R&D Energy - Planning Com 11th Plan

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Report of the Working Group onR&D for the Energy Sector

for the formulation of

The Eleventh Five Year Plan

(2007-2012)

Submitted to

the Planning Commission

PSA/

December, 2006

Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India

Vigyan Bhaw an An nexe, Mau lana Azad Road, New Delhi-110 011


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C O N T E N T SChapter Title Page No.

Background vii

Preface ix

Section-I: Development and Production of New Materials 1

1.1 Introduction 3

1.2 National Consortium for Materials in Energy Systems 4

1.3 Vision of the Initiative 4

1.4 Mission 4

1.5 Approach 5

1.6 Conceptual Execution 5

1.7 Materials Development in Energy Sector 5

1.8 Strategy towards Code Approval of Ind igenously Developed Materials 9

1.9 Conclusion 10

1.10 Requirement of Funds 11

Section-II: R&D in Bio-Fuels 13

2.1 Introduction 15

2.2 Feed stock/ Raw Material (Cu ltivation, H arvesting and Prim ary Processing) 15

2.3 SVO / Biod iesel 18

2.4 Bio-ethanol 212.5 Next Generation Biofuels 22

2.6 Application / Use Sector 24

2.7 Biomass Gasification 25

2.8 Issues regard ing Cultivation of Superior Jatropha 27

2.9 Requirements of Funds 28

Section-III: Rural Energy R&D to Promote the Available Energy Technologies 29

3.1 Rural Energy Technologies 31

3.2 Basic Resource Availability with regard to Technology 31

Deployment & Use / Application3.3 Technical Constraints in Adoption and Use 32

3.4 Problems with Dissemination 33

3.5 Method of Technology Distribu tion 33

3.6 Monetizing the Linkage of Technology 33

3.7 Social Problems Associated with the Use of Technology 33

3.8 Association of Women & Gender Dimensioning 34


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3.9 Financial Constraints related to Technology 34

3.10 Policy and Institu tional Constraints 34

Section-IV: Combustion Research Initiative 35

4.1 Introduction 37

4.2 Objectives 38

4.3 Scope 38

4.4 State-of-the-art 38

4.5 Soot Measurement: Additional Research Areas 39

4.6 Management Structure 40

4.7 Project Implementation Plan 41

Section-V: Energy R&D in the Indian Railways 43

5.1 About Ind ian Railways & RDSO 45

5.2 Energy R&D at RDSO 45

5.3 Future Energy Action Plan for Ind ian Railways 495.4 Pilot Project Proposals 50

Section-VI: Hydrogen as a Source of Clean Energy 59

6.1 Introduction 61

6.2 Hydrogen Production 61

6.3 Hydrogen Storage 62

6.4 Hydrogen Transportation & Delivery 62

6.5 Hydrogen Utilization 63

6.6 The Ind ian Scenario 63

6.7 N ational H yd rogen Energy Board and National H yd rogen Energy Road Map 636.8 Fuel Cells 65

6.9 Some Directed Basic Research Areas 67

6.10 Areas for Research, Development and Demonstration 67

6.11 Recommendations on Some More R&D Topics 68

6.12 Requirements of Funds 68

Section-VII: Advanced Coal Technologies 69

7.1 Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) Demonstration Plant 71in the Cou ntry a Brief Report on th e S&T Work Don e to Establish the

First (~100 MWe) IGCC Demon stration Plant in th e Coun try.7.2 In-situ Gasification of Coal and Lignite 76

7.3 Coal to Oil Conversion 77

7.4 Coal Bed Methane 78

7.5 Carbon Capture and Storage (includ ing climate change issues) 79

Section-VIII: Ultra Super Critical Technologies 85

8.1 What is Critical about Supercritical? 87

8.2 Advanced Steels 87


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8.3 The Turbine Generator Set 88

8.4 The Boiler 88

8.5 Other Power Plant Cycle Components 88

8.6 Operational Issues 88

8.7 Possib le a reas o f R&D for the Development of Ult ra Super Critica l Technolog ies 89


Section-IX: Provenness of New Technologies Developed Indigenously 91

9.1 Introduction 93

9.2 Case Stud ies 95

9.3 Policy Recommendations 98

Section-X: R&D in The Power Sector 101

Section-XI: Renewable Energy R&D 105

11.1 Introduction 107

11.2 Potential of Renewable Energy Technologies 10711.3 Estimated Potential of Major Renew able Energy Sources in the Cou ntry 108

11.4 RD&D Objective 108

11.5 Priority areas of RD&D in Renewable Energy Technologies 108

11.6 Budgetary Estimates for 11th Plan 110

11.7 The RD & D Structure 110

11.8 Ind ian Renewable Energy Industry 111

11.9 Awareness Creation 112

11.10 Human Resource Development 113

11.11 Specialized Centres 113

11.12 Conclusion 113

Section-XII: Energy Storage Systems 115

12.1 Introduction 117

12.2 Applications Areas 117

12.3 Battery Systems 118

12.4 Ultracapacitors 120

12.5 Recycling Spent Batteries 121

12.6 Battery Safety 121

12.7 Battery Management 122

12.8 Conclusions 122

12.9 Requirement of funds 122

Section-XIII: Futuristic Energy Sources 123

13.1 Gas Hydrates 125

13.2 Oil Shale 126


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Section - XIV: Energy Efficiency 131

