Running or planning a two- or three-shift operation with a large number of lift trucks? "Those are ideal circumstances for considering units powered by fuel cells," says Eric Jensen, manager of research and development, Crown Equipment Corp. "For the smaller lift truck user or the single-shift user, fuel cell-powered vehicles don't make as much [economic] sense. For example, single shift operations have the overnight charging alternative." For two-shift operations, he says either fast charging or fuel cells can be effective, but that he would lean toward fuel cells if the hydrogen refueling capability was already installed.
Jensen's conclusions draw on Crown's fuel cell work under a grant of nearly $1 million from Ohio's Third Frontier Commission, an arm of the Ohio Department of Development. "We were given this grant to qualify our portfolio of lift trucks with fuel cell battery replacement power packs. Our project is to qualify as many of our trucks as possible with the commercially available fuel cell power packs. We are acting as an enabler to allow our customers that want to do a complete transformation to hydrogen-powered warehouse to do so with a full range of trucks."
Crown is collaborating with three providers of hydrogen fuel cell power packs -- Plug Power, Canada's Hydrogenics and the Deka/Nuvera team. Also collaborating with Crown is Oorja Proponics Inc., a maker of direct methanol, methyl alcohol-powered fuel cells.