“OVERVIEW OF ALTERNATIVE

FUELS”
by

Dr. S. S. Thipse

Deputy Director
The Automotive Research Association of India
Post Box No. 832, Pune 411 004

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* Source: www.awma.org/ACE2002/Forum/Topic3/walsh.ppt
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Indian Automotive Industry Today . . .
 2nd Largest Two-Wheeler Manufacturer in
the World

 World’s largest Motorcycle Manufacturer is

in India

 2nd Largest Tractor Manufacturer in the

World

 5th Largest Commercial Vehicle

Manufacturer in the World

 4th Largest Car Market in Asia – 1,545,000

Vehicles in 2006-07
Source :SIAM

Total Registered Vehicles ~90 Mn

 Different Different Exhaust
Automotive Fuels Constituents

Blending Formulation ?
Gasoline
Oxygenates
Olefins
Paraff./Napht.
Aromatics
Ö
L HC
+ Air Different Combustion NOx CO2
CO
C6H6 PAH
SO2 PM

Olefins
Aromatics
Different Naphtens
Crude Oils Paraffins Formulation ?
and Refineries
Diesel
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* Source: www.awma.org/ACE2002/Forum/Topic3/walsh.ppt
Why Gaseous Fuels ?

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 Gaseous Fuels In India

 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)

 Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)

 Biogas or Biomethane

 Hydrogen enriched Natural gas (HCNG)

 Hydrogen (H2)

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Comparison of Gaseous Fuel Emissions Vs Gasoline
Emissions CNG LPG Biogas HCNG H2
CO Lower by Lower by Lower by Lower by X
30 % 20 % 30 % 40 %
HC Lower by Lower by Lower by Lower by X
40 % 30 % 40 % 50 %
NOx Higher Similar Higher by Lower by Lower by
by 10 % 10 % 30 % 50 %

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Comparison of Gaseous Fuels Vs Gasoline

Emissions CNG LPG Biogas HCNG H2

Power, Torque Lower Similar Lower Lower Lower
Fuel Efficiency 20 % 10 % 20 % 25 % 30 %
on volume basis lower lower lower Lower Lower
Cost 60 % 40 % 30 % Same 100 %
Lower Lower Lower Higher
Safety Good Fair Good Moderate Lower
Availability Yes Yes Yes No No
Renewability Yes No Yes No Yes

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Roadmap for Gaseous Fuels In India

Source : IOC
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 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Vehicle

ADVANTAGES ISSUES
 Less volumetric efficiency leading to
 Octane > 120
power loss
 Good lean combustion
 On board storage
‘ characteristics, clean burning
 Abundant availability
 Infrastructure.
 Negligible sulfur / toxic HC content
 Engine Valve seat wear
 Less CO2 / unit of energy than ‘  Fast filling causes heating of cylinder,
‘ gasoline or diesel hence under filling
 Failure of Bust Disk of Cylinder valve
 Fuel Composition 10
Fuel Storage Ratio of CNG

200 bar

200 bar

200 bar
Diesel
Diesel

200 bar

200 bar

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 LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GAS (LPG) VEHICLE
ADVANTAGES
 Octane rating nearly 100
 Clean burning, lower tendency
for smog formation
 Easily be liquefied
 Negligible sulphur/ toxic HC
content
 Less CO2 / unit of energy than
gasoline or diesel
ISSUES
 volumetric efficiency less
=>power loss (however less
than CNG)
 On board storage
 Phase change
 Heavier than air
 Fuel Composition
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Fuel Storage Ratio of LPG

9 bar
Diesel
Diesel
9 bar

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TYPICAL VEHICLE FUEL STORAGE CAPACITIES AND RANGE
FOR INDIAN CNG/LPG VEHICLES

Sr. Type of vehicle Water Capacity, Range in kms

No. CNG LPG CNG LPG
1 3W 22-25 lt 15lt 160 240
(4-5kg) (6kg)
2 Car 60 lt 60lt 240 480
(12kg) (24kg)
3 LCV (80 lt x 160lt - 320 -
2nos. of cyl) (32kg)
4 HCV (50 lt x 600lt - 360 -
12nos. of cyl) (120kg)

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 ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLES (AFV)
TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS

