Australia 274 Mt, South Africa 239 Mt, Russia 188 Mt, Indonesia 120 Mt, Poland 100 Mt, Kazakhstan 75 Mt and Ukraine 57 Mt.

• Brown coal/lignite production totalled 886 Mt in 2003, with Germany the lead-ing producer at almost 180 Mt.

• Spending is increasing on technology research and development programmes to improve thermal efficiency and reduce GHG and other emissions.

Source: World Coal InstituteWeb: www.wci-coal.com

Trials and tribulationsA two-year hiatus ensued fol-

lowing the London meeting until 1995, when a new proposal from Australia 2) was put forward, which was essentially an adaption of the UN/ECE Internation-al Classification of in-Seam Coals pub-lished in 1995. As a result, the objec-tives of the ISO classification had to be re-visited and modified to include two major changes.

2) A formal proposal was sent by the Australian representative to ISO that was not necessarily a proposal supported generally within Australia.

The first modification was to exclude any commercial intent by the addition of the phrase : “ this classification is not to be used for commercial or trade purpos-es ”. The second included a change to the title : Classification of Humic Coals for Resource Characterization. This entirely new proposed draft was prepared by Aus-tralia1 and presented at the 15 th ISO/TC 27 Plenary Meeting (Beijing 1995), which accepted and adopted the draft.

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Low rank Medium rank High rank

100 C B A D C B A C B A a

High vitrinite80

Moderately high vitrinite60Medium vitrinite40

Low vitrinite200

75 35 0,4 0,5 0,6 1,0 1,4 2,0 3,0 4,0 6,0

Bed moisture(% ash free)

Vitrinite reflectance ( r %)c

Lignite/Brown coal S’bit b Bituminous Anthracite

C B A D C B A C B A

a At upper limit for High Rank A, v max < 8 % preferred to r < 6 %.b Sub-bituminous. c Reproducibility : r 0,08 % ; vitrinite content 9%

Vitri

nite

, % b

y vo

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High ash Moderately high ash Medium ash Low ash Very low ash

50 30 20 10 5 0

Ash yield (% dry basis)

The rank stages are the basis of the ISO classification. In a normal two-dimensional representation of the classification, rank forms the X-axis and vitrinite % is used as a measure of petrographic composition on the Y-axis. To this extent, the system follows that shown in Table 1. A third dimen-sion is implied by the inclusion of ash yield as an additional classification criterion.

The classification system is designed to permit broad appraisals of coals. The rank scale is based on vitrinite reflectance down into the brown coal or lignite range and on bed moisture for the lowest rank coals. To avoid confusion with the many different boundaries set by other schemes, the ISO classification uses the general terms “Low”, “Medium” and “High” rank coals. Within each of these categories, letters are used for finer subdivisions with the “A” subcategory in each group being the highest rank. The basic form of the ISO classification is set out in Table 1, Table 2 (opposite) and Table 3 (page 24) together with a correlation of the ISO system with some older terms.

This revised draft, which was renamed as “ Classification of Coals (for International Comparisons) ”, was distributed to WG 18 members as well as to some individual members of the International Committee for Coal and Organic Petrology (ICCP). An enquiry followed, the results of which were pre-sented and discussed at the second offi-cial and formal meeting of WG 18 that took place with the 16 th Plenary Meeting of ISO/TC 27 (Cape Town 1997).

“ This new initiative undertaken by ISO

reflected the industrial and economic importance of coal as an energy source,

and as a feedstock in industrial processes.”

Main Focus

Table 1 – Classification of coals

Graphic representation

The structure of the coal classification system as described in ISO 11760 is illustrated graphically in Table 1. This shows the interrelation of descrip-tive rank dependent terms and the mean random reflectance of the vitrinite ( r), along with the four vitrinite categories. The five ash yield categories are shown separately.

Significant and constructive progress was made at this meeting where several significant decisions were reached, among them were :

• The first decisions, taken in London, were re-visited and changed accord-ingly to allow for the acceptance of the last draft proposal distributed by the Convenor. This step was the fundamental one that finally ended contradictions that existed between the drafts resulting from the London and Beijing meetings ;

• The project was re-named “ ISO classi-fication of coals ” and was to be based on Rank, Petrographic composition and Grade.

• It was further decided to incorporate a definition of “coal”.

• The Classification was to carry a state-ment clearly indicating that it “shall not be used for commercial or trade purposes”.

Subsequent to the Cape Town meeting, the working group met two times more, in London (1999) and in Shoal Bay (2003), with most of its activities being conducted electroni-cally during the period leading to the final publication of ISO 11760.


Bed Moist Rr %

75% 35% 0.4 0.5 0.6 1.0 1.4 2.0 3.0 4.0 6.0

C B A D C B A C B ALOW-RANK COAL MEDIUM-RANK COAL HIGH-RANK COAL

LIGNITE SUB-BIT BITUMINOUS ANTHRACITE

PF steam PF steam PF steam Steam/PCI

PCI/SOFT COKING

PRIME COKING

BLEND LV/PCI

Possible PCI Graphitizable carbons


About the authors

H.J. Pinheiro is Secretary of ISO/TC 27, Solid mineral fuels. He has over 25 years experience in the coal business environment. Since 2001, he

is a technical manager (product develop-ment ; carbon materials) in Springlake Holdings Pty Ltd – a coal mining compa-ny in South Africa. He holds a BSc (Honours) equivalent in Geology from the University of Porto in Portugal.

Alan Cook is the President of the International Committee for Coal and Organic Petrology (ICCP). Alan Cook has worked in the coal industry in

the United Kingdom and Australia and now runs Keiraville Konsultants providing services to the coal and coke industries and the oil and gas exploration industry. He holds a MA, PhD, ScD from King’s College Cambridge.

Table 2 – Diagram illustrating classification of coal by rank, and the microscopic appearance of the main rank categories (Cook, 2005, pers. commun.)(Note: references to application are simply illustrative)

An overwhelming consensus

In February of this year, ISO 11760:2005, Classification of coals, was published – after nearly 15 years of activity and interaction among the participating countries. In addition to the overwhelming consensus by ISO mem-bers participating actively in its devel-opment, ISO 11760 includes unambig-uous definitions of terms that are used in day-to-day coal-related business at national and international levels. It is used as a basis for common purposes resulting from intense debate and dis-cussions throughout its elaboration.

This International Standard describes a simple classification sys-tem for coals providing :

• Guidance on the selection of the appro-priate ISO standard procedures for the analyses and testing of coals,

• International comparison of coals in terms of some key characteristics,

• Descriptive categorization of coals.

That two of the three classifica-tion parameters are petrographic ones is a reflection of the industry’s ability to change and accept the use of more

modern-day analytical tools without prejudice and the development of an accreditation programme by the Inter-national Committee for Coal and Organ-ic Petrology (ICCP) in 1995 to provide inter-laboratory standardization for these parameters.

