Trial run of Delhi’s buses on Hydrogen-blended CNG (HCNG) launched
Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Technology; Environment
In news
The trial run of Delhi’s buses on Hydrogen-blended CNG (HCNG) was recently launched.
Ministry: Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
Key takeaways
HCNG is a hydrogen-enriched compressed natural gas (CNG).
In Delhi, instead of physically blending hydrogen with CNG, hydrogen spiked CNG will be produced using compact reforming process patented by Indian Oil Corporation.
H-CNG blends can be produced directly from CNG, bypassing the energy-intensive electrolysis process and high-pressure blending costs.
The flexible and robust process allows the production of H-CNG on-site, in less severe conditions, and under low pressure.
It provides a higher yield H-CNG mixture by up to 4% to 5% compared to CNG’s input quantity.
The cost of H-CNG production by the above process is about 22% cheaper than conventional physical blending.
Do you know?
The Supreme Court had suggested in 2019 to look at hydrogen-run vehicles as a solution for Delhi NCR’s poor air quality
An SC directive in July 2018 had led to Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) collaborating to put up this first semi-commercial plant.
Mixing hydrogen with CNG physically is a difficult proposition and that is why IOCL came up with the compact reforming process, which reforms CNG and there is no need for mixing.
