Petroleum Minister to inaugurate H-CNG plant and launch trials at Rajghat depot

 

 

IndianOil's R&D Centre had developed a patented compact reforming process for H-CNG production directly from natural gas. The technology has been successfully proved for its benefits concerning emissions, mileage & durability through extensive studies at a demonstration unit installed at its Faridabad campus. Recent studies conducted by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), Pune, have confirmed that 18% H-CNG as fuel ensures 70% reduction in carbon monoxide and 25% reduction in hydrocarbon emissions in heavy-duty BS-IV engines as compared to baseline CNG, besides increasing fuel economy by 4 to 5%.

 

 

Hon'ble Supreme Court had taken cognizance of IndianOil's patented technology and its likely benefits and had advised IndianOil and the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MOP&NG), Govt. of India, to conduct trials using 18% H-CNG fuel on 50 buses in Delhi.

 

 

Accordingly, IndianOil, under the guidance of the Petroleum Ministry, has set up a semi-commercial plant of 4-tonnes per day capacity at Rajghat Bus Depot-I, along with dispensing infrastructure by Indraprastha Gas Ltd. (IGL), for conducting a study on the use of H-CNG fuel in 50 BS-IV compliant CNG buses. International Centre for Automotive Technologies (iCAT) will be the third-party accredited laboratory for performance testing of the buses, while the Environmental Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority for Delhi & NCR (EPCA) has been designated as the monitoring agency. 

 

 

After the six-months trial period, a detailed performance report will be compiled incorporating the fuel economy and emissions data of the trial buses run with CNG and H-CNG fuel mixtures for submission to EPCA/Hon'ble Supreme Court.

 

 

In India's quest to promote Hydrogen as a clean fuel for the mobility sector, Hydrogen-blended CNG (H-CNG) is emerging as an excellent interim technology for achieving emissions reduction and import substitution. H-CNG can be used in existing IC engines without major modifications in the engine architecture. Also, refueling of H-CNG blends in vehicles can be achieved with minimum modifications in the infrastructure that is currently under use for dispensing CNG.