I've been reading the January 2007 issue of Material Handling Management. In this issue, there is a fine article by Tom Andel that discusses the current realities regarding hydrogen fuel cell use in commercial operations utilizing lift truck fleets. The MHM article brings home some truths of just how close we are to finally beginning the replacement of currently accepted methods of providing the energy to operate various industrial equipment. Consumers (and investors), sometimes don't realize that when it comes to heavy duty technology conversions in our day to day world, most often those changes are implemented and perfected on the industrial side well before the consumer side gets its hands on them. Such seems to be the case in the matter of hydrogen fuel cells.
MHM research suggests that while increasing improvements are still being aggressively sought, hydrogen fuel cell technology has reached the point of being completely practical in replacing some of today's current energy provision systems. The single largest hurdle that developers are addressing is in making the technology more economical. With current incentive programs for energy provision change over, it's almost a dead heat between hydrogen fuel cells and current methods in use. Developers have already begun their marketing programs while the scientists and engineers continue to push towards their goals for economical hydrogen deployment absent of outside financial incentives. Their goal is to make hydrogen fuel cell technology a stand alone proposition.
Lift truck manufacturers are operating in concert with fuel cell and battery manufacturers to find winning options in energy provision systems. There are design teams which are focusing on complete battery displacement systems and there are other developers who are seeking a hybrid solution which blends fuel cell utilization with current battery technology. Already, Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM) has developed a fuel cell lift truck model FCHV-F, which utilizes a "drop in" hydrogen fuel cell module. From all appearances, the module would seem to be shaping up as a total battery replacement.
Engineers are still tackling issues surrounding the control of current flow and the power increases needed for constant heavy lifting. The power delivered by hydrogen fuel cell units seems more suited to continuous loads at lower levels, whereas batteries can quickly deliver heavy power surges with total user control. Based on what I've seen and read it appears to me that fuel cells for now will require an associate battery to assist in delivering the power range and control that lift trucks require. The battery would deliver the current and the fuel cell would work as an on board recharging system. Lift truck fleets would then be freed from the downtimes and dangers of routine daily battery change out.
In an investment sense I would consider hydrogen fuel cells as an excellent long term strategy play. The technology is far enough along for me to believe that it will be fully successful. There are some big players in the game and there is a very hard push forward. Hydrogen fuel cells are real, my friends, and their use should become commonplace in the not so distant future. I see fuel cells as having a significant future in the industrial workplace. The question still remains, will hydrogen fuel cells become practical technology for the automobile? My answer is: I just don't know.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-08-2007 @ 11:16PM
john graham said...
Good article but one key misunderstanding: fuel cell systems aren't just in the near future, they're shipping right now (check out www.generalhydrogen.com) and they are already doing regular service in industrial warehouse environments (not just testing.)
One of the reasons they're shipping right now is that the key hurdles have already been crossed. The use of back-up batteries (or ultracapacitors in the case of the General Hydrogen's systems, for example, isn't because the fuel cells aren't ready to do the whole job yet. It's because it's much more efficient to use this back-up storage than to make the fuel cell do the whole job. Lifting and turning cause huge spikes in energy demand for very short periods of time. If the fuel cell was sized to meet these peak demands on its own, it would have to be several times larger (expensive, bulky) than if it was sized to meet the general demand plus a bit more to keep the backup storage charged.