Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday inaugurated the DME-fired Aditi Urja Sanch unit along with the DME-LPG blended fuel cylinders and opened them over over to the common people. The Union Minister also launched the CSIR-NCL (National Chemical Laboratory) canteen use on a trial basis at CSIR- NCL premises.
Vardhan, in his address via video-conferencing, said,
“The launch of this burner will also provide a significant boost to the ‘Make in India’ campaign as all the manufacturers of cylinders, gas stoves, regulators, and gas hose are domestic. This kind of activity may bridge the gap between demand and supply, and it can ensure energy security for the nation.”
Dimethyl Ether(DME) is an ultra-clean fuel that CSIR-NCL has developed. The nation’s first kind of DME plant with 20-24kg/day capacity. CSIR-NCL faced the issue that the conventional LPG burners are not suitable for DME combustion and thus they came up with an innovative setup- “ADITI URJA SANCH”.
The new burner is fully designed and fabricated by NCL for DME, DME-LPG
The combination of DME-LPG is also efficient as it safeguards the well-being of women and children. This is a clean cooking fuel that is economical and scalable also. Its efficiency trials and comparison with conventional burners have demonstrated improvement by 10-15% compared to the conventional burners. The newly designed stove can burn with up to 30 percent DME blended with LPG or 100 percent DME as fuel, the release said.
Dr. T. Raja led the research group at Catalysis and Inorganic Chemistry Division, CSIR-NCL Pune. In their research, they found catalysts with a higher yield and stability for the ether formation and less tendency to produce carbon by-product. The DME project is moving on fast track mode from the laboratory to the market to ultimately reach people under the methanol economy and green sustainable fuel policy of the country.
