Fuel Cell and Battery Powered Forklifts

A hydrogen-powered materials handling vehicle with a fuel cell combines the advantages of diesel/LPG and battery powered vehicles. Hydrogen provides the same consistent power and fast refueling capability as diesel and LPG, whilst fuel cells provide energy efficient and zero emission electric propulsion similar to batteries. In this paper, the performance of a forklift powered by PEM fuel cells and lead acid batteries as auxiliary energy source is introduced and investigated. In this electromechanical propulsion system with hybrid energy/power sources, fuel cells will deliver average power, whilst batteries will handle all the load dynamics, such as acceleration, lifting, climbing and so on. The electrical part of the whole propulsion system for forklift has been investigated in details. The energy management strategy is explained and verified through simulation. Finally, experimental results from a prototype are given to present the validity of analysis and design.