Oorja Protonics enters the fuel cell market

The California-based company offers methanol fuel cells for lift trucks and other materials handling equipment.

By Corinne Kator, Associate Editor -- Modern Materials Handling, 3/17/2008

While the lift truck industry has been buzzing with news about hydrogen fuel cells, a California company called Oorja Protonics (Oorja is the Sanskrit word for energy) has been quietly developing its own fuel cell technology based not on hydrogen, but on methanol.

The company issued a press release today announcing its presence in the fuel cell market. In the next week, says CEO Sanjiv Malhotra, the company plans to make further announcements about the availability of its product, the OorjaPac, and about customers who’ve already been testing it in their materials handling equipment.

Instead of fully replacing lead-acid batteries, says Malhotra, the OorjaPac works as an on-board battery charger. It fits into a lift truck’s existing battery compartment alongside a small lead-acid battery, he says, and continuously charges that battery as the vehicle operates.

Rather than using hydrogen like other fuel cells on the market, Oorja Protonic’s fuel cell gets its energy from methanol. Liquid methanol is more affordable, more available and easier to use than compressed hydrogen gas, Malhotra says, and it offers the same benefits of quick and easy refueling.

And while many hydrogen fuel cell providers are still developing their technology, he says, the OorjaPac is tested and ready for use. “We are not selling an R&D dream,” he says. “This is a full commercial solution we are selling.”

Oorja Protonics is funded by venture capital firms Sequoia Capital (the main backer of YouTube) and DAG Ventures. It has been operating since 2005.