Ashok Leyland, the Hinduja Group flagship and India’s second largest commercial vehicle maker, has successfully developed a 6-cylinder, 6-litre 92 kW BS-4 engine for operation with Hythane, in association with Eden Energy, Australia.
Hythane is a blend of natural gas and hydrogen (usually 20% hydrogen by volume). Addition of Hydrogen (a renewable fuel), improves efficiency, while retaining the low emission characteristics of CNG.
Concurrently, a 4-cylinder 4-litre 63 KW engine is being developed for H-CNG blend in a joint R&D programme with MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) and Indian Oil Corporation.
Application of these engines to buses is at an advanced stage at Ashok Leyland. The Company is also in discussions with Government Agencies regarding making Hythane available for commercial use in the future.
Ashok Leyland pioneered the use of CNG fuel for mass transportation in the country by rolling out India’s first CNG bus in 1997 in Mumbai. Today, over 5,500 Ashok Leyland CNG buses ply on the roads of Delhi, Ahmedabad, Vijayawada and Mumbai as also in certain overseas markets. Another significant development by Ashok Leyland was India’s first MPFI (Multi-Point Fuel Injection) for high capacity CNG engine in 2008.
Source: India Infoline