The Client: A Mega-Scale Petrochemical Refinery
Located in the Middle East, our client operates one of the world’s largest oil and chemical refining complexes. Within their volatile Zone 1 and Zone 2 hazardous manufacturing areas, they utilize a specialized fleet of EX (Explosion-Proof) electric forklifts to transport highly flammable solvent drums and chemical IBC totes.
The Challenge: The Dangers of Lead-Acid in EX Zones
Traditional lead-acid batteries pose a severe safety hazard in explosive environments. During charging and deep discharging, lead-acid batteries naturally off-gas hydrogen and oxygen. If this highly combustible gas mixture accumulates in an ATEX Zone 1 environment, a single static spark from a forklift contactor could trigger a catastrophic explosion.
To mitigate this, the client previously had to drive the EX forklifts entirely out of the hazardous zones, across the facility, to a heavily ventilated and blast-proof charging room—a logistical nightmare that reduced actual operational uptime to barely 50%.
The ZOSPOWER Solution: ATEX-Certified LiFePO4 Systems
ZOSPOWER engineers worked alongside European EX-certification bodies to deliver custom ATEX Zone 1 / Zone 21 Certified Lithium-Ion (LiFePO4) Battery Packs for the client’s Hyster EX forklift fleet.
- Zero Emissions & Hermetic Sealing: Unlike lead-acid, ZOSPOWER’s LiFePO4 cells do not off-gas hydrogen. The entire battery pack is hermetically sealed in an IP69K-rated, Ex-d (flameproof) enclosure forged from thick aerospace-grade aluminum.
- Intrinsically Safe BMS: Our proprietary ATEX-certified Battery Management System (BMS) uses isolated, intrinsically safe (Ex-i) circuitry. It continuously monitors the internal pressure, temperature, and voltage, guaranteeing that no internal spark or thermal event can ever breach the enclosure.
- In-Zone Opportunity Charging: We provided ATEX-certified charging stations that allow operators to safely plug in the lithium batteries directly within the hazardous Zone 2 areas during breaks, eliminating the long cross-plant trips to the isolated charging room.
The Results: Unprecedented Safety and Efficiency
After a 6-month deployment, the refinery’s Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) department reported zero safety incidents and a dramatic improvement in logistics efficiency.
- Operational Uptime Doubled: By eliminating the commute to the charging room and leveraging fast opportunity charging, forklift availability increased from 50% to over 95%.
- Maintenance Eliminated: The client completely dissolved their battery maintenance team, as the ZOSPOWER lithium packs require zero watering, zero equalization, and zero terminal cleaning.
ZOSPOWER’s explosion-proof lithium solutions have now become the standard motive power spec for all of the client’s future global refinery expansions.
