Petroleum Minister to inaugurate H-CNG Plant and launch trials at Rajghat depot
New Delhi 16-Oct-2020
IndianOil to commence extended trials on H-CNG as green fuel for city buses in Delhi on Tuesday
Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon'ble Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, will formally launch the much-awaited trial run of city buses in the capital city on Hydrogen-blended CNG (H-CNG) green fuel on Tuesday, 20th Oct. 2020. He will inaugurate a compact reformer plant set up by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IndianOil) at Rajghat Bus Depot-I of DTC.
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.
John Prasad K.
Chief General Manager
Corporate Communications
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
A brief on IndianOil's patented H-CNG Production Technology
Globally, Hydrogen required for blending in CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) is produced through electrolysis of water, followed by high-pressure blending with CNG. This process's high cost offsets the savings achieved from fuel economy gains compared to baseline CNG.
IndianOil R&D has, however, patented a simpler, cheaper single-step compact reformer technology with several advantages over conventional reforming processes associated with Hydrogen production:
H-CNG blends can be produced directly from CNG, bypassing the energy-intensive electrolysis process and high-pressure blending costs.
The flexible and robust process allows the production of H-CNG on-site, in less severe conditions, and under low pressure
It yields a higher quantity of H-CNG mixture, by up to 4% to 5% compared to the input quantity of CNG.
The cost of H-CNG production by the above process is about 22% cheaper than conventional physical blending.
