Page 12 - Industrial Technology Extra 12th October 2020

BATTERIES...

Making charging sustainable

for forklift truck batteries

Leading glass manufacturer switches to Fronius for sustainable battery charging

aint-Gobain and its many
well-known brands design,
manufacture and distribute
Smaterial solutions found in
buildings, transportation, infrastructure
and many industrial applications. As
well as providing comfort, performance
and safety their solutions also address
the challenges of sustainable
construction, resource efficiency and
climate change. One of these materials
is glass. Saint-Gobain is Europe's
number one manufacturer of flat glass
for the construction industry and this takes place at decided to change eight of their existing
their site in Eggborough, East Yorkshire. conventional chargers to start with. Experiencing
Production at the large site runs 24 hours a day, just a 16 month paypack period and savings of
seven days a week and 365 days a year. £225 per week on its energy bills across the
Transportation of the glass around the site and for charging process, just a year later the company
preparation for shipment off-site involves a opted to change all of their remaining chargers in
combination of HubTex transport systems, their charging room over to Fronius. This totalled 21
Jungheinrich forklift trucks and pedestrian pallet chargers in all. They combined this with a ‘fit and
trucks. To ensure the continuous availability of these Forget’ maintenance package from distributor
systems the company has installed 21 Fronius EcoBat.
Selectiva battery chargers complete with the unique “Since installing the Fronius Selectiva chargers,
and innovative Ri charging process. the battery room has a much better atmosphere and
Saint Gobain initially used a mixture of 50Hz is much cooler,” comments Richard Simpson,
chargers and decided to trial a Fronius Selectiva, facilities manager at Saint Gobain. “The experience
comparing it against their existing conventional for those changing the batteries has greatly
chargers. Convinced by the Fronius technology and increased and we are seeing significant savings in
efficiency of just a single trial charger, Saint Gobain electricity costs.”

October 2020 • INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY EXTRA • p12