 Bi-fuel
 Either alternative fuel or conventional fuel, 2 separate
fuel tanks & fuel delivery systems.
 Dedicated fuel
 Alternative fuel only
 Dual Fuel
 Both alternative and conventional fuels, different
fuel tanks and fuel delivery systems
 Flexible fuel
 Mix of alcohol and gasoline

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 ALTERNATIVE FUELS AND ARAI
ARAI developed BS-III compliant Bi-fuel LPG Car

HIGHLIGHTS
CNG emission
+
Petrol Performance
+
Diesel running cost
=
Developed
LPG Vehicle
Packaging of LPG system

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 ARAI DEVELOPED BS-IV COMPLIANT CNG ENGINE
FOR LCV APPLICATION

u Latest closed loop technology u Meets stringent safety requirements

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 DEVELOPED INDIGENOUS LPG KIT FOR
2 & 3 WHEELER APPLICATION

u Open loop technology u Meets stringent safety requirements

u Commercially introduced
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DEVELOPED INDIGENOUS UNIQUE LUBRICATION SYSTEM
FOR 2 & 3 WHEELER APPLICATION IN THE YEAR 2000

 Won
International
award for the
year 2005 at
Barcelona
 Reduces
smoke &
particulate
Matter by 90%
 Commercially
Introduced

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ARAI PUBLICATIONS

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NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND REGULATIONS
IN ALTERNATIVE FUELS
REGULATORY FLOW FOR NOTIFICATION

AISC Test
Panel AISC Agencies

SCOE

CMVR- TSC BIS, PESO

MORTH
GSR
NEW NOTIFICATIONS
1. Bio-CNG / Bio-Methane – GSR 498 (E)

2. Ethanol (E-85 and ED-95) – GSR 882 (E)

3. Biodiesel (B–20 and B-100) – GSR 915 (E)

4. Liquefied Natural Gas (Draft)

5. Dual Fuel – Diesel - CNG (Draft)

6. Hydrogen – CNG (Under Discussion)

7. Hydrogen (Under Discussion)

8. Methanol (Newly Proposed)

9. Di-Methyl Ether (Newly Proposed)

BIO-CNG

Govt has notified Bio-

CNG as an automotive
fuel in CMVR vide GSR
498 (E)
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 ETHANOL & ETHANOL BLENDED FUEL
 Ethanol is a renewable, domestically produced
alcohol fuel made from plant material, such as corn,
sugar cane
 E5 and E10 are blends of ethanol and gasoline—the
number after the "E" indicates the percentage of
ethanol
 E85, also called flex fuel, is an ethanol-gasoline
blend containing 51% to 83% ethanol
 Govt has notified E-85 as an automotive fuel in
CMVR vide GSR 882 (E)
 Ethanol Production
(Beet,
Feedstock sugarcane)

Steam Sugar
Crushing Fermentation CO2
Extraction

Rectification

Animal Feed Distillation

& Bagasse
Dehydration

Heat & Power Anhydrous Fuel

Production Ethanol
ED95 ETHANOL BLEND
COMPRESSION-IGNITION (DIESEL OPERATION) ENGINE SYSTEM
Ethanol fuel ED95
Ethanol with ignition improver
EU engine certification fuel.
3rd generation engine Euro 5/EEV
Highly efficient diesel combustion
Ethanol up to 43% efficiency
Diesel up to 44% efficiency
Compression-ignition engine system
Minor changes to standard diesel engine.
Diesel operation in accordance with
compression-ignition or 'CI' engine.
Proven technology
Third generation engine
In commercial traffic since 1986.
 ED95 BUS IN NAGPUR

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 Biodiesel Technology
Vegetable Oil

Methanol
+ Transesterification
NaOH/KOH

Crude Biodiesel
Crude Glycerin Biodiesel
Methanol
Recovery Refining
Glycerin
Refining
Glycerin
NEED OF BIO-DIESEL
 It is cleaner than conventional diesel; bio diesel produces
significantly less harmful emissions than regular
petroleum diesel when burned in a combustion engine.
 Bio diesel can be used in almost any normal internal
combustion diesel engine with few special modifications,
and it can be stored and transported using existing
infrastructure and equipment already used for regular
petroleum diesel.
 It can be burned in neat form (100% bio diesel) or it can
be blended with regular petroleum diesel in any
concentrations, such as 2% (B2), 5% (B5) and 20% (B20)
 WHY JATROPHA SEEDS…?
 High Oil Content (35-40%).
 Grows under sub tropical conditions and low
fertility land.
 High potential as a energy plant.
 No need of intensive water supply.
 Non-Edible.
 The Majority of oil is present in Kernels.
BIODIESEL BLEND

Govt has notified B-100 as an automotive fuel

in CMVR vide GSR 915 (E)
 Introduction to LNG
 LNG is produced by cooling natural gas until it
liquefies at -256° F or -162° C.

