Post by shakhar23 on Feb 27, 2024 2:24:17 GMT -5
BMW Manufacturing in Spartanburg, South Carolina, has more than doubled its fleet of material handling equipment using hydrogen refueling systems supplied by Linde North America.
The 4 million square foot manufacturing facility currently powers an entire fleet of more than 230 hydrogen fuel cells to support the plant's manufacturing and logistics functions, according to the companies.
Hydrogen is a by-product of the sodium chlorate plant, which Linde purifies, compresses and liquefies using electricity generated from renewable hydroelectric power.
In 2010, Linde supplied a hydrogen refueling system with six internal Saudi Arabia Mobile Number List filling stations to support more than 100 pieces of material handling equipment operating at the BMW plant. The expansion includes two new higher-capacity compressors, new storage and distribution piping, and eight new hydrogen dispensers. To date, the facility has completed more than 200,000 hydrogen refuelings.
Lifts and trucks transport process parts to assembly machines throughout the plant. The lead-acid batteries that previously powered elevators and trucks have been replaced by hydrogen fuel cells from Plug Power, a supplier of hydrogen fuel cells to the material handling market.
BMW says the expansion improves productivity in two ways: Fueling these trucks with hydrogen using Linde equipment takes the operator less than three minutes, compared to the 15 to 20 minutes required to change the battery. Additionally, fuel cells do not degrade over time like lead-acid batteries do when they begin to lose charge towards the end of a shift.
BMW also expects to reduce overall electricity demand since batteries do not need to be recharged and eliminate disposal costs for lead-acid batteries.
At its newest retail distribution center in Wilmer, Texas, Ace Hardware will install 65 GenDrive fuel cells from Plug Power for its fleet of electric forklifts, Energy Manager Today reported earlier this month.
The 4 million square foot manufacturing facility currently powers an entire fleet of more than 230 hydrogen fuel cells to support the plant's manufacturing and logistics functions, according to the companies.
Hydrogen is a by-product of the sodium chlorate plant, which Linde purifies, compresses and liquefies using electricity generated from renewable hydroelectric power.
In 2010, Linde supplied a hydrogen refueling system with six internal Saudi Arabia Mobile Number List filling stations to support more than 100 pieces of material handling equipment operating at the BMW plant. The expansion includes two new higher-capacity compressors, new storage and distribution piping, and eight new hydrogen dispensers. To date, the facility has completed more than 200,000 hydrogen refuelings.
Lifts and trucks transport process parts to assembly machines throughout the plant. The lead-acid batteries that previously powered elevators and trucks have been replaced by hydrogen fuel cells from Plug Power, a supplier of hydrogen fuel cells to the material handling market.
BMW says the expansion improves productivity in two ways: Fueling these trucks with hydrogen using Linde equipment takes the operator less than three minutes, compared to the 15 to 20 minutes required to change the battery. Additionally, fuel cells do not degrade over time like lead-acid batteries do when they begin to lose charge towards the end of a shift.
BMW also expects to reduce overall electricity demand since batteries do not need to be recharged and eliminate disposal costs for lead-acid batteries.
At its newest retail distribution center in Wilmer, Texas, Ace Hardware will install 65 GenDrive fuel cells from Plug Power for its fleet of electric forklifts, Energy Manager Today reported earlier this month.