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dougster
Florida, United States
Will Hydrogen powered Forklifts take over the current Battery or LP powered Forklifts? I say yes, and in the near future. Give me your opinion.Hydrogen Fuel Cells are here to stay. Implement and proceed with safety in mind.
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tate_i
Tokyo, Japan
Hi dougster,
tate_i
Tokyo, Japan
Hi dougster,
john_d
British Columbia, Canada
We'll see them soon enough, and we'll see them in Forklifts etc... because those vehicles are revenue generators and cars are not. GM and other major corps are involved with R & D on these things and they want them in their vehicles, but all the trial and error will be in our industry.
Fred_L
Sweden, Sweden
They will come. I just read that Cellex, a company that is making fuel cell packages, and Crown are starting field trials at Wal-Mart in January. There are great benefits in productivity to be made using fuel cells in fork lifts. The cost for pauses made when changing batteries, storage of batteries and people handling them isn´t exactly low..
Admin
Australia
Also see the 4th article in newsletter #191...Nuvera Fuel Cells Inc and East Penn Manufacturing Company Inc plan to develop a hybrid battery/fuel cell electric power source for forklifts and other off-road industrial vehicles.
Admin
Australia
Also at Promat this week Raymond Corp gave a Press Conference in which they outlined some of the work they are doing with emerging technologies. ..."Over the last two years , Raymond has worked with several fuel cell technology companies to explore the viability of Hydogen fuel cell power for lift trucks.....Fuel cell companies have had functional demonstrations in North America that provided hands-on testing and assessment."Contact me about any forum administration issues.
etharp
North Carolina, United States
I have also seen a Hyster/Nacco fuel cell powered unit in service,,, Fuel Cells will be in production within 6 yearsregistered linux user #167806 (http://counter.li.org/)
InventoryOps
Wisconsin, United States
There actually was a working hydrogen fuel cell forklift at the last Promat show. Unfortunately it was at a small booth in a poor location at the show and I don't think too many people actually saw it. Over the last year or two I have talked with a couple of representatives from the fuel cell industry and neither were willing to say that hydrogen fuel cell technology will be cost competitive with current fuel options. It was obvious that they determined their strategies needed to be related to the clean burning properties and the ease of refueling (versus changing or charging batteries). Unfortunately, if it can't be competitive purely on fuel cost, I don't think the other benefits will be enough to make a significant change in the industry.
dougster
Florida, United States
Fuel cells can have a large savings for large battery users. Fueling up with hydro in a couple of minutes for the whole day would be a dream come true. Presently the Fuel Cells are too expensive along with the reformers. Fuel Cells can range from $10,000 to $30,000 each and the reformers (hydrogen makers) can cost as much as $15,000 per truck. No company would invest in this cost today or anytime soon. Fuel Cells can be the answer for battery replacement and maybe propane but not at todays cost. The cost will be much lower soon. Only time will tell.Hydrogen Fuel Cells are here to stay. Implement and proceed with safety in mind.
Fred_L
Sweden, Sweden
Indeed they can. I just saw in the news section that General Hydrogen are going to sell 100 fuel cell units for forklifts commercially now. I don´t think they would risk producing a hundred FC-units without the firm knowledge that they will be able to sell them..
etharp
North Carolina, United States
that URL would be www dot generalhydrogen dot com slash tech_hydrogenmyths dot shtml, since the software for this forum strips out URLs that are properly formated (good thing to prevent spam and make the crackers/hackers work a little harder)registered linux user #167806 (http://counter.li.org/)
Fred_L
Sweden, Sweden
Thank you for pointing it out. I just posted and didn´t bother to check that the URL got submitted.
dougster
Florida, United States
Hydrogen Fuel-Cells for Lift Trucks are still a little ways out. The problem is, they still don't supply enough power for the bigger Trucks (36V applications). The big players, Cellex, Nuvera, General Hydrogen and Hydrogenics are getting closer to producing a great product. Could there be a Merge in the future? A merge could speed up the quality and mass production side of Fuel-Cells. "Fuel is up again"Hydrogen Fuel Cells are here to stay. Implement and proceed with safety in mind.
dan_b
British Columbia, Canada
Interesting discussion. I've seen these fuel cells in lift trucks working. The US government is supportive to reduce the dependency on oil. Lift trucks are an interm step to automobiles. Is it coming? By 2007 I expect we will be setting up large warehouses with these systems.
InventoryOps
Wisconsin, United States
I just read a very informative article titled "Application of Fuel Cells to Fork Lift Trucks" in the September/October edition of Industrial Utility Vehicle. The article is posted on their web site (you should be able to find it with a google search).
steponmebbbboom
Ontario, Canada
No one here seems to have considered the net energy problem of hydrogen technology. Hydrogen will always be the fuel of the future for the simple reason that it takes 1.3 units of energy to create 1 unit of hydrogen energy. Hydrogen also can never be stored in a container without leakage because it is the simplest molecule. It can never be used as a replacement for fossil fuel as a transportation fuel because of scalability. The expense and complexity involved with building infrastructure to support hydrogen technology is ridiculous. Moreover, the platinum contained in hydrogen fuel cells will be depleted from the earth long before enough are built to meet demand. If anyone wants credible references to back these claims, I have plenty, email me for them if you wish.Good grief, charlie brown...
dougster
Florida, United States
Hydrogen fuel cells are further along than you may know. We are very close to mass producing fuel cells for industrial trucks. The payback would be great for big companies. When you compare all the cost that comes with the dangerous lead acid batteries/changing equipment or LP trucks/high maintenance, hydrogen is the way to go. Less Platinum is needed for fuel cells today and is decreasing every year. Alternative metals are being used in some applications(nickel w/carbon coating). As for the automotive industry, that's another discussion.
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