PUNE: Scientists at the CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL) have developed an indigenous technology to produce Dimethyl Ether (DME), a clean-burning fuel that can be blended with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), offering a potential pathway to reduce India’s dependence on imported cooking fuel and strengthen energy security, stated in a press releases issued by the Institute on Friday.
DME is a clean-burning synthetic fuel that emits significantly lower levels of soot, nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx) and particulate matter compared to conventional fuels, while offering comparable thermal efficiency, according to a release.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has already issued the standard IS 18698:2024, allowing up to 20 percent blending of DME with LPG for domestic, commercial and industrial applications. Experts note that blending up to 8 percent DME with LPG can be done without any modification to existing infrastructure such as cylinders, regulators, hoses and burners.
India imported nearly 21 million tonnes of LPG in 2024. Scientists estimate that substituting just 8 percent of LPG with DME could lead to foreign exchange savings of around ?9,500 crore annually. Such substitution for the 10.5 crore LPG connections under the Ujjwala scheme would require a DME production capacity of nearly 1,300 tonnes per day.
Apart from cooking fuel, DME also has applications as an automotive fuel and as a propellant in aerosol products, replacing ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). It can also serve as a chemical intermediate for the production of lower olefins, dimethyl sulfate and methyl acetate.
The indigenous technology developed by CSIR-NCL converts methanol into DME using a highly active and cost-effective catalyst. The research team, led by Thirumalaiswamy Raja, integrated catalyst chemistry with reactor engineering to develop an efficient production process.
It has been stated in the release that the technology enables DME production at around 10 bar pressure, allowing the fuel to be directly filled in LPG cylinders with minimal operational cost implications. The process has already been successfully scaled up to a pilot capacity of 250 kg per day.
Scientists believe that large-scale adoption of DME could help India reduce its dependence on imported LPG, improve energy security and contribute to a cleaner and more sustainable energy ecosystem. (ANI)
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