Cellex has press release on their trial at a Wal-Mart distribution center of fuel cell powered forklifts. They judged it a success:
Cellex Power Products, Inc. announced today the successful completion of its Alpha hydrogen fuel cell product field trials at the logistics subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. The highlight of the trial came with Wal-Mart deciding to lead the material handling industry by agreeing to support Cellex’s Beta field trials and commercialization process of fuel cell power systems for electric lift trucks.Cellex had four fuel cell power units in operation for two weeks at a Wal-Mart food distribution center in Missouri demonstrating the operational benefits to Wal-Mart when powering their fleet of pallet trucks. The power units ran without safety incident and refueled with compressed hydrogen in one minute. Cellex’s Vice President Sales and Marketing, Tom Hoying commented, “This is a significant event as Wal-Mart’s continued support of Cellex will be a key driver in moving fuel cells from a demonstration technology to a commercial product in the material handling industry.”
Here's why this will improve porductivity:
Lead acid batteries used today typically last 4 to 8 hours and large distribution centers often change batteries over 300 times per day resulting in lost productivity and increased operational cost. Cellex’s fuel cell power units eliminate battery changing, run longer than batteries, maintain consistent power delivery to the lift truck and refuel in one minute.
Posted by Bob on August, 21 2005 at 03:38 PM
