A novel method for measuring trace amounts of total sulphur-containing compounds in hydrogen

A novel method for the analysis of total sulphur-containing impurities in a hydrogen matrix has been developed. This method has a limit of detection (LoD) significantly lower than that maximum amount fraction for sulphur-containing compounds (4 nmol mol−1) specified by the international standard for hydrogen to be used in fuel cell vehicles (ISO 14687-2). To measure the LoD for this method, a novel gas standard containing five different sulphur-containing compounds at low nmol mol−1 amount fractions has been gravimetrically prepared. Stable primary gas standards that are traceable to the SI were used to successfully validate the amount fractions of the sulphur-containing compounds in this gas standards using gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection (GC-FID) and sulphur chemiluminescence detection (GC-SCD).