In News: India has developed an indigenous technology to convert high ash Indian coal to methanol and established its first pilot plant in Hyderabad.
Will help the country move towards the adoption of clean technology
Will promote the use of methanol as a transportation fuel (blending with petrol), thus reducing crude oil imports.
Process and Challenge:
The broad process of converting coal into methanol consists of conversion of coal to synthesis (syngas) gas, syngas cleaning and conditioning, syngas to methanol conversion, and methanol purification.
Coal to methanol plants in most countries are operated with low ash coals. Handling of high ash and heat required to melt this high amount of ash is a challenge in the case of Indian coal, which generally has high ask content.
Currently, the pilot plant is producing methanol with purity of more than 99%. Scaling it up will help in optimum utilization of the country’s energy reserves and accelerate its journey towards self-reliance.
Methanol could be the most promising option for large-scale market penetration of a natural gas-based fuel for light-duty vehicles because of its low fuel cost and low additional cost relative to powering a vehicle with gasoline. Methanol will cut down India’s oil import bill by an estimated 20 per cent over the next few years.