The ISO coal classification system is designed to minimize what is common-ly called the boundary problem – that is, the problem of coals close to a bound-ary in a classification. Sellers want the coal to be considered in the more valu-

able category and buyers want to con-sider it in the less valuable category. The only way to avoid this completely is to have a single category – coal. This is clearly unsatisfactory. The ISO classi-fication attempts to keep categories to a minimum while permitting maximum discrimination. Additionally, those inter-ested in a specific coal should carefully examine the full analysis.

It must be emphasized that the work carried out by WG 18 was made thanks to the work of its Convenor, Dr.

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LOW RANK COALS

Bed moist Rr%

75% 35% 0,4 0,5

v max 0,33 % Tertiary Kalimantan 0,46 % Tertiary, Kalimantan

C B A

LOW-RANK COAL

LIGNITE SUB-BIT

MEDIUM RANK COALS

0,5 Rr % 0,6 1,0 1,4 2,0

v max 0,54%, Tertiary

0,64 % Carboniferous, UK

1,08 % Carboniferous, USA

1,74 % Jurassic, Australia

D C B AMEDIUM-RANK COAL

BITUMINOUSSTEAM COALS SOFT COKING\PCI PRIME COKING BLEND LV COKING/

PCI

HIGH RANK COALS

2,0 Rr % 3,0 4,0 6,0

2,16 % Tertiary, W Canada 3,16 % Roseneath, Cooper Basin, Perm. Australia, pxp

5,87 % Permian W Papua, pxp- partially crossed polars

C B AHIGH-RANK COAL

ANTHRACITE

Main Focus

Bob Durie, whose remarkable scientific and technical knowledge coupled with his superb leadership skills secured the best possible results throughout a difficult journey. The collaboration of the ICCP was also very important. This organi-zation was competently represented by its Presidents, initially Dr. Alan Davies (USA), subsequently Professor Manuel Lemos de Sousa (Portugal) and in the last five years or so by Dr. Alan Cook (Australia).

Table 3 – Rank categories – Low, medium and high rank coals (Cook, 2005, pers. commun.)(Note : references to application are simply illustrative)

“The ISO classification attempts to keep

categories to a minimum while permitting maximum

discrimination.”

(Continued from page 23)



ISO/TC 203 :What is energy and energywares ?

by Anders J Thor, Secretary, and Birgit Bodlund, Chair, of ISO/TC 203, Technical energy systems

The concept kinetic energy of a mov-ing body was first introduced by Isaac Newton when he formulat-

ed classical mechanics, described in his three-volume work “ The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy ” pub-lished in 1687 and better known as “ The Principia ”.

and potential energy is constant during the whole process. This sum is known as the mechanical energy.

However, there are other forces where the mechanical energy does not remain constant. For example, if you throw a body along a horizontal plane with friction, it will eventually lose all its kinetic energy and stop. The initial kinetic energy is not regained nor trans-formed into potential energy since the altitude has not changed. Instead, this energy is converted into another kind of energy – heat. We conclude that the sum of mechanical energy and heat is constant. Heat can then be extended to other forms of thermodynamic energy such as enthalpy.

A hot topicThere is an important difference

between these two examples. In the first, all kinetic energy can be transformed into potential energy and vice versa. In the second, all kinetic energy can be trans-formed into heat, but cannot be converted back into kinetic (or mechanical) energy. In a more complex system, like a steam engine, only a fraction of the heat can be transformed back into mechanical ener-gy. This important observation demon-strates that different kinds of energy are not equally useful.

E l e c -t romagnet -i c sys tems can be simply described as the electrical forc-es between charged particles, and magnetic forces between conductors of electric currents. However, it turns out that the sum of electromagnetic energies and the other types of energy described above is constant. Again, electric energy, e.g. an electric current through a resistor, can be fully transformed into heat, but not vice versa. The process is not reversible.

Chemical reactions are essential-ly electrical reactions between atoms, molecules, or ions. And again, the sum

A lesson in physics

All physics today is based on principles laid down by Newton. If you throw a body into the air from the Earth’s surface its speed decreas-es, and hence also the kinetic energy, the higher it travels until stopping and falling back to the starting point. When the body returns to the surface, pulled by gravitational force, the speed and kinetic energy are practically the same as at the beginning of the process.

Why does the kinetic energy of the body decrease with altitude and increase again on return? It is the poten-tial energy of the body that increases with altitude at the same rate as the kinetic energy decreases, and vice versa. Therefore the sum of the kinetic energy

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Main Focus

About the authors

Anders J. Thor, formerly an Assistant Profes-sor of Mechanics at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, has been Project Manager at the Swedish Stand-

ards Institute (SIS) since 1975. He is Secretary of ISO/TC 12, Quantities, units, symbols, conversion factors and ISO/TC 203, Technical energy systems, and also Chair of IEC/TC 25, Quantities and units, and their letter symbols.

Birgit Bodlund is a Senior Advisor, Business Development, at Vattenfall AB Generation, in Stockholm, Sweden, respon-sible for the development of the company’s

Life-Cycle Assessment and Environmental Product Declarations. She is also an Asso-ciated Professor at the Department of Environmental and Energy Systems Studies, Institution of Science and Technology, Lund University. Dr. Bodland has PhD in Physics.

of all known kinds of energy, including chemical energy, is constant.

Sound, light, and EinsteinAcoustics is a form of mechanics

represented as mechanical vibrations of molecules in air or another substance. Light and other related electromagnetic radiations are forms of electromagne-tism. Hence the fields of acoustics and light are also subject to the same prin-ciple that the sum of all known kinds of energy is constant.

than energy per se. They are really talk-ing about certain “ energy carriers ” that can be produced or consumed.

What is “ energyware ” ?ISO/TC 203, Technical energy

systems has made the distinction between two types of energy carriers, i.e. trada-ble and non-tradable. Examples of trad-able energy-carriers are coal, gasoline, city gas, grid electricity, and hot water in district heating networks. Examples of non-tradable energy carriers are nat-ural resources such as wind-energy and sun radiation. Tradable energy-carriers have been named energyware to distin-guish from energy. A list of energywares is given in International Standard ISO 13600:1997, Technical energy systems – Basic concepts.

The scope of ISO/TC 203 is stand-ardization of basic concepts and meth-ods used to define, describe, analyze, and compare technical energy systems and energyware balances. To fulfil this scope, the Technical Committee has also published ISO 13601:1998, Technical energy systems – Structure for analysis – Energyware supply and demand sec-tors, and ISO 13602-1:2002, Technical energy systems – Methods for analysis – Part 1: General.

With the International Stand-ards published so far, ISO/TC 203 has defined, described, and analyzed tech-nical energy systems as mentioned in the scope. What remains is to compare technical energy systems.

Weighting and aggregation

Since different forms of energy are useful for different purposes to vary-ing degrees, different energy-carriers and energywares are also useful for differ-

“ ISO/TC 203 has defined, described, and analyzed

technical energy systems. What remains is to

compare technical energy systems.”

“ The terms ‘ energy production ’ and ‘ energy consumption ’ contradict the most fundamental

law of physics.”

