 The start signal was given by the Austrian federal minister Doris Bures, whose department bankrolls the Climate and Energy Fund that helped finance the project. |
Linde Material Handling, Fronius International, DB Schenker, OMV, HyCentA Research and Joanneum Research have officially started the field phase of their E-LOG Biofleet research project. The project was first presented in 2011
(Forkliftaction.com News #555).
Doris Bures, the Austrian federal minister for transport, innovation and technology, gave the starting signal to launch the trial. Her department finances the program of the Climate and Energy Fund that subsidises the project.
"Since 2009, we have been promoting promising projects that lead technical innovations towards the market as part of our Electromobility's Technical Beacons program. I am especially pleased to witness the first pilot trial starting within an industrial company with the E-LOG-Biofleet," Bures says.
Fronius and Linde Material Handling had presented a truck with fuel cell drive at the 2011 CeMAT tradeshow
(Forkliftaction.com News #513). With DB Schenker as a project customer testing the suitability of fuel cell hybrid drive and OMV as a supplier of the hydrogen infrastructure, the research project team started working together that year. HyCentA and Joanneum Research contribute to the project with the assessment of environmental compatibility, technical and economic analyses, as well as project management.
The goal of the project is to increase the productivity of battery-powered forklifts and warehouse equipment, which up to now is limited due to the time involved in recharging and changing the battery, the battery's limited service life and high maintenance costs.
The solution is based on the HyLOG Fleet system from Fronius, which replaces the battery and was developed for use in warehouse equipment in collaboration with Linde Material Handling. It comprises a PEM fuel cell as a range extender, a lithium-ion rechargeable battery and a 200-bar hydrogen pressure tank. The package offers a continuous power rating of 2.6 kW and a short-term peak output of 11 kW.
DB Schenker's location in Linz offered to undertake the trial use of the vehicles during regular operations. All preparations were made there to test and verify their suitability for everyday use. The field test is made possible by the indoor refuelling facility, which was developed by OMV.
The facility was converted for indoor use and provides a maximum filling pressure of 350 bars. The adjacent on-site hydrogen production reforms methane from biogas into hydrogen.
The remaining nine pallet trucks of the test fleet will be delivered during the course of the next few months; the field phase is scheduled to span over one year. During this time, the system's technological maturity and its advantages in terms of productivity and ecology will be verified.
"The use of new technologies and sustainable energy sources is an integral part of our strategy," says Ralf Dingeldein from Linde Material Handling. "The fuel cell and thus the E-LOG Biofleet project play an important role in this context."
CEO of Schenker & Co AG , Kurt Leidinger, says his company is concerned with minimising the environmental impact of its operations. "For example, we are already using solar systems and heat exchange pumps at many sites. This field trial is another important project of our environmental program."