Chemical engineer Sara Yu and engineering specialist Edward Polzin test a fuel-cell stack. PHOTO: Argonne National Laboratory

Fuel-cell power for forklift propulsion systems requires a higher capital cost than battery power but less labour for refuelling, according to an Argonne National Laboratory report.

"Use of batteries to power large forklifts for outdoor use would require enclosure and waterproofing of the battery compartment, and this would make it harder to change the batteries," the report concludes. "In terms of convenience and low labour requirements for fuelling, such difficulty would increase the advantage of fuel-cell forklifts."

Scientists with the laboratory's centre for transportation research examined forklift propulsion systems and the potential energy and environmental implications of substituting fuel-cell propulsion for existing technologies based on batteries and fossil fuels.

"The (US) Department of Energy (DoE) brought this topic to our attention in September of 2007," says Linda Gaines, a researcher. Gaines, Amgad Elgowainy and Michael Wang prepared the recently released 40-page report, which compares full fuel-cycle impacts of the propulsion systems.

"The full fuel-cycle includes energy use and emissions for all process steps back to primary fuels in the ground, including fuels used to produce electricity or hydrogen," Gaines notes. "Impacts shown include total energy, fossil fuels, petroleum and greenhouse gases."

Generally, fuel cells or batteries for powering forklifts have lower environmental impact than internal combustion engines (ICEs), "and technical improvements could further decrease the impacts", the report says. Replacement of ICE forklifts "with either fuel-cell- or battery-powered units offers the potential for a considerable reduction in the use of fossil fuels and petroleum imports in the United States".

Researchers received input and assistance from individuals connected with Plug Power Inc of Latham, New York; Raymond Corp of Greene, New York; Hydrogenics Corp of Mississauga, Canada; Nuvera Fuel Cells Inc of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America Inc of Houston, Texas; and Toyota Material Handling USA Inc of Irvine, California. Also contributing were Hans Bosma, an instructor and researcher at HAN University of Applied Sciences in Arnhem, the Netherlands and members of the H2 Energy Technologies Community of Interest group.

Support for the project came from the fuel cell and hydrogen infrastructure program of DoE's office of energy efficiency and renewable energy. The report is available at this website.

UChicago Argonne LLC manages the federal laboratory in the Chicago, Illinois suburb of Argonne under a DoE contract.

The new report followed a 2007 DoE-funded analysis about near-term hydrogen proton-exchange-membrane fuel-cell markets. Kathya Mahadevan's team at Battelle Memorial Institute of Columbus, Ohio conducted that study.