MD-15 could possibly be the future fuel for Indian Railways’ (IR) diesel locomotives.
IR’s technical advisor Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO), in collaboration with the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), has developed a special cost-effective fuel that would not only minimize IR’s dependency on diesel, but will also be emit fewer pollutants.
Officials with the RDSO, who conducted the testing, said, “The special fuel MD-15, which stands for Methanol Diesel-15, will save annual consumption of around 24 crores liters of diesel that amounts to Rs 2,280 crore.”
Currently, the IR consumes around 160 crores litres of diesel, annually.
The RDSO’s research and testing vertical entered into an agreement with IOCL seven months ago and started the work on MD-15. “We started working on this fuel under the Government of India’s methanol mission that aimed at cutting down IR’s dependency on diesel as a fuel. Although the new fuel is a blended diesel with 15 percent methanol, it is not as easy as it sounds, as methanol, which is a single-molecule fuel, cannot be added directly to the diesel. Hence, we carried out detailed research work and concluded to the point that to support the Methanol and Diesel blend, there was a need to add some other additives to the blend. We told IOCL about the requisite and the right composition of the fuel in order to make it compatible for the existing diesel locomotives,” said Anirudh Guatam, Principal Executive Director, Resource and Testing, RDSO.
“On our requirement, the IOCL developed the composition, adding 14% additives (developed indigenously by IOCL) along with 71% mineral diesel, 15% methanol,” added Gautam.
Gautam said that the blended composition was thoroughly tested by the experts on the latest 4,500 horsepower diesel locomotives. “It was found that the special fuel MD-15 was found highly efficient compared to diesel. While testing MD-15 fuel, we found the cylinder temperatures were lower at all notches, having a positive effect on the life of the engine components. The NOx emissions were significantly lower thus reducing the harmful pollutants, which causes smog and pollution,” he said.
“Overall MD15-fuelled engine has shown superior performance, emission and combustion characteristics than the mineral diesel fuelled engine and it is expected that the use of MD15 fuel will reduce the diesel fuel consumption by 15% and will result in annual savings of Rs 2,280 crore per year,’ reads the press release shared by RDSO.
Officials said that the two diesel locomotives of Abu Road Diesel shed have been nominated for the field trials. “After the trials, the final report will be sent to Railway Board, after which the board may take the decision to replace regular diesel with MD-15 as a fuel,” the officials said.
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