The last time this principle of invariant energy in an isolated system was questioned was when Marie and Pierre Curie studied radioactive samples more than 100 year ago. They found that their sample produced heat, but nothing else seemed to happen. Later it was dis-covered that there had been a nuclear reaction resulting in a small reduction in sample mass. In his famous theory of relativity, Albert Einstein showed that mass is equivalent to energy accord-ing to the formula E = mc2, where E is energy, m is mass, and c is speed of light in a vacuum. If you include the mass of the system, the principle that the sum of all known kinds of energy is constant still holds. There is no more fundamental principle in physics than this – the first law of thermodynamics. It could also be expressed in the follow-ing way : you cannot produce or con-sume energy ; only convert one form of energy to another.

Nevertheless, you often hear the terms “ energy production ” and “ ener-gy consumption ”. This, however, con-tradicts that most fundamental law of physics. When politicians, and even some other Technical Committees, talk about energy as a physical quantity that is “ produced ” and “ consumed ”, they are in fact talking about something else

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Expanding solar water heating market needs ISO standards

by Ken Guthrie, Chair, ISO/TC 180, Solar energy and Professor Graham Morrison, University of New South Wales, Australia

Solar thermal energy systems cur-rently provide over 70 GW (Giga watts) of energy supply capacity

worldwide saving equivalent to 7 billion litres of oil each year – capacity that is expanding at over 25 % annually, according to the International Energy Agency Solar Heating and Cooling Programme.

This dramatic growth is driven by different needs and systems around the world. For example, the USA and Canada are dominated by unglazed solar swimming pool heating systems, while in Europe glazed flat plate collectors providing domestic hot water make up most of the sales.

Approximately three quarters of all solar hot water systems are sold in China, where the evacuated tube collec-tor is the key technology. The demand is being driven chiefly by rapidly devel-oping lifestyles and security of supply issues for conventional fuelled water heaters. And although there are an esti-mated 1000 + manufacturers in the coun-try, performance test requirements are hindered by a limited number of test-ing laboratories.

Contrastingly, the European and Australian markets are supported by gov-ernment incentives to reduce greenhouse pollution.

Under reviewInternational Standards devel-

oped by ISO/TC 180, Solar energy, must accomodate these widely varying mar-ket and technology needs. As a result, the technical committee is currently reviewing the existing range of system performance standards, and developing new versions. Within its scope is a five-part standard relating to solar water heat-er system test and performance evalua-tion methods.

ent purposes. In consequence, ISO/TC 203 decided to propose a draft Interna-tional Standard, ISO/DIS 13602-2 for Weighting and aggregation of energy-wares at its most recent Plenary Meet-ing in February 2005.

There is no strict physical prin-ciple on which weighting and aggrega-tion of energywares can be objectively based – there must be some subjective judgments. General principles given in the draft are :

• An inherent physical property, e.g. heat of combustion,

• Type of energy resource, e.g. renew-able or non-renewable,

• Characteristics of the energy conver-sion process, e.g. emissions such as nitrogen oxides, or

• The service provided by the energy-ware, e.g. heating or building.

Several different quantities may be used for weighting and aggregation. The most common are :

• Energy content (heat of combus-tion),

• Economy (price),

• Energy (measure of the quality of energy),

• Substitution coefficient.

A trustworthy resultThe most important input when

the environmental performance of prod-ucts and processes is calculated is ener-gywares. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Environmental Product Declara-tion (EPD) in the ISO 14000 Series of Environmental Management Standards are often used to compare environmen-tal profiles. Weighting and aggregation of energywares is thus key to arriving at a trustworthy result.


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Main Focus

About the authors

Ken Guthrie is Chair of ISO/TC180, Solar energy, and Principal Project Manager, Best Practice and Standards at the Sustainable Energy Authori-ty Victoria, Aus-

tralia. He has 25 years experience in solar thermal systems and energy efficiency and is active on a number of solar and energy efficiency standards committees in Australia.

Graham Morrison is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. His interests include operation of

outdoor solar thermal testing laboratories and modelling of thermal systems. He has developed a range of routines for model-ling solar water heaters, and commercially available simulation packages for designing solar and heat pump water heating systems (POOLHEAT) and air-conditioning systems performance rating software (HPRATE).

ISO 9459-2:1995, Solar heat-ing – Domestic water heating systems – Part 2: Outdoor test methods for sys-tem performance characterization and yearly performance prediction of solar-only systems. This test is applicable to solar-only systems and solar-preheat sys-tems. The performance test for solar-only systems produces a family of ‘ input-out-put ’ characteristics. Test results can be used directly with daily mean values of solar irradiation, air temperature and cold water temperature data to predict annual system performance. The test involves daily energy collection and ambient con-ditions measured over 10 to 15 days. It is used in a simplified form in Chi-na and in a modified form in Taiwan, Korea and Japan. Performance can be predicted for a range of loads and oper-ating conditions, but only for an evening water draw-off. This International Stand-ard is under review.

ISO 9459-3 :1997, Solar heat-ing – Domestic water heating systems

– Part 3 : Performance test for solar plus supplementary systems. This is a ‘ black box ’ system test procedure that produc-es a correlation equation to characterize system performance for use with dai-ly mean values of solar irradiation, air temperature and cold water temperature data, to predict annual system perform-ance. The test requires inputs and out-puts to be monitored over a period of six to eight weeks, but does not require details of component performance to be monitored during the test. It is limited to predicting annual performance for one load pattern, and provides a well-accepted result. However, it is not cur-rently used due to the time required, and is under review.

“ International Standards developed by ISO/

TC 180, Solar energy, must accomodate widely

varying market and technology needs.”

The five parts of ISO 9459, Solar heating – Domestic water heating sys-tems, provide different test methods to meet these varying needs. Three proce-dures have been adopted as Internation-al Standards and two are in the drafting process. They cover three separate means of evaluating performance :

• rating test based on indoor testing ;

• outdoor test procedures for solar-only, and solar plus supplementa-ry systems ;

• outdoor testing of components or complete systems and annual per-formance modelling, using compu-ter simulation.

Five-part standardThe five parts of the Internation-

al Standard are :

ISO 9459-1:1993, Solar heat-ing – Domestic water heating systems – Part 1 : Performance rating procedure using indoor test methods. This is a one day test in an indoor simulator under a standardized set of reference condi-tions which indicate the relative per-formance of solar water heaters, rath-er than predicting annual performance. The standard is used in the USA, and is under review.

“ Solar thermal energy systems currently provide

over 70 Giga watts of energy supply capacity

worldwide.”

Draft ISO 9459-4, Solar heat-ing – Domestic water heating systems – Part 4 : System performance character-ization by means of component tests and computer simulation. This draft stand-

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ISO gears wind power

by William A. Bradley III, Vice President of the American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) Technical Division

Wind power is the fastest grow-ing renewable energy source, with the addition of over 8 000

Megawatts (MW) worldwide for each of the last two years. This represents over a 20 % increase each year. In 2004, 44 of the 57 countries that now have the abil-ity to generate electricity by wind pow-er obtained or increased their capacity. (See the table for operational wind tur-bine capacity, overleaf.)