14.1 Research & Development in Energy Efficiency 133

14.2 Energy Efficient Buildings and Build ing Components 134

14.3 Energy Efficiency Appliances 135

14.4 Energy Efficient Technology for the SME Sector 13614.5 Budgetary Outlay for the XIth Plan 136

Section - XV: Technologically Important Crystals A Facility to Manufacture Polysilicon 137

for Production of Sing le Crystals of Si licon

Section - XVI: Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) A Viable Alternative 141

to Fluorescent Lighting

16.1 Background 143

16.2 LED Technology 143

16.3 Considerations in Use 146

16.4 LED Applications 147

16.5 The Indian Scenario 151


Section - XVII: Electri c Veh icl es (EVs) and Hybrid Electric Vehi cle s (HEVs) 153

Viable Alternate Propulsion Systems

17.1 Background 155

17.2 Need for a Focused Hybrid Electric Vehicle Programme 157

17.3 Proposal 158

17.4 Outcome 16017.5 Meeting Record 160

17.6 Hybrid Electric Vehicle Component Technologies 160


Annexures 163

Annexure-I (Mentioned in the Background) 165

Annexure-I A (Mentioned in the Background) 168

Annexure-II (Mentioned in the Background) 169

Annexure-III (Mentioned in the Background) 179

Annexure-IV (Mentioned in the Background) 188Annexure-V (Mentioned in the Preface) 196

Annexure-VI (Mentioned in the Preface) 203

Annexure-VII (Mentioned in the Section - I on Development and 204

Prod uction of New Materials)

Annexure-VIII (Mentioned in the Section-X on R&D in the Power Sector) 209

Annexure-IX (Mentioned in the Section-XI on Renewable Energy R&D) 214

Annexure-X (Mentioned in the Section-XI on Renewable Energy R&D) 226


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Background

In May, 2006, the Planning Commission had constituted a Working Group on R&D for the

Energy Sector for the formulat ion of the Eleventh Fiv e Year Plan (2007-2012), with Dr. R. Chidam baram,

Principa l Scientific Ad viser to the Governm ent of Ind ia, as its Chairman. The Office of the Principa l

Scientific Adv iser to the Govern men t of Ind ia served as the secretariat to the Working Grou p. A copy of

the order num ber M-11011/ 2/ 2006-EPU d ated the 9th of May, 2006, notifying the constitu tion of the

said Group , is available asAnnexure-I. The order gives the comp osition of the Group, as also its terms

of reference. The list of mem bers, wh o were co-opted with the ap proval of the Chairman, is available

as Annexure-I A.

2. The Working Group held a total of three meetings for finalizing its report. The minutes of those

meetings, held on the 14th of June, 2006, the 20th of July, 2006 and the 20th of Septem ber, 2006, are available

as Annexures- II, III and IV. All mem bers of the Working Group , including a few sp ecial invitees who

had been invited to attend the meetings, have contributed to the wr iting of the various sections of the

report. Their contribution has been duly acknowledg ed at the beginning of each section.

CHAIRMAN , WORKING GROUP

DATE: 29th DECEMBER, 2006

PLACE: NEW DELHI

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Preface

Research and developm ent in the energy sector has to be aimed at achieving energy security

wh ile ensur ing harmon y with the environm ent. To meet the ever increasing energy dem and in the

country in an environm ent friendly and sustainable man ner, one has to look for clean coal technologies,

safe nuclear an d innovative solar. How ever, one has to also recognize that th ere is no silver bu llet and

several parallel paths have to be pursued to fulfill the increasing demand for energy for continued

economic development.

2. In the Indian context, some of the steps one could consider for taking-up in the Eleventh Five

Year Plan a re the following :-

Intensification of exploration for all energy sou rces includ ing uranium , coal and petroleum ,

Improving resou rce recovery du ring extraction of all energy sources, particularly coal, oiland gas,

Developing meth ods for exploiting en ergy sources, cur rently considered un viable such

as d evelopment of in-situ g asification for recovery of coal buried deep in the earth ,

Conducting research to ensure that environmental regulations are based on Indian

conditions characterized by trop ical climate and high d ensity of pop ulation,

Increasing share of hyd ro, nuclear and r enew able sources in the energy mix,

Intensifying work on all aspects of fast breeder reactors including advanced fuels and

associated fu el cycle technologies,

Accelerating stud ies for early dep loyment of thorium technologies and fusion systems,

Looking for breakth rough technologies for exploiting renew able sources, particularly solar

wh ich has a very h igh potential in the country ,

Develop ing clean-coal technologies (Ultra-super critical technology , Integra ted Gasification