 In its liquid state LNG occupies 1/600th the volume

of its gaseous state

 LNG is not pressurized and is not flammable.

Introduction to LNG
LNG in India
 LNG AS AUTOMOTIVE FUEL FOR HEAVY
VEHICLES

LNG is used in increasingly many places for road transport fleets:

Buses, Dust Carts, Chilled Container Transporters – it gives good engine
performance and a vehicle range comparable with other fuels
LNG is suitable to fuel high-consumption transport where space for the
LNG storage is readily available: e.g. trains and sea ferries
LNG is less-suitable for small privately-owned vehicles because of more
complex procedures and more expensive fuelling stations with special
requirements regarding their location.

LNG Fuel is under Notification in CMVR

promoted by MOPNG & Petronet
DUAL FUEL COMBUSTION TECHNOLOGIES
A Dual fuel engine is a CI engine
 Dual fuel engine runs on Diesel and Natural Gas
simultaneously
 Small Pilot Injection of diesel ignites gas mixture
 Average substitution of Diesel by Gas is 60 – 85 %
 Engine can run on 100 % Diesel anytime
 Technology best suited for larger engines

Emission Reduction by 30-40 %

Dual Fuel Diesel-CNG is under

notification in CMVR

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Worldwide Scenario of Dual Fuel Technology
DEVELOPMENT OF BS-IV DUAL FUEL ENGINE

Average diesel replacement

varies from
20% to 60 % during 25% to 75% of
Full load

Powertrai
Powertrain
40
Your Partner
Your Partner in Engine
in Engine Design,
n
Engineering Design,
Development & Testing . . .
 What is HCNG ?
 HCNG is a general term used to denote varying blends of Hydrogen and
CNG.
 Adding higher flame speed Hydrogen to a lower flame speed fuel like
CNG, improves the combustion efficiency of the HCNG blend.
 HCNG has advantage of low minimum ignition energy and wide range of
flammability limits
 HCNG is thus the first step for introducing Hydrogen and is considered as the
transition automotive fuel
 18 % HCNG blend is under notification as an automotive fuel in CMVR
 HCNG R&D PROJECT at ARAI
6-cyl Heavy duty HCNG engine development

 Injection system
 Lean-burn & Stoichiometric
combustion
 engine optimization on
5 %, 10 %, 15 %, 20% and 30%
(Hydrogen + CNG) blends
 Emission Targets :
Euro 5 with 40 % margin
 Hydrogen: The fuel of the future

• Hydrogen is a renewable fuel and can be generated

from diverse fuel sources
• It is the cleanest fuel producing only NOx emissions
• It can be used in IC engines and Fuel Cells
• Safety for Hydrogen is critical
• Considerable R&D is underway in H2 engines, fuel cells & on board storage.
• Experts predict a Hydrogen economy by 2050 43
 Introduction to Hydrogen

Clean fuel with only NOx emissions.

The lightest element in nature and renewable.
Can be used in IC engines and Fuel cells
Safety is critical due to high flammability of the fuel.
Economic production of Hydrogen is an issue.
No distribution infrastructure in India.
Metal Embrittlement tendency requires composite cylinders for storage.
Absence of Standards for Fuel & Certification of Vehicles
Hydrogen Usage in Vehicles
 Hydrogen IC engine ( port or direct injection)
 Electric hybrid with H2 IC engine

 H2 fuelled Fuel Cell Vehicles

 Hydrogen-gasoline admixture

 Dual-fuel diesel engine (port or direct injection of

Hydrogen)
 HCNG or Hythane (mixture of hydrogen and CNG)
Hydrogen Program in India