Denmark, as one of the leaders in the manufacturing of wind turbines, cur-rently has about 5 000 turbines installed. The country had a small increase in capac-ity last year; however their installed tur-bines could potentially cover 50 % of the Danish electricity consumption. The installed turbines currently cover approxi-mately 20 % of their electricity consump-tion, which makes it a world leader. The difference will be discussed later.

ard is a procedure for defining system performance that uses measured com-ponent characteristics in the computer program TRNSYS (Transient Energy System Simulation tools).

Tank heat loss and mixing, and heat exchanger performance are charac-terized by tests defined in the draft stand-ard. Collector performance is defined by the collector efficiency test procedure in ISO 9806-1:1994, Test methods for solar collectors – Part 1: Thermal per-formance of glazed liquid heating col-lectors including pressure drop, or ISO 9806-3:1995, Test methods for solar collectors – Part 3 : Thermal perform-ance of unglazed liquid heating collec-tors (sensible heat transfer only) includ-ing pressure drop. The annual perform-ance of the system is evaluated by sim-ulation using TRNSYS. This method, under development for an International Standard, is currently used in Australia and the USA.

Draft ISO/CD 9459-5, Solar heat-ing – Domestic water heating systems – Part 5 : System performance characteriza-tion by means of whole-system tests and computer simulation. This draft Interna-tional Standard is in the final stages of committee consideration. The test pro-cedure includes :

• short time step system performance monitored over a few weeks ;

• performance simulation for measured weather conditions ;

• identification of system parameters to match simulated and measured per-formance.

The model defined can be used with hourly solar irradiation values, air temperature and cold water temperature data to predict annual system perform-ance. This method is currently used in Europe.

Expanding challengeAs the market expands and new

technologies are deployed, the challenge for ISO/TC 180 is to develop and update test methods to meet the changing needs of the international marketplace.

“ The economies of larger scale are making wind

power more feasible as an alternative power source.”

Germany produces 4 % and con-sumes about 6 % of its electricity gen-erated by wind power. Some of the dif-ference comes from Denmark. A report

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Main Focus

There was a recognized need to have an International Standard for the design and specification of wind turbine gearboxes, particularly when some designs demonstrated that they were inadequate for the required service. Many of the 600kW and larger gearboxes experi-enced gear and bearing failures within the first couple of service years, which seriously detracted from the availabil-ity of consumable power generated by wind turbines.

Combining expertise The ISO technical committee that

covers this area of expertise has been ISO/TC 60, Gears. However, existing standards for wind turbines had been developed within IEC technical com-mittee IEC/TC 88, Wind turbines. The IEC standards covered the loading and system performance specifications. A new work item was proposed by IEC/TC 88 in 2003, specifically for gearboxes. However, many members of ISO and IEC had already been involved in the development of an ANSI 1)/AGMA2)/AWEA3) standard for design and spec-ification of gearboxes for wind power generation. After discussion between ISO and IEC, it was decided to com-bine the expertise into a Joint Work-ing Group (JWG) between ISO/TC 60 and IEC/TC 88, for the development of an International Standard for wind tur-bine gearboxes.

The JWG organiza-tional meeting was held May 2004 with 45 persons repre-senting ISO, IEC and their Central Secretariat’s in atten-dance. It was agreed to pro-duce one standard that would have both ISO and IEC desig-nations. The JWG completely reviewed a proposed outline of the standard and after discussion of the content and because of the need internationally, it was recommended that the Ameri-can National Standard, ANSI/AGMA/AWEA 6006-AO3, should be fast tracked as a first edition. The JWG would also develop a second edition to extend the document for larg-

er sizes and additional commissioning requirements.

About the author

William A. Bradley III is presently Vice President of the American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) Tech-nical Division responsible for facilitating

National and International Standards development, technical meetings, seminars and Division operations.

His experience includes over four decades in the gear industry, including 24 years in manufacturing power transmission products. Involved in ISO standardization since 1979, he is presently Secretariat of ISO/TC 60, Gears, a working group Convenor, and Administrator of the ANSI Technical Advisory Group to ISO for TC 60. Most recently, William A. Bradley III has been elected President of the Board of Directors for the Gear Research of the Institute of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and AGMA.

OPERATIONAL WIND TURBINE CAPACITY

LOCATIONPercent

increase in 2004, %

Capacity at start of 2005,

(megawatts)

Worldwide 20.6 47 574

Europe 20.0 34 630

1 Germany 13.8 16 628

2 Spain 33.2 8 263

3 USA 6.3 6 752

4 Denmark 0.1 3 118

5 India 40.7 2 983

6 Italy 42.0 1 265

7 Netherlands 18.2 1 078

8 Japan 46.0 940

9 UK 27.4 897

10 Austria 46.3 607

1) American National Standards Institute

2) The American Gear Manufacturers Association

3) American Wind Energy Association

from Deutsche Energie-Agen-tur (DENA) indicates that a goal of 15 % electricity consumption from wind power is feasible by 2015 without technical or eco-nomic barriers.

More consumable wind power

Up until a few years ago most wind turbines were less than 1 MW in capacity. Many units were setup in wind “ farms ” and required govern-ment subsidies to be practical for generating enough pow-er for consumption. Present-ly wind turbines between 1.5 and 2.5 MW are commonly being pro-duced. The economies of larger scale are making wind power more feasible as an alternative power source, espe-cially being renewable.

The trend to more consumable wind power will continue as the world “ gears-up ” to have larger drive units. European renewable energy agencies are calling for an annual EU research and development budget of € 250 mil-lion, part of which to explore increas-ing turbine sizes between 8 to 10 MW by 2010.

The wind turbine industry is one of the most demanding applications for mechanical-electrical systems. It requires relatively small compact high power density gear drives and elec-tric generators to transmit fluctuating loads in a very demanding environ-ment of high vibration and extremes of temperatures.

Today, what has evolved into a commonly produced wind turbine design includes : a very large three bladed, variable pitch, low speed propeller (70 to 100 meters diameter) ; a mul-tistage gearbox to transmit the power and increase speed for efficient gen-eration; an advance electrical genera-tor to produce 50 or 60 cycle power at 1 500 to 1 800 rpm ; all housed on top of a tower over 80 to 100 meters above land or sea. The objective is to have the system operate with low mainte-nance for over 20 years.

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“ The future is very bright for the wind turbine

industry.”


Saving billions Saving billions of dollarsof dollars :: ISO standards for natural gas

by Pim Bijl, Manager of the Industry Division of Nederlands Normalisatie-instituut

Natural gas is a widely used energy source for domestic, commercial and industrial purposes, account-

ing for almost 25 % of the world’s primary energy consumption — and proven gas reserves have increased sharply. In 2000 they were estimated at 145 000 Gm ³ (bil-lion cubic meters), sufficient for 65 years at present consumption levels.

As natural gas transportation is a significant cost factor, only 20 % of total production is traded across national boundaries. North America, Europe and the Russian Federation account for 75 % of total consumption and 73 % of total production of natural gas. Only Western Europe and the Asia-Pacific region (net importers of 5 % and 1 % respectively of world production) import more natural gas

than they export, while Eastern Europe and the Russian Federation (+3 %) and Africa (+3 %) are net exporters.

The long distance transportation of natural gas is on the increase due to the construction of large pipelines and LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals. Demand for LNG has been growing rap-idly and is expected to more than dou-ble in the next 10 years.