Combined Cycle, Atmospheric fluidized bed combustion, pressurized fluidized bed

combustion) suitable for Ind ian coal, wh ich is characterized by h igh ash content,

Bringing-in efficiency in the u se of non-commercial energy sources (such as an imal residu e,

bio-mass, urban and rural waste including agr icultural waste),

Strengthen ing pow er d elivery infrastructure so as to ensu re qu ality (in term s of voltage

and frequency), reliability (no black ou ts an d brow n outs), efficiency (low tran smission

and distribution losses) and provid e for large inter-regional tran sfer (to exploit generating

potential w herever it exists),

Continuing m easures to improve energy efficiency of indu stry and tr ansp ort,

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Developing mass transit systems in urban ar eas so as to reduce dep end ence on personal

transport,

Hyd rogen (prod uction, storage and end use) technologies as alternate energy carrier.

3. Mechanisms for funding research in energy technologies other than nuclear are sub-optimal.Recognizing that resear ch in energy technologies is very importan t for efficient exploitation of

indigenous energy resources, it is of utmost importance to set-up a Standing Oversight

Commit tee for R&D in the Energy Sector . This view was fully endorsed by all member s of the

Working Group du ring its meetings. It had also emerged d uring the meetings that such a

Committee could, most appropriately, be chaired by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the

Governm ent of Ind ia, with Secretaries (or their rep resentatives) of the following Ministries/

Departm ents, as members: -

i) Min istry of Pow er

ii) Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

iii) Department of Science and Technology

iv) Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas

v) Depar tment of Atomic Energy

vi) Min ist ry of Coal

vii) Department of Heavy Industries

The Office of the Principal Scientific Ad viser to the Govern men t of Ind ia could fun ction as the

Secretariat to the Comm ittee. The Oversight Comm ittee w ill constitute separate SteeringCommittees for looking after specific areas of energ y R&D. These Steering Com mittees will be

comprised of scientists having the required domain knowledge and experience in the given

area of energ y R&D.

4. The Working Group supported the creation of a National Energy Fund (NEF), the idea of

wh ich has already been m ooted in the recently prep ared r eport of the Plann ing Comm issions

Expert Com mittee on Integrated Energy Policy. There is a strong case for fund ing by the

governm ent both d irectly and through fiscal incentives. The latter accoun ts for the bulk of

governm ent sup port in the d eveloped countries. Fiscal incentives, how ever, have not resulted

in significant expen diture on R&D by the Indian ind ustry. An ann ual allocation should be

made by the governmen t for energy R&D. Individu als, academ ic & research institutions,

consulting firms, and private & p ublic sector enterprises could all compete for gran ts from th is

fund for iden tified and directed research.

5. Th e Workin g Grou p also felt th e n eed for Directed Basic Research to be promoted in the

Energy Sector. In its execution, and in the requiremen t of no other d eliverables than know ledge

generation, directed basic research is no different from conventional basic research. So the

University acad emics shou ld be comfortable with this kind of research. The selected a reas are

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determ ined in a na tional perspective, just like in technology foresight. Directed basic research

may be in an area where the knowledge generation would benefit Indian Society in the long

term, or it may be in a area w here the results of the research wou ld benefit Indian Ind ustry in

the long term . The concept of directed basic research is best explained in th e following d iagram:

** A note on spin-offs of nuclear energy R&D into other energy areas, as received from the Department

of Atomic Energy, is available asAnnexure-V.

6. The report has covered all areas of energy R&D (except atomic energy R&D) that are perceived

to be of relevance to the countrys energy mix during the next 5-6 years. An amount of

Rs. 5310.00 crores is projected as the requirement for addressing the energy R&D needs

brought-out in this report,over and above the plan budgets (for the eleventh five year plan

period) of the Minist ries and Departments dealing w it h R&D in t he energy sector, i.e. the

Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, the Ministry o f Pow er, the Minist ry of Petroleum &

Natural Gas, the Ministry of Coal and the Department of Atomic Energy . For examp le, the

amount of Rs. 1085.00 crores, projected by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (please

see Annexure-X) as its requ irement for sup por ting Research, Design & Developm ent on d ifferent

aspects of renewable energy technologies during the eleventh five year plan period, is not

includedin the said am oun t of Rs. 5310.00 crores.

7. Th e Oversight Com mittee mention ed in para 3 above will guid e and mon itor the utilization of

the said am oun t of Rs. 5310.00 crores dur ing the eleventh five year plan p eriod. That amou nt,

the break-up of which is given in theAnnexure-VI, will be disbursed through the Department

of Atomic Energy by creating a Board of Research in Energy Science and Techn ology (BREST),

operated on th e same lines as the Board of Research in Nu clear Sciences (BRNS). That am ount

will be used for supp orting inter-Institutional and inter-Ministerial/ inter-Departmental research

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in areas like energy-related ma terials, combu stion initiative, etc. mentioned in this rep ort and

for the setting-up of Centres of Excellence in Un iversities/ Na tional Laboratories/ Mission-

oriented Agen cies in the energy sector.

