Harsh Vardhan launches eco-friendly, DME fired 'Aditi Urja Sanch' unit
Oct 22, 2020
New Delhi [India], October 22 : Union Minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday inaugurated the DME fired 'Aditi Urja Sanch' unit along with the DME-LPG blended fuel cylinders and handed them over for common public and CSIR-NCL (National Chemical Laboratory) canteen use on a trial basis at CSIR-NCL premises.
Vardhan, in his address via video-conferencing said, "The launch of this burner will also provide a significant boost to the 'Make in India' campaign as all the manufacturers of cylinders, gas stoves, regulators, and gas hose are domestic. This kind of activity may bridge the gap between demand and supply, and it can ensure energy security for the nation."
Dimethyl ether (DME) is an ultra-clean fuel. CSIR-NCL has developed nation's first kind of DME pilot plant with 20-24Kg/day capacity. "The conventional LPG burner is not suitable for DME combustion as DME density is different than LPG. To address this issue, CSIR- NCL's "ADITI URJA SANCH" has come up with a helpful, innovative setup. The new Burner is fully designed and fabricated by NCL for DME, DME -LPG blended mixtures and LPG combustion," the government said in a release.
Some of the salient features of the newly designed burner are -- it is efficient for both DME and the blend of DME and LPG, flexible air ingress, the new nozzle design allows optimum oxygen ingress for combustion, among others.
The research group led by Dr T Raja at Catalysis and Inorganic Chemistry Division, CSIR-NCL, Pune carried out research and found catalysts with higher yield, and stability for the ether formation and less tendency to produce carbon soot by-product. The DME project is moving on fast track mode from the laboratory to the market to ultimately reach people under the methanol economy and green sustainable fuel policy of the country.
The newly designed stove can burn with up to 30 per cent DME blended with LPG or 100 per cent DME as fuel. The air to fuel ratio is different for DME blended fuel to achieve optimum combustion and thermal performance. A 20 per cent DME blending with LPG, with fewer infrastructure changes, is expected to result in substantial savings annually.
