State-run engineering firm BHEL has successfully demonstrated a facility to create methanol from high ash Indian coal. BHEL said "With four years of hard work BHEL successfully demonstrated a facility to create 0.25 TPD methanol from high ash Indian coal using a 1.2 TPD Fluidized bed gasifier. The methanol purity of the crude methanol produced is between 98 and 99.5 per cent.”

Methanol or Di Methyl Ether are creating a buzz as an alternative liquid fuel for transportation and to power ship engines. A low carbon, hydrogen carrier fuel – Methanol is on the path to meet the needs to generate clean power all over the world. It burns clean, it burns well and it is a complex derivative that is produced from high ash coal, agricultural residue, and natural gas. DME – a hydrated form of Methanol is nearly identical to diesel and could be used as alternative transportation fuel that is fuelled by exceptional burning characteristics and lower Green House Gas emission.

Globally, Methanol is derived from natural gas, which is a relatively uncomplicated process. But India doesn’t have many natural gas reserves, so, producing Methanol from imported natural gas lead to the outflow of foreign exchange and proves to be uneconomical due to inflation in the prices of natural gas. The next best alternative for India is to utilise Coal, which is in abundance with the country. However, the high percentage of Indian coal makes most internationally accessible technology and equipment exposed at our disposal inadequate to meet the demands.

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Strategic Research Institute

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