8. A notional figure of about 2% of the projected Rs. 5310.00 crores could be channelized through

the Office of the Principal Scientific Ad viser to the Govern ment of India for the imp lemen tationof projects such as those on Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle technology in th e eleventh

five year p lan.

CHAIRMAN , WORKING GROUP

DATE: 29th

DECEMBER, 2006

PLACE: NEW DELHI


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Section I

Authors:

i) Dr. Baldev Raj, Distinguished Scientist and D irector, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research,

Kalpakkam Special Invit ee.

ii) Shri S.K. Goyal, Head, R&D Centre and Group General Manager, Corporate R&D, Bharat Heavy Electricals

Limited, Hyde rabad Member.

Development and Production

of New Materials


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Office of the Principal Scientifc Adviser to the Government of India

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1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 The total installed electricity generation in India has grown more than hund red times since

ind epen dence in 1947 (from 1363 MWe in 1947 to abou t 1,40,000 MWe in 2005). To sustain the

projected GDP grow th rate, the energy p rod uction levels must be stepp ed u p to 1350 GWe by

2050. It is thus clear that, every sour ce of energy needs to be exploited w ith ad equate attentionto the comm ercial viability and environm ental aspects. The energy sources are comp limen tary

in contribution of pow er and mu st comp ete with respect to cost and su stainability of earth. A

recent study by DAE estimates approximate percentage contributions of various resources

towards electricity generation in the year 2050 to be 49% by coal, 3.8% oil, 11.8% gas, 8.3%

hyd ro, 2.4% non-conventional ren ewable an d 24.8% nu clear. Based on the above p rojections,

the an ticipated tonnage of special steels required for fossil-fired an d nu clear p ower plants till

2050 would be abou t 5-6 million ton es.

1.1.2 It is estimated that electricity investment from 2001-2030 wou ld be app roximately US$ 10 Trillion

(based on $ cost of 2000). This excludes fuel cost. Ind ias investm ent in electricity in th is per iod

is estimated to be approximately US$ 665 billion. It can be inferred that materials and

manu facturing w ould be a ma jor por tion of this investment. On a conservative side, one can

assume materials cost to be US$ 150 billion and manu facturing cost to be US$ 300 billion. The

manu facturing capabilities in the country for pow er equipm ent are high. How ever, it has to be

made internat ional ly compet i t ive and cost effect ive by inputs of model ing, v i r tual

manu facturing, surface engineering, testing and evaluation, etc. A proposal has been p repared,

after brainstorming session chaired by Dr. R. Chidam baram , Principal Scientific Advisor to

Governm ent of India on adv anced manu facturing of engineering materials. The proposal has

also been discussed with Dr. V. Krishnamurthy, Chairman, National Manufacturing

Comp etitiveness Council. This prop osal has been end orsed by Dr . V. Krishnam oorthy an d is

figuring in the XI th Plan proposals.

1.1.3 As on today, a large fraction of the annual requirement of special steels required by power

plant ind ustry is being m et by imports. It is likely that in futu re the pow er plant m aterials may

not be available at affordable cost from external sources. Therefore, there is a very strong

incentive to develop advan ced materials and dep loy them in new and existing power p lants to

imp rove the operating p erformance and reliability, availability, maintainability and operability.

Materials developm ent has rich trad itions and capabilities in the country. How ever, it is missing

links with respect to pilot scale melting, shaping and extensive characterization. This critical

gap h as to be abridged for India to have indigenou s capability in d evelopment of current an d

ad vanced materials for energy sector. After success on th e pilot plant scale, pu blic and privateorganizations should be in p osition to take this developm ent to the sup ply of actual tonnag e.

Synergy and consortia ap proaches have to be proposed an d ensured. Current p roposal addresses

R&D resources required to take Ind ias capability to a level where m aterials can be developed

confidently and can be handed over to the large tonnage producers for supplying materials

with confidence.

1.1.4 It is necessary that an integrated m aterials development programme for power generation is

initiated covering fossil-fired p ower, ad vanced steam turbine, gas turbine an d advan ced nu clear


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energy systems comp rising of nuclear fission (fast breed er reactors) and fusion. Materials for

renew able energy sector ar e needed for fuel cells, solar cells bio-energy, wind and ocean en ergy

app lications. Each sector of renewable energy requires a separate mater ials developm ent strategy

and implementation. I believe this is being addressed in a separate proposal. However, this

aspect should not be m issed in th e XIth Plan period for taking-up the comp rehensive materials

developm ent and sup ply strategy for energy security in the coun try with an aim to be a global

leader, in this area.

1.1.5 We should collaborate comprehensively with other initiatives in Europe, Japan and USA and

establish coherence to get success in this impor tant ar ea of national importance.

1.2 National Consortium for Materials in Energy Systems

1.2.1 The aim is to establish world class Consortium to achieve self-reliance, by the country, in the

prod uction of materials required by th e energy sector and make India as a Global Lead er for

the supply of manufactured components with advanced materials at lower cost. Meaningful

work in the development of materials needs facilities and man pow er, which are totally ded icated.

