Aerospace COPV Compliance: TPED, PED, ISO 11119-3, EN 12245 — What They Mean and When You Need Them
“What standard is your COPV qualified to?” is one of the first questions a procurement engineer asks. The answer involves a small alphabet of European and international standards that overlap in some places and diverge in others. This guide maps them out — what each standard covers, when you need it, and how to decide which to ask for in your RFQ.
The four standards that matter
For composite cylinders intended for European and international service, four standards do most of the work:
| Standard | Scope | Required for |
|---|---|---|
| TPED 2010/35/EU | Transportable pressure equipment in the EU | Cylinders that move (vehicles, drones, mobile gas) |
| PED 2014/68/EU | Pressure equipment placed on the EU market | Stationary pressure vessels and pressure systems |
| ISO 11119-3 | Composite gas cylinder design and testing | Type IV cylinders (polymer liner + composite overwrap) |
| EN 12245 | Fully wrapped composite cylinders | Type II / III / IV transport cylinders, EU |
They are not alternatives — most aerospace COPVs are qualified to several at once. The trick is knowing which combination your specific application needs.
TPED 2010/35/EU — the transport directive
If your cylinder will be carried on a road, rail, sea, or inland waterway transport in the EU, it falls under TPED (Transportable Pressure Equipment Directive). Cylinders that conform are stamped with the π (“pi”) mark and a notified-body number.
What TPED covers:
- Cylinder design and manufacture
- Periodic re-testing requirements
- Marking and labelling
- Conformity assessment by an EU notified body
What it doesn’t cover: stationary equipment (that’s PED), and aerospace use under aviation regulators (those have their own qualification — DO-160 for avionics, ECSS for ESA programmes, etc.).
You need TPED if: your cylinder leaves your facility on a truck, ship, plane, or train and contains compressed gas at > 0.5 bar gauge.
PED 2014/68/EU — the pressure equipment directive
For stationary pressure equipment placed on the EU market, PED applies. Conforming products carry the CE mark (the same CE mark you see on consumer electronics, but earned through a different conformity-assessment route).
PED applies a hazard category based on pressure, volume, and gas type (Group 1 = dangerous gases like hydrogen, oxygen; Group 2 = non-dangerous like nitrogen, air). The category determines what conformity-assessment module you need (Module A through H) and whether a notified body has to be involved.
You need PED if: your cylinder is part of a stationary system installed in the EU — buffer tanks, lab gas distribution, manifolds, fixed test rigs.
ISO 11119-3 — composite cylinder design
ISO 11119-3 is the international standard specifically for fully-wrapped composite cylinders with a non-load-sharing liner — i.e. Type IV. It defines:
- Design qualification testing (burst, hydrostatic, ambient temperature cycle, extreme temperature cycle, drop test, fire test, gunfire test, permeation test)
- Production testing requirements
- Materials and processing controls
- Marking and traceability
ISO 11119-3 is reference material for engineers designing composite cylinders. It’s not itself a regulatory mark — your cylinder isn’t “ISO certified” in the consumer sense. But conformance to ISO 11119-3 is typically how a TPED or PED notified body decides your design qualifies.
Sister standards:
- ISO 11119-1 — hoop-wrapped (Type II) cylinders
- ISO 11119-2 — fully-wrapped metal-lined (Type III) cylinders
- ISO 11119-3 — fully-wrapped non-metal-liner (Type IV) cylinders ← polymer liners
- ISO 11515 — large composite cylinders (above ~450 L)
EN 12245 — the European composite cylinder spec
EN 12245 is the European standard for fully-wrapped composite cylinders. It covers Type II, III, and IV designs and is widely accepted by EU notified bodies as the design basis for TPED conformity. EN 12245 and ISO 11119-3 are largely aligned but with small national differences in test methods and acceptance criteria.
For most aerospace and industrial applications in the EU, EN 12245 is the de facto design baseline. North American buyers may instead reference UN/ISO standards or local DOT specifications.
Aerospace-specific overlay standards
The four standards above cover commercial pressure-equipment compliance. Aerospace and space applications often add domain-specific overlays:
- ECSS-E-ST-32-02C — European Cooperation for Space Standardization, structural design (for ESA programmes)
- NASA-STD-6016 / NASA-STD-6001 — NASA materials and processes (for US programmes)
- RTCA DO-160 — environmental testing for avionics and onboard equipment
- FAA/EASA airworthiness — for cylinders flown on certified aircraft
These typically apply on top of TPED/PED — your cylinder still has to be a properly-qualified pressure vessel; the aerospace standards add mission-specific environmental and quality requirements.
Decision tree: what to ask for in an RFQ
For a typical aerospace COPV procurement:
- Hydrogen UAV in the EU — TPED (π mark) baseline, ISO 11119-3 design conformance, hydrogen-compatible materials. EASA airworthiness if the drone needs certified flight.
- CubeSat propulsion module — design-qualified to ISO 11119-3, materials traceable, cleanroom-handled, aerospace customer’s own qualification testing on top.
- Microlauncher pressurant tank — design-qualified to ISO 11119-3, programme-specific qualification testing (typically launch loads, vibration, thermal cycling per launch provider’s requirement). May or may not need TPED depending on whether the tank is transported separately.
- Industrial gas distribution in a fixed location — PED Module A or H depending on category, no TPED needed.
- Hydrogen vehicle / fuel-cell bus — TPED for the cylinder, EC 79/2009 for the vehicle hydrogen system, ECE R134 for type approval.
What MEYER COPVs are qualified to
The HDRX cylinder catalog includes products with various combinations of:
- π (TPED 2010/35/EU) — for transport in the EU
- CE (PED 2014/68/EU) — for stationary pressure equipment
- ISO 11119-3 — composite cylinder design baseline
- EN 12245 — European composite cylinder design
- EN 17339 — composite cylinders for aviation breathing systems
- UW — under-water service rated (diving / submerged use)
- Specification — bespoke programme qualification (typical for aerospace and space programmes where the customer’s own qualification testing supersedes commercial standards)
The exact certification of each part number is shown in the approval column of the catalog. If your programme needs a specific certification not listed, tell us in the RFQ — many aerospace programmes get a customer-specific qualification on top of the commercial certification.
