Hydrogen CNG, biogas: The many faces of new auto fuel
Business Standard, Delhi   29-Sep-2020

Three days after the Centre notified bio-cng and hydrogen-cng (HCNG) as automotive fuels, Coal India on Monday announced that it issued a tender for coal-to-menthol projects.

These new fuels are not only diversifying the automotive fuel basket of India but can help in emission reduction to some extent.

On September 25, the ministry of road transport and highways issued a gazette notification laying down quality specifications. It allowed use of both bio-cng and hydrogen blended in CNG up to 18 per cent in motor vehicles.

The notification, though delayed, followed a November 2018 Supreme Court directive in the MC Mehta versus Union of India case. Here, Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) — which has apex research and development (R&D) facility in automotive fuel — was asked to submit regular updates on HCNG to a court-appointed committee.

Indianoil had earlier told the court that it is doing a HCNG pilot project which is scheduled to be operational by July 31, 2019. The trial on buses with HCNG is likely to begin in August 2019. It also said it was possible to introduce HCNG buses by around February 2020.

“There were certain delays because of statutory clearances and Covid-19-induced lockdown but now everything is in place for a launch,” SSV Ramakumar, director (research and development), Indianoil, told Business Standard.

Ramakumar said Indianoil was able to directly produce HCNG gas where hydrogen is controlled at 18 per cent by partially reforming the mother natural gas. “Globally, we were the only ones to come up with this technology five years ago. This method removes the need for storing and transporting hydrogen separately which can be a logistical nightmare,” he said. The entire effort is to gear up to handle the winter pollution levels in the National Capital Region (NCR). HCNG has 70 per cent lower carbon monoxide and 25 per cent lower hydrocarbon than CNG though the NOX levels are the same.

“According to a directive of the Supreme Court, IOCL and Indraprastha Gas (IGL) have collaborated to put up the first semicommercial plant as a pilot project for conducting a study on the use of HCNG fuel in 50 BS-IV compliant CNG buses in Delhi. After commissioning of the plant, the performance report will be submitted to the court after trials for six months. The trial period will be used to identify challenges in dispensing,” said an IGL executive.

He said a “separate compact reformer-based HCNG production unit” is being set up in Rajghat-1 depot of Delhi Transport Corporation – that runs city transport buses – as part of the pilot project.

This compact reformer is patented by Indianoil R&D and will be used for production of HCNG fuel from natural gas at the unit rather than physical blending of CNG with hydrogen. “The economics of HCNG fuel will be known upon completion of the six-month trial period,” he added. The ministry of road transport highways notification also authorises use of bio-cng, which unlike HCNG, needs further emission control measures. This is because it emits carbon-di-oxide and has other impurities.

The Centre, along with states like Haryana and Punjab, is also pushing for converting the residual biomass – that is burnt by farmers in winter to clear their fields for fresh sowing – into bio-cng.

While this incentivises farmers to use the residue, it also helps in controlling pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR).

The automotive fuel technology is of menthol. Coal India on Friday floated a global tender inviting bids for setting up a first-of-its-kind coalto-methanol (C2M) plant in India through the surface coal gasification route on the build-own-operate (BOO) model.

The BOO operator would be selected for the life span of the plant which is expected to be 25 years. “This is a part of implementing the methanol economy programme of the government aimed at reducing the country’s oil import bill,” said a senior executive of the company.

CIL would also supply the low-ash, high-calorific coal of Ranigunj coalfields, having an ash content of around 24 per cent, as basic raw material for the production of 2,050 tonne of methanol daily.

Coal India would meet around 1.5 million tonnes of coal requirements annually. “We have aligned ourselves with the national objective of reducing dependence on imported crude and the plan to set up the plant is a step in that direction. It would also reposition coal as chemical feedstock from that of a conventional energy product, resulting in considerable decrease of carbon foot print,” said the Coal India executive.