BHEL R&D and IGCAR have facilities that are ba rely enough to meet th eir own requirem ents.

However, these two organizations can serve as ideal nodal agencies for setting-up of the

Consortium. Some of the pu blic sector und ertakings like MIDHAN I need to be strengthened

for developing ma terials at laboratory and pilot plant scale. At present MIDHAN I have melting

facilities to prod uce ingots of more than 1000 Kg. The develop men t of new alloys with optim um

chemical comp osition calls for produ ction of large n um ber of laboratory h eats of usu ally 50-

100 Kg and subsequen t prod uction of pilot plant scale melts of 500 Kg. Furth erm ore, MIDHAN I

needs n ecessary equipmen t for cold and hot w orking the pilot plant scale melts. A broad ou tline

of the facilities and man p ower r equired are given inAnnexure VII.

1.3 Vision of the Initiative

1.3.1 To set up a World Class Consortium for Energy Materials with select facilities for developm ent

of advanced m aterials for pow er generation and m ake India a Global leader for the manu facture

and export of power plant equ ipment. The vision also envisages strengthening the infrastructure

of comp etent indu stries and raising th e level of expertise in the consortium engaged in Energy

Materials Developm ent. A coherent synergism w ould be built by netw orking the facilities and

expertise available in indu stry, research and academic institutions for achieving the scientific

breakthrou ghs in the developm ent of energy materials.

1.4 Mission

i) To develop advanced materials at lower cost and m ake India a Global Leader in the export

of manufactured comp onents required by pow er sector

ii) To provide sound scientific and technological base for the development of advanced

materials that will permit boiler operation of steam tem peratu res up to 760 oC

iii) Work with alloy developers, fabricators, equipment vendors and p ower generation plants

to develop cost targets for the commercial dep loyment of alloys and processes developed


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iv) To enable domestic boiler, steam generator and turbine manufacturers to globally compete

for the construction and installation of high efficiency coal fired p ower plants an d combined

cycle plants

v) To lay the ground work for the development of Indian Code for the approval of newly

developed materials

1.5 Approach

1.5.1 In order to meet the above mission, a two-layer approach would be followed. Corporate R&D,

BHEL, Hyderabad and IGCAR, Kalpakkam would act as nodal agencies based on their own

inherent strengths in basic and app lied research in materials development an d characterization

of steels and superalloys. Coherent synergism will be brought in through networking with

various other units of BHEL, DAE, DMRL, MIDHANI, CSIR, educational institutions and

various other Public and Private Sector ind ustries in the second layer. The synergism betw een

these tw o layers is expected to m ake this initiative very vibrant an d prod uctive. The facilities

available in rep uted private indu stries wou ld also be utilized.

1.6 Conceptual Execution

i) In nov ativ e Alloy Design

ii) Melting and Processing of Clean Steels and Superalloys

iii) Establishment of Innovative Heat Treatment Schedu les

iv) Characterization of Microstructure using Advanced Techniques

v) Evaluation of Tensile, Creep, LCF, Creep-Fatigue Interaction and Fracture Toughness of

New Steels

vi) Mathematical Modeling of Creep and Fatigue Properties and Extrapolation

vii) Evaluation of Suitable Welding Technologies for Advanced Ferritic Steels

viii) Development of Comp ositions to Resist Type IV Cracking in H AZ of Weldments

ix) Development of Non-Destructive Testing as a Tool for on-line Correction of Melts

1.7 Materials Development in Energy Sector

1.7.1 The traditional coal-fired p ower plants are marked with emissions of environmentally damaging

gases such as CO 2, NO x and SOx at alarm ingly high levels. Ad opt ion of ultra su percritical (USC)

pow er plants with increased steam temperatu res and p ressures significantly improves efficiency,

redu cing fuel consum ption and environm ental emissions by a comm ensurate degree. Increase

of steam parameters from around 180 bar and 540o C-560oC to u ltra sup ercritical condition of

300 bar an d 600oC have led to efficiency increases from arou nd 40% in 1980 to 43-47% in 2006.

A further en hancement of therm al efficiency may be obtained by combining an ad vanced steam

cycle plan t with a gas turbine; in th is way efficiencies of over 60% are p ossible.


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1.7.2 The major limiting factor on the ability to raise temp eratures and p ressures is the availability of

materials with adequate creep properties. In order to minimize investment costs, which also

influence the effective cost of electricity generation, the greatest possible use must be made of

Ferritic-Martensitic steels for all major comp onents in both boiler and steam turbine. Specifically

steels of the 9-12%Cr class are required with long-term creep strength and oxidation resistance

in steam, along with ease of fabrication for large forgings, castings and pip e sections. At present,

national and international projects aiming at the development of high-Cr martensitic steels

capable of steam conditions up to 650oC are und er progress in Japan , Europ e and USA.

