Safer Forklifts with Iron Phosphate Li-ion Batteries

For Forklift Safety Week, Green Cubes Technology would like to highlight the benefits of Iron Phosphate Li-ion Batteries (LFP) over conventional lead-acid batteries in preventing workplace injuries in the warehouse environment.

The ongoing maintenance required to keep flooded lead acid batteries running presents a danger to the workers tasked with charging, watering and changing batteries in forklifts and other material handling equipment. The highly corrosive electrolytes in batteries can cause respiratory irritation, eye damage, skin irritation, and erode tooth enamel. The sheer size of material handling batteries means that crush injuries also occur during battery changes and repetitive use injuries are very common.

New LFP Li-ion batteries eliminate most of these issues because they are self-contained and maintenance free. Iron phosphate, a subset of Li-ion is the safest chemistry available, and its long cycle life means that it will last the lifetime of the truck. Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) is safest with:

• Its stable chemical make-up, demonstrated by the high thermal runaway temperature.
• The separator limits the chemical reaction of the electrode and helps to prevent thermal runaways by closing its porous structure at high temperatures.
• The electronics of the Li-ion battery also provide protection against safety events, with incorporated fuses and protection against over-charge, over-discharge and high and low temperature charging.

Li-ion batteries greatly reduce the risk to the workforce when they are implemented for forklifts. For more detailed information, please see our recent article “Creating a Safer Workplace with Iron Phosphate Li-ion Batteries” in Workplace Material Handling & Safety.