Standards to support regulations

In 1989, ISO established tech-nical committee ISO/TC 193, Natural gas, to develop International Standards for natural gas and natural gas substi-tutes (gaseous fuels), covering the sup-ply chain from production to delivery to end users across national bounda-ries. These standards include terminol-ogy, quality specifications, methods of measurement, sampling, analysis, cal-culation and testing.

International Standards are key support tools for delivery contracts between exploration, transportation, trading and distribution companies, and industrial and individual end users. Instead of negotiating natural gas qual-ity and measurement methods for each

The “fast track”, ISO/DIS 81400-4, Wind turbine generator systems – Part 4: Gearboxes for turbines from 40 kW to 2 MW and larger, is a landmark stan-dard that provides information on speci-fying, selecting, designing, manufactur-ing, procuring, operating and monitoring reliable speed increasing gearboxes for wind turbine generator system service. The AGMA committee responsible for its development was made up of gear manufacturers, users, consultants, bear-ing manufacturers, and lubricant system suppliers from around the world who brought many years of experience with this application to the table. Many of these individual experts are now mem-bers of the JWG. At the time this article was written, the DIS ballot for the “fast track” has been unanimously approved by ISO and may become an International Standard by the end of the year.

The future is very bright for the wind turbine industry. There is an increas-ing demand for wind power as a viable renewable energy source. It appears that wind power will continue to be the fast-est growing in this sector with the pres-ent ability to add over 8000 Megawatts worldwide every year. As the average size of each wind turbine increases the economies of scale will make it more feasible for countries to generate elec-tricity by wind power. There is a con-solidated effort to make the drive sys-tems reliable for many years of service. The JWG plans to supply the expertise of both ISO and IEC members to devel-op timely standards to assist this indus-try’s growth.

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a driving force in the increased utiliza-tion of natural gas.

Increasing availabilityExploration techniques continue

to improve so that known natural gas reserves are expected to increase sig-nificantly. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is becoming a major factor in gas sales internationally. Technology is driving down costs of pipelined gas and LNG to become competitive with oil. Develop-ment of marginally small fields is increas-ing, demanding additional cost-effective production technology and the ancillary standardization. Gas is so widely avail-able that its market share will increase and may even double during the dec-ades to come.

contract, easy reference can be made to the standards. Also, they support regu-lations in the natural gas sector.

International Standards for the natural gas industry are growing in impor-tance as natural gas becomes increasingly available, traded, and consumed.

In contrast to other energy sourc-es, natural gas is used in a condition as close as possible to that in which it is found. It is preferably not formulated, refined or blended.

However with growing interna-tional pipeline distribution net works and liberalization of the gas market, there is greater need for internationally agreed specifications of natural gas quality. Har-monization of quality requirements via standardization enables cost effective real-ization of processing installations.

Natural gases from different sourc-es have different properties – such as heating value – and are not compatible in safety and efficiency. Since the prop-erties differ, clear agreements ensuring the accurate measurement of volume and quality (e.g. calorific value) of the gas are critical for billing, transmission and use.

This is highlighted by the fact that as the yearly production of 2 200 Gm ³ moves through the supply chain from owner to owner at least once, an accu-racy of ±1 % represents billions of dol-lars gained or lost. This puts the impor-tance of agreed and accurate industry-wide measurement into context. It also underlines the role of standards in sav-ing those billions of dollars.

Major influences in the natural gas industry:

Liberalization of gas marketsAs a result of the opening up of

energy markets, competition is increas-ing, more parties are involved, and dif-ferentiation between transportation and trading companies and common carri-er systems is widening. These develop-ments strengthen the need for Interna-tional Standards in many areas, partic-ularly in governing quality and inter-changeability.

Main Focus

Efficient energy useGreat strides have been made in

the past decade towards increased effi-ciency in energy use, particularly in appli-cations. And higher efficiency is essential in optimizing the lifetime of gas reserves — with consequent benefits to the envi-ronment and economy.

Increasing environmental awareness

In general, energy consumption has a negative impact on the environ-ment, especially in industrial and urban areas. Increased and efficient use of nat-ural gas would reduce this impact, as natural gas is the cleanest fossil energy source. Environmental effects draw ever-greater attention and are expected to be

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Analysis of natural gas is one of the main preoccupations of ISO/TC 193.


About the author

Pim Bijl is Manager of the Industry Divi-sion of Neder-lands Normali-satie-instituut (NEN), the ISO member for the Netherlands. Standardization responsibilities

include transport, mechanical engineering, occupational health and safety, energy, management systems and chemicals and materials. He has over 25 years of experi-ence in standardization, starting in the environmental field which involved him in the initialization of ISO/TC 146/SC 1, Stationary source emissions, ISO/TC 190, Soil quality, and ISO/TC 193, Natural Gas. He is currently active in the ISO/TC 193 secretariat.

“ An accuracy of ±1 % in gas volume measurement

represents billions of dollars gained or lost.”

“ Demand for liquefied natural gas is expected to more than double in the

next 10 years.”


Increasing consumptionNatural gas is now a major ener-

gy carrier worldwide. Its consumption will grow as a result of overall energy usage growth, the advent of new appli-cations such as natural gas vehicles, and also because gas is superseding other energy carriers. Oil firing will be increasingly replaced by gas firing, particularly for electricity generation. Compared with other fossil energy car-riers, the use of natural gas is growing sharply (in the past 10 years natural gas consumption has grown by 25 %, oil 15 %, and coal, 4 %.)

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ISO/TC 193 structure

ISO/TC 193

TerminologyOdorizationQuality-specification

SC 1Analysis of natural gas

SC 2Direct measurement

SC 3Upstreamarea

Standards for sampling, analysis and calculation of physical properties

Standardsfor the direct measurement of properties

Standardsfor allocation procedures

Natural gas is transported over great distances by huge pipe lines.


Main Focus

Hydrogen from dream to reality

by Randy Dey, P.Eng., Chair of ISO/TC 197, Hydrogen technologies

Imagine a world where everyone had access to a virtually inexhausti-ble supply of affordable clean energy.

We would not have to worry about the eventual depletion of fossil fuel resourc-es, nor depend on foreign oil and high priced fossil fuel-derived products. No longer would we have to deal with glo-bal climate change, polluted urban air and associated health problems.

Unfortunately, this is not yet reality ! The world is becoming more dependent on oil products. Oil demand is increasing in developed countries, and literally surging in developing countries, particularly China and India,

which need to consume more energy to sustain growth. Recently, the price per barrel of oil reached USD 58, and fears are that it will continue to rise.

A major challengeThe Kyoto Protocol became effec-

tive on 16 February 2005. Its objective is to set binding targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on average 5,2 %

The Golden Pavillon, in Kyoto.

200 % growthCross border transport and car-

riage distances are increasing. While over 100 countries have natural gas reserves sufficient for commercial devel-opment, the major reserves are found in just a few countries (e.g. Russian Fed-eration 33 %, Iran 15 %). Moreover, these large reserves are often located at great distance from the major gas consuming areas. However, the liq-uefied natural gas trade is expected to grow by over 200 % in the next 10 years, and this factor alone will help overcome any problems of distances between remote locations and major gas consuming areas.