1.7.3 The modified 9Cr1Mo steel, which is being widely used in fossil fired power plants, app ears to

have reached its full potential. The up per steam temp erature limit is not more than 600oC and

the w eldments of this steel exhibit lower d uctility and creep-fatigue cracking in the H eat Affected

Zone (HAZ) thu s indicating th e impor tance of furth er research work on ferritic steel weldm ents

and developm ent of materials that resist Type-IV cracking in the H AZ.

1.7.4 In India, electric power generation by coal-fired u ltra supercritical power plants becomes

importan t to meet the needs of growing p opu lation and economy. Energy generation combined

with low carbon dioxide emissions is importan t to protect global environm ent in the 21st century.

Although increased thermal efficiency brings considerable benefits with regard to the

conservation of fossil fuels and redu ction of em issions, the plant compon ents are subjected to

more arduous operating conditions. Materials properties define the limits on achievable

temp eratures and pr essures and efficiency imp rovemen ts can be achieved by d evelopmen t of

better heat resistant materials and un derstan ding their performan ce un der relevant creep and

therm o-mechanical fatigue loads, high temp erature corrosion d ue to flue gases and steam-side

oxidation. Efforts are on in Europ e, Japan and USA to d evelop a comp etitive, innov ative and

high-efficient coal-fired technology w ith steam temp eratur e beyon d 700C. N ickel-based

sup eralloys are foreseen for the high-tempera ture sections of boiler piping and turbine as they

seem w ell adapted for the temp erature range 700-800C. Sup eralloys are being d eveloped for

thin-walled super and reheater tubes, thick-walled outlet head ers and steam piping, and castings

and forgings for turbines. Various alloys used for advanced steam turbine components are

given in Table 1 (please see Annexure-VII).

1.7.5 In combined cycle plants, gas turbines feature as key components of the most efficient forms of

ad vanced pow er genera tion technology available. The h igh versatility and flexibility enables

gas turbines to be used as a means of generating power using operational cycles such as

conventional simp le cycle, combined cycle and combined heat and pow er generation systems.

A range of fuels can be used including natural gas, synthetic gas, bio-mass liquid fuels. Airblown gasification (ABGC) offers the potential for cleaner coal technology that benefits from

increases in gas tu rbine efficiency and sup er critical steam cycle development to p rod uce lower

emissions. The p rincipal innovation, w hich und erlies the d evelopment of combined cycle plant

is the replacement of iron-based alloys by nickel-based alloys for the highest temperature

components. These alloys are already u sed in the aerospace and gas turbine indu stries. However

mu ch larger components are requ ired for boilers and steam tu rbines than are currently prod uced

and there are significant technical challenges to be met to achieve the requ ired p roperties und er


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significantly different conditions of environment, stress and temperature. Therefore

dem onstration of manu facturing cap ability and ma terials characteristics are required . Various

advanced materials proposed for land based gas turbine components are included in Table.2

(please see Annexure-VII).

1.7.6 A range of comp eting advanced coal fired gasification combined cycle system have been

developed in the USA, Japan an d Europe. The use of such combined cycle system to generate

electricity from coal offers many advantages over conventional coal fired power generation

system, including increased efficiency of p ower generation and lower environm ental emissions

(specifically CO2, SO

X, NO

xand par ticulates). As with the m ore conventional power generation

technologies, the influence of material issues on the development of these processes can be

considerab le, as it is necessary tha t comp onents in these processes have ad equate lifetime in

their opera tional environmen ts. Some of the m aterials used for gasification systems a re given

in Table.3 (please see Annexure-VII).

1.7.7 Advanced nuclear power systems (Fast Breeder Reactors and Fusion Reactors) are beingdesigned w ith the potential to make significant contributions toward s futu re energy demand s

in an environm entally acceptable m ann er. The economic efficiency and reliability of nu clear

energy in India has been d emon strated by the reactors operating tod ay. Fast Breeder Reactors

(FBRs) are th e inevitable source of energy in the n ext fifty years. The m aterials inside the reactor

core have to withstand intense neutron irrad iation and tem peratu res upto 650o C. These hostile

environm ents introd uce materials problems un ique to fast reactors, like void swelling, creep

and embrittlement w hich determ ine the p ermissible life of core comp onents. Since fuel cycle

cost is strongly linked with bu rn-up of nuclear fuel, developm ent of core materials resistant to

void sw elling and irradiation embr ittlement is very imp ortant an d a challenging task. While

most of th e core and structura l materials used in the Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) wereimported, all the materials required for Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (Alloy D9 for core

components, 316L(N) and 304L(N) for structural materials, Mod.9Cr1Mo for steam generator

ma terials) have been developed within the coun try as a long-term strategy. IGCAR has played

a leading role in the collaborative efforts carried out w ith MIDHAN I, SAIL and NFC.

1.7.8 Development of imp roved versions of alloy D9 (D9I) for fuel pins is an essential pre-requisite

for imp roved fuel burn-up . We need to d evelop simu ltaneously special grades of void sw elling

resistant ferritic-martensitic steels with h igh creep strength and low d uctile-brittle transition

temp erature before and a fter irrad iation to realize 200,000 MWd/ t target bu rn-up of FBR fuel.

