Air Products' Hydrogen Technology To Surpass Fueling Of Over 1,000 Material Handling Fuel Cell Units Daily At U.S. Customer Warehouses

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., Feb. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Air Products (NYSE: APD) helps businesses move consumer goods purchased and used every day by providing the hydrogen fueling and infrastructure to power nearly 1,000 material handling fuel cell units operating in warehouses across the United States.  And when Air Products soon brings on stream its industry leading technology to fuel the material handling units of a customer with warehouse locations in Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts and Texas, it will easily eclipse the 1,000 unit milestone. 

"We are the leader in providing hydrogen fueling and the related infrastructure to the material handling market.  Today we are fueling nearly 1,000 pieces of material handling equipment, and we are refueling them safely on a daily basis.  We are very proud of this accomplishment and with future installations already under contract, doubling the number of units is already within sight," said Ed Kiczek, global director – Hydrogen Energy Systems at Air Products.  "It goes without saying that our technology's consistent performance and reliability, along with the environmental sustainability and productivity benefits we provide have been recognized by this market application."

Kiczek added that the early support in demonstration projects partially funded by the United States Department of Energy was important to proving the benefits of the technology. Details on Air Products' hydrogen fueling station technologies and projects are provided at www.airproducts.com/h2energy. 

There are many advantages to using hydrogen-powered forklifts and material handling equipment. Hydrogen-powered equipment only needs refueling once or twice daily, depending on use, and does not require change-out downtime while traditional battery-powered equipment is taken out of operation for battery replacement or recharging approximately every four to six hours. Hydrogen-powered equipment provides consistent power strength during use and does not experience decreased performance or wear down as battery units do when nearing change-out or recharge time. Additionally, unlike battery-powered forklifts, hydrogen-powered fuel cells are not adversely impacted by temperature when operating in coolers and freezers. Further, hydrogen-powered equipment is more environmentally friendly and does not involve lead-acid battery storage or disposal issues.

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