“International Standards for the natural gas industry are growing in importance.”

More important than everIn view of this dynamic scenario,

effective standardization of terminolo-gy, quality specifications, measurement, sampling, analysis, calculation and test-ing in the natural gas industry is more important then ever.

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below 1990 levels for developed coun-tries, in order to address global warm-ing. This will undoubtedly be a major challenge for all signatories.

The automotive transportation sector – the focus of this article – rep-resents one of the biggest challenges. It accounts for over two-thirds of the oil consumed in the USA and approximately 70 % of the GHG emissions as a result of automobile and truck use. Two-thirds of these emissions are generated within urban areas, greatly contributing to smog related health problems.

The answerA shift to

a hydrogen-based transportation ener-gy system is consid-ered in some cir-cles as the ultimate answer to reduc-ing dependence on other energy sourc-es, and to reduc-ing emissions. Most

countries already recognize that hydro-gen produced from fossils fuels with sequestration of green house gases is only a near-term solution, while hydro-gen from renewable energy sources such as hydropower, wind power, geother-mal sources, biomass and sunlight has the potential to become the energy car-rier of the future.

A l t h o u g h hydrogen is current-ly widely and safe-ly used in the petro-chemical and chemi-cal industries, and in smaller quantities in electronics, steel and glass making and food hydrogenation, the widespread use

of a transportation energy system based on hydrogen still faces many obstacles. Most of the technologies required to implement this type of sustainable ener-gy system are either in the development or demonstration phase, and are not yet commercial. Further research is need-ed to overcome the technological and economical barriers, but the work has already begun in earnest.

No longer a dreamGeneral Motors unveiled its latest

hydrogen fuel cell car prototype, called the Sequel, at the North American Inter-national Auto Show in Detroit on 9 Jan-uary 2005 (see picture below), and dem-onstrated that the reinvented automobile was no longer just a dream. According to Larry Burns, GM Vice President of Research, Development and Planning, the company’s goal is to design and validate a fuel cell propulsion system by 2010, competitive on durability and perform-ance with current internal combustion

“ Hydrogen from renewable energy sources…has

the potential to become the energy carrier

of the future.”

Hydrogen technologiesISO/TC 197 is the technical com-mittee on hydrogen technologies. It was created in 1990 to develop standards in the field of systems and devices for the production, storage, transport, measurement and use of hydrogen.

The secretariat of ISO/TC 197 resides with the Bureau de norma-lisation du Québec (BNQ), which acts on behalf of the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) with Sylvie Gingras as secretary.©

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Main Focus

systems, that can ulti-mately be mass pro-duced affordably.

D a i m l e r Chrysler, Ford, Toy-ota, Honda, Nissan, BMW and others are also investing sub-stantially in the devel-opment of hydrogen and fuel cells vehi-cles. According to a recent Reuters report, Herbert Kohler, Vice President of Daimler Chrysler’s Body and Powertrain research unit, revealed that the company plans to launch a hydrogen-powered vehicle line in 2012.

Reports from the Detroit Auto Show reveal that Honda plans to put its FCX hydrogen-powered vehicle in the hands of an individual customer for the first time this year, according to Presi-dent and CEO, Takeo Fukui. It was also reported that the Fédération Internation-ale de l’Automobile (FIA) had officially ratified the nine international records set by the BMW H2R for hydrogen-powered vehicles with a reciprocating engine – evi-dence that it is not necessary to sacrifice performance when using hydrogen.

International StandardsThese examples suggest that

hydrogen-fuelled vehicles will become a reality in the near future. This is why it is so important to start putting in place a hydrogen infrastructure, and a series of International Standards and regula-tions to facilitate approval of these new technologies, both in the vehicle and the support services.

Global leaders of major automotive companies have already recognized the need for global harmonization of Regula-tions, Codes and Standards (RC&S). This is one of the main themes that emerged from the last three meetings of the top auto industry executives.

Governments also took a signif-icant step forward with the announce-ment by Germany, Japan and the USA of their commitment to co-sponsor the development of Global Technical Regu-lations (GTR) for hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles at the World Forum for Harmo-

About the author

Randy Dey, Chair of ISO/TC 197, Hydro-gen technolo-gies, is President of the Oakville, Ontario-based CCS Global Group Inc., a consulting firm he established in

1977. An engineer, Dey is also an expert in International Standards and codes of development and compliance, with a special focus on hydrogen, fuel cell and alternate fuel sectors. He holds leadership positions in other codes and standards committees related to hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, and in the Canadian National Committee of ISO (CNC/ISO).

Contact : Randy Dey, The CCS Global Group Inc.

E-mail : [email protected]

Web site : http://www.ccsglobalgroup.com

nization of Vehicle Regulations (WP 29), which operates under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE). ISO is also busy developing International Standards which are closely linked to this initiative.

Global regulationsISO/TC 197, Hydrogen technolo-

gies, is actively participating in various levels of the UN/ECE where hydrogen vehicle regulations are being developed. ISO/TC 197 brings consensus based Inter-national Standards – such as road vehicle fuel tanks for liquid hydrogen and gase-

ous hydrogen, refuelling connectors, and the hydrogen fuel quality specifications – which will eventually form a signifi-cant part of the technical content of glo-bal regulations being developed by the UN. The result of such strong coopera-tion between UN/ECE and ISO will help put in place, for the first time, a series of worldwide agreed requirements applica-ble to vehicles.

Governments around the world are investing in national hydrogen activities by supporting projects related to build-ing hydrogen infrastructures. For exam-ple, Iceland, with almost unlimited geo-thermal energy existing beneath its sur-face, aims to make the country oil-free by about 2050, by switching cars, bus-es, trucks and ships over to hydrogen. Then, in theory, the only oil used on the volcanic North Atlantic island will be in aircraft visiting Reykjavik airport.

A realityIn summary, ISO develops Inter-

national Standards that guarantee the safety of the new technologies and reflect the state-of-the-art, with the agreement of international experts in the field. ISO standards, developed in response to market demand and based on consen-sus among the interested parties, enjoy widespread applicability and worldwide recognition. Thus International Standards from ISO/TC 197 on hydrogen refuelling stations and hydrogen generators will play a major role in facilitating the safe introduction of these new technologies. Working together, we can help make the hydrogen dream a reality.

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Developments and Initiatives

ISO Focus : Before we turn our atten-tion to the 28th ISO General Assembly, could you briefly describe the mission of SPRING SG (i.e. its purpose, mem-bers, etc) ? In what ways does the stand-ards body contribute to the flourishing economy in Singapore ?

Loh Khum Yean : SPRING Singa-pore’s mission is to enhance the com-petitiveness of enterprises for a vibrant Singapore economy. Our vision is to develop dynamic and innovative Sin-gapore enterprises. To do this, we aim to nurture a pro-business environment that encourages enterprise formation and growth; enhance productivity, innovation and capabilities of enterprises; increase

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Loh Khum Yean

Chief Executive of SPRING Singapore, which will host the 28th ISO General Assembly in Singapore this September.

access to markets and business opportu-nities, and support and drive the devel-opment of industries.