This would result in significant economy in fuel cycle cost of FBRs and make them competitive

and more environment-friendly. In advanced FBR concepts, oxide dispersion strengthened

ferritic steels (ODS alloys) are contemplated for use upto 650oC as p ossible material for fuel

cladding. The development of these alloys in India requires establishment of facilities for

production of pre-alloyed powders, high energy attrition mills for mechanical alloying, hot

iso-static pressing and powder extrusion facilities. This is an area, which should be seeing

enth usiastic co-operat ion betw een IGCAR, BHEL, DMRL, ARCI, IITs, NFC, VSSC, and several

other p rivate sector indu stries.


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1.7.9 Fusion energy represents a promising alternative to fossil fuels and nuclear fission for energy

production. It offers the potential of numerous attractive features as a sustainable, broadly

available, large-scale energy source, including no emissions of green house gasses, and

no-long lived radioactive waste. Conceptual Tokomak fusion reactor designs are under

consideration and curren tly an international collaboration is in progress with the aim of building

the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) as the next step forward in

developing this pow er source. India has recently joined th e ITER as one of the seven full partn ers,

the others being China, European Union, Japan , Korea, Russia an d USA. India w ill be testing

its own blanket mod ule in ITER and requires the developm ent of radiation resistant and low

activation m aterials. The challenging cond itions of op erating tem peratu res u p to 1200C for

the d iverter and ~500C for the first wall, with the n eed to minimize sputtering an d r adiation

damag e are countered by m ulti-material solutions involving a plasma-facing armour layer on

low activation ferritic steels. Dimensional stability associated w ith high void swelling un der

irradiation is a key issue, and modified 8-9% Cr ferritic-martensitic steels with W, V and Ta

add itions are em erging as the first choice. Ferritic steels show an up per op erational temp erature

limit due to loss of creep strength above 500-550C. Consideration is therefore being given to

the development of ODS Ferritic-Martensitic steels utilizing the low activation matrix

compositions. The add itional creep strengthen ing is derived by nan oparticles of Y2O

3and TiO

2;

this ap proach essentially mirrors th at taken for Ferritic steel FBR core componen ts.

1.7.10 It may be noted that the composition of Mod.9Cr1Mo and its derivatives and nitrogen added

stainless steels are being regu larly mod ified for high tem peratu re ap plications. Produ ction of

high qu ality steels necessitates use of special steel making p rocesses like Vacuu m Arc Melting,

Vacuum Induction Melting, and Electro Slag Refining etc. The new initiatives in materials

developm ent for fossil-fired, steam and gas tu rbines, and fission an d fusion reactors calls for a

three tier ap proach com pr ising of laborato ry (1000 Kg) of the materials in the required dimensions and product forms. The

laboratory and pilot scale development of materials in Ind ia are currently hind ered by lack of

melting and characterization facilities. No concerted efforts have been initiated to develop

ad vanced ferritic steels and sup eralloys required by energy sector. Like many other countr ies,

India has to take initiative in starting a programme on the development of advanced ferritic

steels and sup eralloys. The ad vanced Ferritic steels are also find ing w ide ran ge of app lications

both in fission and fusion nuclear program mes.

1.7.11 The current status of India in attempting to manufacture these advanced materials has been

very limited. In spite of several challenges in the d evelopment of high quality steels and w elding

electrodes, IGCAR, Kalpakkam has achieved a remarkable progress in the indigenousprodu ction of Modified 9Cr1Mo steel tubes of 24 meters length with very close tolerances for

Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor Steam Generator ap plications. Plates have been p rod uced in

large dimensions required specially for the m anu facture of large compon ents in collaboration

with SAIL, steam g enerator tu bes in collaboration w ith MIDHANI and NFC and forgings in

collaboration with MIDHAN I. Forgings of Mod. 9Cr1Mo have also been p rodu ced by BHEL,

Hyderabad , in co-operation w ith a private indu stry. These are the only instances where Modified

9Cr1Mo has been p rodu ced in Ind ia. A few castings an d forgings of E911 and G911 grad e, on


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experimental basis have been produ ced by Central Found ry an d Forged Plant (CFFP) of BHEL.

A large number of welding electrodes with specifications better than the international

benchmarks and at cost comp etent rate have been d eveloped by IGCAR, in close collaboration

with MIDHANI and private indu stries.

1.7.12 Some of the international research programm es undertaken in the last 2 to 3 decades alongwith the time an d expend iture involved are given in Table - 4 (please see Annexure-VII). It can

be seen that the time and expen diture involved in the developm ent of new m aterials up to the

utilization stage is quite large and may be of the order of one or two decades in time and

millions to billions of dollars in term s of costs. Initiatives mu st be taken in Ind ia to indigen ize

and modify the existing grades and develop innovative materials to meet the large national

needs and emerge as a Global Leader in the supp ly of manu factured comp onents by the end of

decad e based on Ind ian m aterials. Large facilities for evaluating long term prop erties, such as

Creep, Fatigue, Corrosion, etc should be set up .

