LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa.,
Oct. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/
-- Moving with the speed and precision of the actual vehicle
being manufactured there, in a time period of less than six weeks,
Air Products (NYSE: APD) put in place its industry-leading hydrogen
fueling technology and infrastructure to successfully convert a
significant portion of a lift truck fleet at the Mercedes-Benz U.S.
International, Inc. facility in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The 72 converted
lifts, now hydrogen-powered fuel cell material handling units,
began daily operations moving Mercedes vehicle parts for assembly
when employees returned to the manufacturing facility from an
annual week-long summer shutdown.
"It was important to our customer to have the hydrogen fueling
and infrastructure all in place so they could ramp-up immediately
upon return to work from their annual break. This was a tall
order to complete in six weeks from the signing of the contract,
but with safety being the absolute first priority, we had the
market experience to successfully make this happen for Mercedes,"
said Sarah Hammond, business
development manager for Hydrogen Energy Systems at Air
Products. The leader in providing hydrogen fueling and the
related infrastructure to the material handling market, Air
Products is now safely fueling over 1,000 pieces of material
handling equipment on a daily basis in the U.S.
Air Products' equipment and infrastructure at Tuscaloosa includes an outdoor liquid hydrogen
storage and compression system, along with piping to multiple
indoor fueling dispensers. Mercedes Tuscaloosa plant was
founded in 1995 and started production in 1997. Further information
from Mercedes-Benz is at: www.media.daimler.com and
www.mercedes-benz.com. The Mercedes material handling units
being fueled by Air Products include Plug Power's (NASDAQ: PLUG)
GenDrive® hydrogen fuel cell power units. The GenDrive
systems can be quickly refueled in just minutes, completely
eliminating the need to change, store, charge and maintain multiple
lead acid batteries for each lift.
"Our project execution has always been a strength and our
technology has been a consistent performer and very reliable.
We have multiple product offerings that can be expanded with the
customer life cycle. These are available for customers interested
in material handling fleet conversions and, in fact, we provided
our mobile fueling technology to Mercedes for initial fuelings
prior to placing the permanent equipment onstream," said John
O'Bryan, project manager for Hydrogen Energy Systems at Air
Products. Details on Air Products' hydrogen fueling station
technologies and projects are 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,
freezers or arid warehouse conditions. Further, hydrogen-powered
equipment is more environmentally friendly and does not involve
lead-acid battery storage or disposal issues.
Air Products, the leading global supplier of hydrogen to
refineries to assist in producing cleaner burning transportation
fuels, has vast experience in the hydrogen fueling industry. In
fact, several sites today for certain hydrogen fueling applications
are fueling at rates of over 75,000 refills per year. Use of
the company's fueling technology is increasing and is over 500,000
hydrogen fills per year. The company has been involved in over 150
hydrogen fueling projects in the United
States and 19 countries worldwide. Cars, trucks, vans,
buses, scooters, forklifts, locomotives, planes, cell towers,
material handling equipment, and even submarines have been fueled
with trend-setting Air Products' technologies
Air Products has more than 50 years of hydrogen experience and
an extensive patent portfolio with over 50 patents in hydrogen
dispensing technology. Air Products provides liquid and
gaseous hydrogen and a variety of enabling devices and protocols
for fuel dispensing at varied pressures. Hydrogen for these
stations can be delivered to a site via truck or pipeline, produced
by natural gas reformation, biomass conversion, or by electrolysis,
including electrolysis that is solar and wind driven.
About Air Products
Air Products (NYSE:APD) provides atmospheric, process and
specialty gases; performance materials; equipment; and technology.
For over 70 years, the company has enabled customers to become more
productive, energy efficient and sustainable. More than 20,000
employees in over 50 countries supply innovative solutions to the
energy, environment and emerging markets. These include
semiconductor materials, refinery hydrogen, coal gasification,
natural gas liquefaction, and advanced coatings and adhesives. In
fiscal 2011, Air Products had sales of approximately $10 billion. For more information, visit
www.airproducts.com.
About Plug Power
The architects of modern fuel cell technology, Plug Power
revolutionized the industry with cost-effective power solutions
that increase productivity, lower operating costs and reduce carbon
footprints. Long-standing relationships with industry leaders
forged the path for Plug Power's key accounts, including Walmart,
Sysco, P&G and Mercedes. With more than 2,800 GenDrive
units deployed to material handling customers, accumulating over 8
million hours of runtime, Plug Power manufactures tomorrow's
incumbent power solutions today. Additional information about Plug
Power is available at www.plugpower.com.
NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements
within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are
based on management's reasonable expectations and assumptions as of
the date of this release regarding important risk factors. Actual
performance and financial results may differ materially from
projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking
statements because of many factors not anticipated by management,
including risk factors described in the Company's Form 10K for its
fiscal year ended September 30,
2011.
SOURCE Air Products