With the cost of energy increasing each year, many businesses are looking at ways of saving electricity costs. Batteries provide the tractive power in forklift trucks and related equipment but end users often lack the time or expertise to maximise the efficiencies that can be gained from battery management. Informed choice and usage of batteries can help a business to reduce electricity usage by more than 20% and lead to lifetime cost savings in excess of £30,000. Chris Rodger of Briggs Equipment shares some insight on how to use tractive power to give your business an edge.
September 25, 2008 - Weighing up to two tonnes, the battery is an integral part of the counterweight of a forklift or warehouse truck. Making sure that the right battery goes into the machine is critical in maximising the energy consumption, lifting capacity and safety of the truck. A thorough site survey is a good place to start and will look at considerations that affect battery efficiency such as shift life, shuttle distances and lifting frequency to match the battery technology to the application.
The battery is the engine of an electric machine, a typical 48 volt battery will store around 35 kilo watts of energy and can take 12 hours to charge, so by increasing the efficiency of charging and improving battery run times, savings in electricity consumption of up to 22% can be achieved.
Energy efficiency is predominantly achieved through increasing the efficiency of battery charging. Charging times can be reduced by up to 50% through the use of high frequency (HF) chargers with air mix circulation. These smaller wall mounted units can be used on a range of batteries, they require less topping up and facilitate communication between the battery and the charger to ensure optimum recharge and improved battery life. If new charging technology is used together with a single point filling system, maintenance times can be reduced by as much as 70%, resulting in significant savings in labour costs. For a standard mixed fleet of 18 warehouse and counterbalance trucks, with a total of 36 batteries, total cost savings of £30,500 have been realised, with 80% of that being in electricity.
Through their high energy efficiency and efficiency in converting AC input to DC output, HF chargers use less electricity which not only reduces electricity costs but also improves the organisation’s carbon footprint. For a similar mixed fleet to that used above, energy consumption is reduced by 102,045 kWh per year and carbon footprint reduced by up to 81,636 kg per year.*
Maximising the battery’s life is an important consideration with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) legislating on the disposal of hazardous materials. Keeping a traction battery at or near a fully-charged state is not an advantage; it actually reduces the long-term life of the battery. The lifespan can be extended through correct charging and maintenance. A traction battery has a lifespan of around 1,700 charge cycles. If the battery is charged but the power is not used, one of those lives (and a significant amount of energy) has been wasted. This is because the battery lifespan is actually reduced by the exact same amount of time that it is charged over. So one long charge in a 24-hour period is better than ‘topping up’ the battery with several small ‘opportunity’ charges; this way only a single battery life is used up rather than the three or four with opportunity charging.
Automated battery filling systems reap benefits in both reduction in maintenance time and helping to increase the battery life. These systems are in-line and provide a single point connection to the de-ionised water supply helping to increase the accuracy and safety involved in topping up batteries.
The traction batteries of materials handling equipment require specialist management if cost, safety, operational efficiency and environmental considerations are to be maximised. End users have neither the time nor the inclination to take on the responsibility and are therefore missing out on business efficiencies, as battery lifetime costs are a significant part of a rental contract. Leading suppliers such as Briggs Equipment take on the ownership of the battery contract through lifetime battery maintenance packages. Working with expert partners such as EnerSys, Briggs provides battery management systems, induction and training programmes and an all-inclusive support package that will reduce energy consumption, maximise fleet uptime and significantly reduce the lifetime cost of running a traction powered fleet.
*fleet of 18 trucks, with 36 batteries, 9 reach truck, 9 counterbalances. Courtesy of EnerSys.
- Ends -
Visit our blog at www.lifttrucknews.net where you can find company and industry news designed to keep you updated with relevant information on some of the topical issues faced by organisations and operators within the UK industry. From opinion pieces from our CEO, through to how-to guides and “what’s new” from Briggs Equipment, join us… It’s worth blogging about.
Briggs Equipment UK
Briggs Equipment UK Ltd is a leading materials handling service provider and sole distributor of Yale Materials Handling products in Great Britain. Providing a wide range of equipment for a broad customer base, Briggs provides innovative, tailored and cost effective solutions on a nationwide basis. With its headquarters and national support centre in Cannock, Briggs people assist and advise in the delivery of long term solutions that enable customers to develop more efficient and results driven businesses.
Media contact:
Tiffany Clowes
Changeworks Communications
T. + 44 (0) 1785 247588
E.
Company Contact:
Scott Bullock
Briggs Equipment
Orbital Way
Cannock
WS11 8XW
T: 01543 430 455
W: www.briggsequipment.co.uk
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