The cold storage environment is in a state of low temperature and high humidity all year round, which places higher requirements on the power stability, corrosion resistance, and battery life of forklifts. The current market of cold storage forklifts is mainly divided into two power paths: lead-acid batteries and lithium batteries. The two types of models have their own adaptation scenarios, and there are also obvious differences in technology research and development paths.
Lead-acid powered cold storage forklifts are an early and popular product type. They have high technical maturity, relatively low procurement costs, and simple battery maintenance and replacement processes. They are suitable for small cold storage with low operating intensity and daily operating hours of less than 4 hours. However, lead-acid batteries have poor low temperature adaptability, and the discharge efficiency will be significantly attenuated in conventional environments below 0 ° C. The battery life reduction is generally between 30% and 40%. At the same time, the charging time is as long as 8 to 10 hours. A special ventilated charging area needs to be reserved. The gas leakage phenomenon generated during use may also cause pollution to the stored goods in the sealed cold storage.
Lithium-powered cold storage forklifts are the mainstream category promoted in recent years. They have stronger low-temperature adaptability. The discharge efficiency can still be maintained at more than 85% under the conventional -20 ° C environment, and the battery life attenuation is much lower than that of lead-acid models. At the same time, they support charging at any time, without waiting for a long time to charge, and can adapt to the high-intensity cold storage operation requirements of two shifts and three shifts. Lithium batteries have good sealing performance, no gas leakage and no risk of leakage during use, and will not cause pollution to sensitive goods such as food and medicine stored in cold storage. The service life is generally 3 to 4 times that of lead-acid batteries. The comprehensive cost of long-term operation is lower.
The technology research and development of current mainstream models mainly focuses on the optimization of the scene adaptation of two types of power. For lead-acid cold storage forklifts, the main methods are to increase the battery insulation shell and optimize the electrolyte formula to reduce the range of battery life attenuation in low temperature environments and improve the stability of low temperature operations. For lithium-ion cold storage forklifts, the low temperature adaptation algorithm of the battery management system is mainly optimized, and the moisture and frost protection of the body line is strengthened to improve the reliability of operation in extremely low temperature environments. Different operating entities can choose suitable models according to the temperature zone range, operating intensity, and budget scale of their own cold storage. Lithium battery models are preferred for cold storage with high operating intensity and temperature zone below -10 ° C. Lead-acid models can be selected for fresh-keeping cold storage above 0 ° C with limited budget and short operating hours.
