A Still RX60 fuel cell forklift.

Hamburg airport, in Germany, is testing fuel cell-powered tow tractors provided by forklift manufacturer Still GmbH.

Two Still R 07-25 tow tractors have been adapted to fuel cell drives and are now conducting tasks previously performed by internal combustion-driven tow tractors.

As part of a two-year "Hamburg Airports moves with Hydrogen" research project, the airport aims to renew its fleet of tractors and reduce emission of exhaust fumes, a Still statement said.

Still GmbH sales promotion officer Jürgen Wrusch said the airport hoped to use fuel cell tow tractors if the test proved successful.

Requirements for the airport's tow tractors included suitability for indoor and outdoor use and meeting airport safety regulations.

Hydrogenics GmbH, from Gladbeck, Germany, was Still's partner company to supply the fuel cell systems (Forkliftaction.com News #271). The fuel cells are the PEM type, equipped with a polymer membrane that separates the anode from the cathode. The PEM fuel cells operate with hydrogen as fuel. Linde Gas Anwendungstechnik Hamburg provided the gas fuel point.

The tractors' travel data and towing performance during the shift, their reliability, ease of control, energy consumption and possible range would be recorded as part of the test. The results would be compared to conventional tow tractors' data.

Still has already installed a fuel cell system in the R60 series forklift, which was displayed at an international fuel cell fair in Hamburg in 2003. The forklift was used in Munich airport for about two years, Wrusch said.

"The test was stopped because we developed a new fuel cell unit for the RX60 forklift and R 07 tow tractors," he said adding that a fuel cell RX60 forklift would be tested by a Still customers in 2007.