Scientists at the National Chemical Laboratory are working to expand a pilot plant for producing dimethyl ether (DME), which could serve as a domestic alternative to Liquefied Petroleum Gas amid supply disruptions linked to the ongoing tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran in West Asia, The Economic Times reported.
Researchers said DME can replace LPG without requiring changes to existing cooking equipment such as cylinders, regulators, hoses, gaskets or burners. They added that the fuel can also be used fully with specially designed stoves.
LPG, widely used as a cooking fuel in households, has seen a sharp rise in prices following disruptions in global supply chains.
DME is a synthetic fuel produced from methanol, which can be derived from dry biomass, coal or captured carbon dioxide. Scientists say its properties are similar to LPG, making it suitable for blending with LPG in different proportions. The Bureau of Indian Standards has already set standards for blending DME with LPG for domestic, commercial and industrial use.
According to Ashish Lele, director of the National Chemical Laboratory, replacing part of LPG with DME would not require major changes in the existing infrastructure used for cooking gas.
Scientists also said domestic production of DME from methanol could reduce India’s dependence on imported LPG and help save foreign exchange.
Thirumalaiswamy Raja, chief scientist in the Catalysis Division at NCL, said the country could use its coal reserves and dry biomass such as agricultural residues to produce methanol through gasification and convert it into DME.
He said this approach could help India move toward greater self-reliance in cooking and transport fuels.
Researchers noted that the lack of suitable catalysts had earlier slowed the development of this technology. According to Rajesh Date, director of Atrium Innovations, some countries including China and several European nations had not shared their catalyst technology with India.
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and the National Chemical Laboratory have now developed a patented process that uses an indigenous catalyst designed to convert methanol into DME efficiently.
The laboratory has also developed a burner prototype capable of operating on LPG, DME or a blend of both. The device has been tested at the LPG Equipment Research Centre in Bengaluru.
Lele said NCL, along with a processing engineering partner, is now preparing to scale up the technology to an industrial demonstration plant, which could pave the way for commercial production of DME in the future.