As the National Standards Body, we focus on certain key areas that con-tribute to the Singapore economy :

Market access facilitationWe help enhance market access

for Singapore-made products and serv-ices through the reduction of technical barriers to trade. To this end, we have aligned 83 % of Singapore Standards to International Standards. Wherever pos-sible, we encourage regulators, indus-try groups, suppliers and buyers to use International Standards. We also harmo-nize standards used in different member countries through the APEC 1) Sub-Com-mittee on Standards and Conformance (APEC SCSC) and the ASEAN 2) Con-sultative Committee for Standards and Quality (ACCSQ). To open more export markets for our enterprises, SPRING Sin-gapore has signed Government-to-Gov-ernment Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) with Japan, Australia, New Zea-land and ASEAN, and technical arrange-ments with our counterparts. These are excellent mechanisms which allow mutu-al recognition of each other’s calibration, testing and certification certificates, thus reducing compliance costs and uncer-tainty for exporters.

1) Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation.

2) Association of South East Asian Nations.

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Productivity improvementAs a strong believer that stand-

ards can be used to enhance productiv-ity, we’ve put in much effort to promote the use and facilitate the implementation of standards in various industries. Taken under the Standards Implementation for Productivity (SIP) Initiative, we work with key parties in the value-chain to adopt standards for greater economies of scale, efficiency, smoother work flow and greater inter-operability of systems. Some examples of successful SIP projects include the Standard Pallets Project, Cold Chain Management of milk and dairy products, Exhibition Management Serv-ices and the Quality Management System (QMS) for bunker supply chain.

and businesses to increase Singapore’s participation in the technical and policy committees of ISO. In line with the Sin-gapore Standardization Strategy, we want to intensify our efforts to encourage and equip more local enterprises to participate more actively in International Standards development. Today, we’re finally see-ing our local industry gradually becom-ing proactive standards-makers.

Why Singapore ? Well, we want to put Singapore on the world map for standards development. Hosting the 28 th ISO General Assembly will be an inval-uable and memorable experience for us as we bring international standardiza-tion closer to this region. We would also like to take the opportunity to enable our fellow ISO members to experience the unique sights, sounds and tastes of Singapore.

ISO Focus: Singapore has been one of the instigators for standardization of serv-ices ; it hosted the first ISO/WTO Sem-inar on services in 1998 and is sched-uled to host an open session on services during the General Assembly. Why has Singapore taken such an active involve-ment in services and what do you hope to see take place within ISO ?

the creative industries, education, health-care and legal services.

On home ground, we saw the need for national standards that will ensure the services provided meet high levels of credibility and quality. That spurred us to work with key industry bodies to develop services standards. Today, serv-ices are becoming increasingly exporta-ble worldwide. Therefore, the next step is to work closely with ISO and other countries to harmonize or develop Inter-national Standards that can support this globalization.

Standards development in niche clusters

Last but not least, we also facil-itate the development of standards in some critical economic sectors, partic-ularly in the services and knowledge-intensive sectors. We chose to take the lead because there’s a huge potential that these standards can create new markets and industries. We also encourage enter-prises to participate actively in the var-ious standards fora so they can moni-tor and even influence the latest devel-opments in standards that could impact their businesses.

ISO Focus: What motivated you to pro-pose Singapore as the venue for the ISO General Assembly in 2005 ?

LKY : Singapore has benefited greatly from the standards development activities of ISO since we became a full member of the organization in 1966. Through the years, we’ve worked closely with industry

LKY: In Singapore, the services sec-tor is a vital engine of growth – con-tributing 62 % of our GDP and 77 % of employment. In achieving our vision to be a world-class provider of servic-es, Singapore has made good progress over the years and developed strengths in areas such as trading and logistics, information and communication tech-nologies (ICT), financial services, and tourism. At the same time, we’ve also been growing new service areas such as

“ At the end of the day, standardization will support

the advancement of the services sector – at home

and overseas.”

At the end of the day, standardi-zation will support the advancement of the services sector – at home and over-seas. It will bring about greater produc-tivity, capability, professionalism and competitiveness for our businesses. I’m proud that SPRING Singapore has devel-oped and initiated many “ firsts ” in serv-ices standards, including those for hotel security, business continuity, disaster recovery and so on.

Moving forward, we believe that ISO can leverage on its established brand name, worldwide membership and stra-tegic linkages to deepen its work in this relatively new area of standardization.

ISO Focus: Singapore is one of the three busiest ports in the world. How has SPRING SG addressed issues relat-ing to security ? What would you like to see coming out of the open session on security ?


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LKY : The rise of terrorist activities in recent years has made the port and ship-ping sectors vulnerable to such threats. It’s not surprising that the security of freight containers has become one of the most significant issues for maritime security. Singapore, which handled 18.1 million twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) in 2003, places great emphasis in this area. I know both SPRING Singapore and the local industry are committed to devel-oping innovative solutions to meet new

operational challenges and deliver effec-tive and high levels of port security.

We’re happy to lead the devel-opment of an ISO standard on electron-ic seals for freight containers under TC 104/SC 4/WG 2. With this standard, a new technology to secure freight con-tainers with electronic seals, versus the current mechanical seals, will be intro-duced. Electronic seals will transform the way information about containers is cap-tured and presented, allowing efficient and accurate tracking of the containers. The seals will also enable the easy detec-tion of tampering or unauthorized entry. Freight containers will be able to move through different ports and over great distances safely and securely.

I’m sure the Open Session will be a lively one as ISO members consid-

“ We encourage regulators,

industry groups, suppliers

and buyers to use

International Standards.”

Singapore’s National Standardization FrameworkAs part of SPRING Singapore’s overall effort in enhancing the competitiveness

of enterprises, we provide a national standardization framework that facilitates the development, adoption and implementation of standards in Singapore. As the National Standards Body, SPRING Singapore develops national standards which are known as Singapore Standards, under the guidance of an industry-led Standards Council (See Figure 1, below).

The Standards Council sets the strategy and direction of the standardization programme in Singapore and oversees the various Standards Committees, which are responsible for the development and adoption of standards in various industries. Technical Committees are formed by Standards Committees to formulate and review Singapore Standards in specific fields within a particular industry. The Standardization Advisory Group advises the Standards Council on policy matters. The Standards Council, Standards and Technical Committees and the Standardisation Advisory Group comprise about 1 000 volunteers from the Industry, Government Bodies, Professional Bodies, Institutes of Higher Learning and other stakeholders.

er the various aspects and approaches to security, and hope that the discussions will help shape ISO’s way forward in developing globally relevant and unique international solutions to address secu-rity concerns.

ISO Focus : How do you see SPRING SG in the next five years ? What new directions do you see the organization undertaking ?

LKY: In the next five years, SPRING Singapore will continue to enhance the business environment for enterprises and upgrade their capabilities, especial-ly the small and medium-sized enter-prises (SMEs).

We’ll continue to encourage local businesses to participate in the national standardization programme.

