Attention: TDR Forum Junkies Professor B. S. Murthy
Formerly consultant to Alcohol fuel systems, Inc. , California.
Petroleum fuels are rough and tough
It's time to say enough is enough.
Be sure your cars can go alcoholic,
Unlike the man, they run without panic.
Blue flame special is smokeless and sober,
The oil Shaiks wouldn't bother anymore.
In spite of the proven merits of ethanol as environmentally safe and high performance renewable motor fuel for nearly three quarters of a century, it is unfortunate that India could not show the political will towards wide application alcohol fuels for motor vehicles. It is only after the recent article from Mr. Ram Naik, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, (Editorial section, The Hindu Business Line dated June 21, 2001), a new hope has emerged on reviving interest in the use of this renewable source of energy for the automobile, which would gradually replace petrol. This would surely benefit our nation's economy. Historically in the mid-1930's, petrol/alcohol blends were used in the city bus service of Bangalore on an experimental measure, thanks to the vision of the then Dewan of Mysore, Sir Mirza Ismail. The alcohol from the Mandya sugar factory was available for this purpose. Some of the veteran-researchers in automobile industry may remember this "Vintage" experience with nostalgia. It is only in Brazil, there was a strong political will to implement alcohol fuels as a national policy and be free from the burden of importing petroleum fuels. The timely article of Mr. Ram Naik has given a new hope that India too can gradually implement alcohol fuel technology for automobiles- first as a blend in petrol cars and subsequently as a sole fuel for both petrol and diesel vehicles.
ALCOHOL IN DIESEL ENGINES
Alcohol, especially ethanol or ethyl alcohol, has been recognised as a quality motor fuel, since the design of the first automobile (The original Ford Model-T) for the spark-ignition engine because of its high anti-knock value designated by the " Octane Number" and better performance in terms of power and efficiency. It is only recently (since 1970's) interest was shown on the use of ethanol and methanol as diesel fuels. Alcohols are very difficult to burn by compression-ignition because of its low ignition quality usually designated by a low " Cetane number". It is to be emphasized that a high-octane fuel (a virtue for a petrol engine), necessarily has a low cetane value (a curse for the diesel engine). The main research in diesel-alcohol technology was to find ways and means to force alcohol to ignite by compression in the diesel engine.
It is interesting that India was the earliest to recognize the merits of burning ethanol in diesel engines. The bi-fuel system developed by the German Professor H. A. Havemann & his colleagues at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, in the early 50's, is the earliest original published work in technical literature regarding alcohol diesels. Essentially, this method involves giving carburetor benefits to a diesel engine. Part of the fuel-energy is supplied by inducting ethanol through a carburetor, while only a small quantity of diesel fuel is injected in the conventional injection system. Since alcohol and diesel oil (unlike petrol which can be blended) do not mix, these fuels are sent through two different routes-by induction and injection. Injected fuel, which is a smaller quantity, only serves as an ignition source like millions of distributed spark plugs. By a proper choice of injected fuel, either diesel oil or vegetable oil, a large portion of ethanol from 40 to 90% can be utilized by this method. This pioneering technique did not attract wide spread application since the availability of petroleum fuels eased off and there were no environmental constraints on the use of diesel oil in those days.
Formerly consultant to Alcohol fuel systems, Inc. , California.
Petroleum fuels are rough and tough
It's time to say enough is enough.
Be sure your cars can go alcoholic,
Unlike the man, they run without panic.
Blue flame special is smokeless and sober,
The oil Shaiks wouldn't bother anymore.
In spite of the proven merits of ethanol as environmentally safe and high performance renewable motor fuel for nearly three quarters of a century, it is unfortunate that India could not show the political will towards wide application alcohol fuels for motor vehicles. It is only after the recent article from Mr. Ram Naik, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, (Editorial section, The Hindu Business Line dated June 21, 2001), a new hope has emerged on reviving interest in the use of this renewable source of energy for the automobile, which would gradually replace petrol. This would surely benefit our nation's economy. Historically in the mid-1930's, petrol/alcohol blends were used in the city bus service of Bangalore on an experimental measure, thanks to the vision of the then Dewan of Mysore, Sir Mirza Ismail. The alcohol from the Mandya sugar factory was available for this purpose. Some of the veteran-researchers in automobile industry may remember this "Vintage" experience with nostalgia. It is only in Brazil, there was a strong political will to implement alcohol fuels as a national policy and be free from the burden of importing petroleum fuels. The timely article of Mr. Ram Naik has given a new hope that India too can gradually implement alcohol fuel technology for automobiles- first as a blend in petrol cars and subsequently as a sole fuel for both petrol and diesel vehicles.
ALCOHOL IN DIESEL ENGINES
Alcohol, especially ethanol or ethyl alcohol, has been recognised as a quality motor fuel, since the design of the first automobile (The original Ford Model-T) for the spark-ignition engine because of its high anti-knock value designated by the " Octane Number" and better performance in terms of power and efficiency. It is only recently (since 1970's) interest was shown on the use of ethanol and methanol as diesel fuels. Alcohols are very difficult to burn by compression-ignition because of its low ignition quality usually designated by a low " Cetane number". It is to be emphasized that a high-octane fuel (a virtue for a petrol engine), necessarily has a low cetane value (a curse for the diesel engine). The main research in diesel-alcohol technology was to find ways and means to force alcohol to ignite by compression in the diesel engine.
It is interesting that India was the earliest to recognize the merits of burning ethanol in diesel engines. The bi-fuel system developed by the German Professor H. A. Havemann & his colleagues at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, in the early 50's, is the earliest original published work in technical literature regarding alcohol diesels. Essentially, this method involves giving carburetor benefits to a diesel engine. Part of the fuel-energy is supplied by inducting ethanol through a carburetor, while only a small quantity of diesel fuel is injected in the conventional injection system. Since alcohol and diesel oil (unlike petrol which can be blended) do not mix, these fuels are sent through two different routes-by induction and injection. Injected fuel, which is a smaller quantity, only serves as an ignition source like millions of distributed spark plugs. By a proper choice of injected fuel, either diesel oil or vegetable oil, a large portion of ethanol from 40 to 90% can be utilized by this method. This pioneering technique did not attract wide spread application since the availability of petroleum fuels eased off and there were no environmental constraints on the use of diesel oil in those days.
