Ethanol, in order to be a success as a transport fuel, needs multi-stakeholder involvement. Currently, there are many issues involving the petroleum, transport, food, agriculture, auto, sugar, and ethanol sectors, which need to be discussed for effective formulation of a government policy. Winrock International India (WII), in this direction has carried out information sharing, capacity building and awareness creation activities to keep stakeholders updated with respect to latest developments leading to the introduction of ethanol as a gasoline blend. WII is also engaged in interviewing key stakeholders to avail their opinions on introducing ethanol as a transport fuel with an objective of concluding "consensus and differences" on this topic. Each Ethanol newsletter issue carries some of these interviews.

Mr NR Raje, Executive Director, IOC (R&D)

1. Please give your views on the use of ethanol as an oxygenate in fuel and the objectives that will be met by its use?

Ethanol is one of the oxygenates permitted for blending in motor gasoline up to 5% by volume as per the Bureau of Indian Standards. The other permissible oxygenates for blending with motor gasoline include methanol, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE), etc. Although MTBE is a widely used oxygenate, it is a suspect contaminant of underground water.

2. What is the Indian Oil Corporation (particularly the R&D department) doing to promote ethanol-petrol and ethanol-diesel blends, and other renewable fuels such as bio-diesel?

Interest in the use of ethanol-gasoline blends in India began in the year 2000 due to the reported surplus capacity of Indian distilleries. The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MPNG) decided to commission three pilot projects using 5% ethanol-gasoline blends one in UP and two in Maharashtra to establish their techno-economic feasibility on a commercial scale. MPNG advised the Oil Coordination Committee to commission these projects in consultation with IOC R&D, which was also advised to take up research studies on ethanol-gasoline blends in new generation vehicles. Based on the success of these pilot projects and successful completion of the R&D studies, the Indian Government has decided to use ethanol-gasoline blends on a commercial scale in 9 states and 4 UTs from 1 January 2003. As we consume large quantities of diesel in India, the Ministry has now advised IOC-R&D to carry out a research program for the use of ethanol in diesel. IOC-R&D has already developed a coupler to be used in ethanol-diesel blends, which is presently used in various diesel vehicles for 20,000 km without any problems.

Our R&D Center has taken the initiative to produce bio-diesel from non-edible oils and a batch of 70-80 kg of bio-diesel is being produced in our pilot plant that meets the American Society for Testing & Materials (ASTM) method of bio-diesel specificiations. It is now proposed to carry out engine/vehicle performance and emission testing with blends of bio-diesel and diesel.

We have state-of-the-art facilities at our research center in Faridabad to carry out research in the area of fuels and lubricants (detailed evaluation of the properties of fuels, engine and vehicle performance on engine test beds and on chassis dynamometers in a climatic chamber). We also have emission test facilities as per international test procedures.

• Environment friendly: Net reduction in CO2/CO/particulate/hydrocarbon emissions.
• Higher octane value of ethanol: refiners can reduce MTBE and benzene.
• Better returns to farmers.
• Energy security for the country: Less dependence on imported oil and savings in foreign exchange.
• Improvement in catalytic converter efficiency: Addition of oxygen improves the efficiency of oxidative catalytic converters.

A. The success of the program will depend upon the availability of anhydrous ethanol on a sustainable basis at competitive prices. The ethanol producers will have to add capacities to make ethanol anhydrous and also to produce the same from other bio-sources. The oil companies will have to make arrangements for blending ethanol and to ensure that the entire storage, handling and distribution system is made water-proof as traces of water can separate ethanol from the blend. This is a challenging task that will involve cleaning of storage tanks, transportation tankers and underground tanks at retail outlets.

Courtesy: Mr N R Raje, Executive Director, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Research & Development Centre
Sector 13 Faridabad 121 007
Ph: 915283709; Fax: 915292017
A mechanical engineer, Mr NR Raje, worked with British Petroleum, UK for three years, following which he joined Indian Oil Corporation’s R&D Center in 1972, where he is currently Executive Director.
He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers, USA, and has close links with reputed international organizations. He has over 30 year’s experience in the fields of lubricants, fuel quality and emissions, has published over 50 research papers and has 5 patents to his credit.