For market access facilitation, we’ll push for the harmonization of standards, conformity assessment pro-cedures and technical regulations at the regional and international levels.

For the Standards Implementa-tion for Productivity (SIP) initiative, we will nurture a core group of SIP advo-cates – individuals who have the drive to identify, initiate, adopt and promote SIP projects among enterprises. In addi-tion, we will work closely with relevant industry associations, government agen-cies and local players to lead in the devel-opment of ISO standards based on stand-ards developed in Singapore.

STANDARDS COUNCIL

SECRETARIAT(Provided by SPRING Singapore)

Standardisation Advisory Group

Electricaland

Electronic

TC

Buildingand

Construction

TC

InformationTechnology

TC

Services

TC

Chemical

TC

MedicalTechnology

GeneralEngineeringand Safety

TCTC

Food

TC

SNC (IEC)*Management

Systems

Commonmembers TC

Figure 1 – National Standardisation Framework in Singapore

Standards Committee

Technical Committee

* SNC(IEC) Singapore National Committee of the International Electrotechnical Commission

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New this month

by Roger Frost, Press and Communication Manager, ISO Central Secretariat

September 2005 is ISO’s publica-tion target for ISO 22000, the new standard for food safety

management systems, which is intend-ed to ensure that there are no weak links in food supply chains.

ISO has circulated the final draft of the standard to the national standard bodies that make up its membership for a two-month voting period, ending on 5 July 2005.

ISO 22000, Food safety manage-ment systems – Requirements for any organization in the food chain, can be applied to organizations ranging from feed producers, primary producers through food manufacturers, transport and storage operators and subcontrac-tors to retail and food service outlets – together with inter-related organiza-tions such as producers of equipment, packaging material, cleaning agents, additives and ingredients.

“ As food safety hazards can be introduced at any stage of the food chain, adequate control throughout the food chain is essential,” commented Jacob Færgemand, convenor of the ISO working group that is developing ISO 22000. “ Thus, food safety is a joint responsibil-ity that is prin-cipally assured through the com-bined efforts of all the parties participating in the food chain.”

ISO 22000 standard for safe food supply chains

ISO 22000 specifies the require-ments for a food safety management system in the food chain where an organization needs to demonstrate its ability to control food safety haz-ards in order to provide consistently safe end-products that meet both the requirements agreed with the custom-er and those of applicable food safe-ty regulations.

Dorte Jespersen, secretary of the ISO 22000 working group, explained the background to the standard: “Organ-izations that produce, manufacture, handle or supply food recognize that customers increasingly want them to demon-strate and provide adequate evidence of their ability to identify and con-trol food safe-ty hazards and the many condi-tions impact-ing food safe-t y .

The growing number of national stand-ards for food safety management has led to confusion. Consequently, there is a need to harmonize the national stand-ards at an international level.”

The standard can be applied on its own, or in combination with other management system standards such as ISO 9001:2000, with or without inde-pendent (third party) certification of con-formity. The publication of ISO 22000 will be complemented by an ISO Tech-nical Specification (ISO/TS 22004) giv-ing guidance on the implementation of the standard, with a particular emphasis on small and medium-sized enterpris-

es. In the following months, another Technical Specification ((ISO/TS 22003) will be published explaining certification requirements appli-cable when third-party certifica-tion is used.

These documents are being developed by working group WG 8, Food safety management sys-tems, of ISO technical commit-

tee ISO/TC 34, Food prod-ucts. Experts from 23 coun-

tries are participating and organizations with liai-

son status include the following: Confeder-ation of the Food and Drink Industries of the European Union (CIAA), Codex Ali-mentarius Commis-sion, International Hotel and Restau-rant Association, CIES/Global Food Safety Initiative, and World Food Safety Organiza-tion (WFSO).

© ISO


Main Focus


ISO Global Directory The ISO Global Directory is aimed at harmonizing and simplifying the registration and man-agement of data concerning the individ-uals who act as ISO member body rep-resentatives in technical committees, subcommittees and working groups.

It has been designed to confer on the member bodies the rights stated in the ISO/IEC Directives and to allow them to manage the data of their representatives in the ISO technical work as they wish – instead of depending, as is the current practice, on the secretaries of ISO com-mittees, and, in some cases, on the Cen-tral Secretariat.

Through the deployment of the ISO Global Directory, it is hoped to improve significantly the overall management of data associated with participation in the ISO work and to strengthen the overall security of the system.

International Standard Book Number (ISBN) Since its inception in 1970, the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) has been interna-tionally recognized as the identification system for the publishing industry and book trade.

The ISBN system serves as a key element in ordering and inventory sys-tems for publishers, book-sellers, libraries and other organizations. It is the basis for collecting data on new and forthcoming editions of monographic publica-tions for directories used throughout the book trade. The use of ISBN also facili-tates rights management and the monitoring of sales data for the publishing industry.

For this most important and uni-versally implemented standard, a new fourth edition is being developed which will cancel and replace the third edition (ISO 2108:1992).

Consumers make their mark

Consumers have clear and con-scious expectations about the design, per-formance, safety, quality and reliabili-ty of the products and services that they buy and use. No one wants products of poor quality, that do not fit, which are incompatible with equipment he or she already has, or are unreliable or danger-ous. International Standards help to raise levels of quality, safety, reliability, effi-ciency and interchangeability, and pro-vide these benefits economically.

More than 25 years ago, ISO rec-ognized the need for much closer links between the standards world and that of its ultimate customers and beneficiaries – consumers. Since 1978, the organiza-tion has had a specialized Committee on Consumer Policy (COPOLCO). That has systematically sought to ensure that the consumer’s demands and needs are taken into account when the standards are being developed, and to look after his or her interests.

To ensure that the voice of the consumer is heard in the development of ISO standards, COPOLCO selects are-as in ISO’s work that are of priority to consumers and then coordinates partic-ipation by consumer representatives in the ISO technical committees develop-ing standards in these areas.

The July/August issue of ISO Focus brings together in a reader-friendly

way a portfolio of articles that highlight consumer-driven initiatives within ISO, consumer success stories as well as are-as of particularly concern for consumers and how they are being addressed with-in COPOLCO.

Articles will cover an array of topics from addressing the needs of the elderly and the disabled, to enhancing consumer representation in ISO techni-cal work, to providing instructions for use of products of consumer interest. The outcomes of the COPOLCO work-shop on role of standards in contribut-ing to public safety and security will also be covered.

An interview with Marilena Laz-zarini, President of Consumers Interna-tional, discusses the role of COPOLCO and why consumers need to participate in international standardization, as well as the added value of an international standard for social responsibility being developed by ISO.

If one single message emerges from this issue, it is : ISO values stake-holder input. By providing precious feed-back and a “ reality check ” for such char-acteristics as safety, ecology, reliability, efficiency, compatibility, customer serv-ice, transparent information, and reason-able cost, consumers play a vital role in ensuring ISO’s global relevance and market responsiveness.

Coming up

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ISO Focus June 2005

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Innovation in energy and raw materials - ISO · 2016. 7. 13. · 1 Comment Kevin McKinley, ISO Deputy Secretary-General, Back to basics 2 World Scene Highlights of events from around