• MNRE is the nodal agency driving the hydrogen program in India and has published a
hydrogen roadmap.
•Vehicular Trials by OEMs like Mahindra and Tata Motors for Hydrogen
•Institutes like IIT Delhi, BHU and IIT Madras at the forefront for developing Hydrogen
Engine technology
•BIS is framing national standards on Hydrogen and HCNG fuels inline with
corresponding ISO TC 197 and ISO TC 22 standards.
•ARAI is participating in UNECE and ISO Forums for development of international
regulations on Hydrogen.
•PESO has amended Gas Cylinder rules for Hydrogen-CNG storage. Type –III
composite cylinders granted permission for trials.
•IOC is taking active steps to establish distribution infrastructure of H2 & HCNG in
India.
 Di-Methyl Ether (DME)
•Dimethyl Ether (DME) is a clean burning alternative fuel for
transportation sector and its chemical formula is CH3OCH3
•Cetane number of DME is more than 55, so it is a suitable fuel for
Compression Ignition Engine
•Large scale production of DME can be possible from Natural Gas
Synthesis

Dimethyl Ether has the chemical formula

CH3OCH3. It has two Methyl groups (CH3)
attached to oxygen
DME Emissions
METHANOL
 METHANOL ECONOMY

Niti Aayog is Promoting Methanol Economy in India

METHANOL FOR TRANSPORT
METHANOL IN CHINA
 Alternative Drive-trains
 Main contender is the fuel cell. The PEM (protone
exchange membrane) fuel cell operates with hydrogen.
Progress in fuel cell development in this decade has been
substantial and several prototypes have been built and
field tests are in progress
 Electric Vehicles – Running on Battery

 Hybrid Vehicles – Combination of IC Engine and Battery

or Fuel Cell Drive
 Fuel Cells
Fuel Cell is a mini power plant that converts
chemical energy directly into electrical energy
giving off water and heat as by product.
Fuel cell can use any fuel: Hydrogen, LPG,
CNG etc.
Each Fuel Cell provides a very small voltage,
hence individual cells are arranges in stacks to
provide required power to the application.
 FUEL Electrons Electrons Oxygen
(Hydrogen) (Air)

Anode
H+ Ions Cathode

Waste
Heat
Waste Electrolyte
Heat

Water
Platinum
Catalyst
 Types of Fuel Cells
• Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM)

• Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC)

• Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC)

• Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC)

• Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC)

• Alkaline Fuel Cell (AFC)

 Technical Issues with Fuel Cells
 On board hydrogen storage or generation
 Choice of Fuel (Methanol, ethanol, gasoline, etc) for the
fuel reformer
 Energy density
 Specific power (rate at which a given amount of energy can
be supplied and hence the no. of cells required to meet peak
power requirements.)
 Life time of a fuel cell (contamination of catalyst)
 Reformer efficiency
GHG reduction due to Fuel Cells
Petrol ICE

Petrol FC Major CO2

reductions
MeOH FC
through
Comp H2 FC
onboard
reforming
Petrol Hybrid
Shell
Texaco
BP Amoco
Diesel Hybrid Exxon

0 50 100 150 200 250

Chain CO2 emissions [g/km]
Fuel Cell Vehicles
 Compressed Air Car (CAV)
•Pneumatically Driven
•Operates on compressed
air using opposing
cylinders
•Needs on-board
compressor and storage
tank
•Also available as a
Hybrid with battery
driven electric motors
(PHEV)
 Solar Vehicles (SV)
•Solar energy Driven
•Operates with array of
photovoltaic cells
•Needs battery storage and
motor for driving the
vehicle
•Also available as a Hybrid
with battery driven electric Solar electric
motors (SEV) panel.
SOLAR VEHICLE COMPONENTS
Water Car - HYDROGINI
 GAS TURBINE ELECTRIC VEHICLE
The NASA Lewis Research
Center is working with industry,
universities, to develop a gas
turbine electric vehicle. This
vehicle uses a advanced gas
turbine from an aircraft jet
engine. The engine turns a high-
speed generator, producing
electricity. Power from both the
generator and an onboard
energy storage system is then
provided to a variable-speed
electric motor attached to the
rear drive axle.
A CAR POWERED BY LIQUID NITROGEN?
 SUMMARY

 Alternative fuels, specially Natural Gas are promising alternate energy

source from the point of view of
 emission reduction
 economics of operation
 Indian regulations are being continuously upgraded
Performance and safety aspects are given equal importance
 Harmonization with International regulations is on anvil
 Emphasis to be given Training for awareness to concerned stake
holders.
 The real challenge ahead is to ensure the best safety practices and
continuous up gradation of technology in the coming years

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