1.8. Strategy Towards Code Approval of Indigenously D eveloped Materials

1.8.1 Indias requirement of steels for power sector is being met mainly by importing either at finished

prod uct stage or intermediate/ starting material stage. Integrated materials program me should

be d irected to achieve the following objectives:

i) Min imize th e steel imp or ts

ii) Development of Indigenous capabilities for pilot scale melting

iii) Development of advanced steel grades and their qualification

iv) Establishing India as World-class steel producer for exports

1.8.2 Road map to achieve the above objectives are summarized below:

(a) Indigenous Production and Exports

i) Steel production units in the country should produ ce Indias major demands without any

import at either primary (ingot) or secondary stage (intermediate hollow bar for tubes

prod uction) or finished p rod uct. Next stage should be d irected to capture partially world

market by exporting produces at competitive price. This is specifically for steels being in

use over the last few d ecades and included in the design codes. One of the most d emand ing

tasks for the validation of high temperature steels for use in power plants is the

developm ent of a comp rehensive database of long-term creep test results. To enter world

market, it will be obligatory to generate m aterials creep rup ture d ata throu gh testing of

number of heats over the temperature range of interest with rupture times of at least

10,000 hou rs to establish allowable stresses. The creep ru ptu re d ata of at least 30,000 hou rs

is needed to m ake a valid extrapolation for d esign life of 105 h or more an d d emon strate

that the generated allowable stresses meet the m inimum requirem ents of internationally

accepted design codes. In fact, the products should demonstrate superior properties

compared to the minimum or average requirements of the design codes. Technical


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bulletins/ booklets should be brou ght out like any foreign reputed steel prod ucer to bring

out the production range, fabrication and welding procedures.

ii) To enter the worlds market with relative ease, it is pru dent that Indian steel prod ucers

create joint ventures/ collaboration w ith repu ted intern ational steel prod ucers. Major steel

users in the country shou ld also introduce contractual agreements to enhan ce use of Ind ianprod uced steels.

(b) Indigenous Development of Advanced Steels

i) Inspite of Indias knowledge base not inferior to advanced nations, Indias steel industry

and materials community have not been able to introduce any steel grade. Enormous

potential exists to introd uce new grad es of steels to result in economic pow er produ ction

and less polluting environment by raising plant parameters to result in higher cycle

efficiency. The integrated m aterials developm ent programm e should be directed toward s

development of materials with mechanical properties set in comparison to existing or

un der d evelopmen t steel grad es. For examp le, Cr-Mo steel developm ent programm e for

ad vanced su per-critical boilers can be based on the r esulting design allowable stress at

least equal to creep resistant austenitic stainless steel grade like 316.

ii) Development of a new creep resistant material for fossil power sector will demand

generation of tensile, creep strain an d stress to ru ptu re d ata. Add itionally, corrosion d ata,

therm al ageing effects, weldability and creep d ata on w eldmen ts needs to be generated.

One sh ould direct R&D for inclusion of a m aterial initially in ASME code case and then as

a codified material in ASME code and IBR. Creep data generation would be preferred

upto one-third of design life (33,000 h) with most of data in the range of 1000-10000 h.

National consortium of steel produ cers and R&D institutions should be formed to generatethe necessary data for inclusion in the design codes. It will take at least 5 years high

temp erature data for a m aterial to be considered for inclusion in the code. The history of

development of modified 9Cr-1Mo (Grad e 91) is well known . With an objective of selection

of materials for liquid m etal fast reactors, Gr.91 was d eveloped m ainly throu gh testing in

USA and got includ ed in the ASME code after nearly 8 years. Introdu cing a n ew grad e for

use in pow er boiler usu ally takes a long time.

iii) By generating extensive creep d ata up to 10, 000 hours at various laboratories in the country

a provisional data sheet for Indian materials could be established with extended time

extrapolations. On acquiring d ata of 30,000 hour s, the extrapolations can be verified an d

validated to obtain creep d ata u pto 1,00,000 hours.

1.9 Conclusion

1.9.1 India has credible expertise in materials science and engineering. The expertise in steel making

for manufacturing components is also of high standard. Academic and research aspects of

ma terials such as steels and su peralloys for energy systems are d istributed . The expertise in

non-metallic materials such as elastomers, wh ich are v ital for energy system s (fossil and nu clear)


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is lacking bu t seeds of excellence exist. Mater ials for ren ewable energy system and fuel cells are

not considered in this prop osal. We were informed that it is being add ressed separately. This

prop osal add resses the issue of strengthen ing of facilities for making steels and sup eralloys.

Setting-up of facilities for non -metallic is be identified. The prop osal recommen ds mechanisms

to achieve success in d evelopmen t of existing ma terials for energy systems and their utilization

by the utilities. Consortium and netw orking approach has been successful par ticularly in Europe

wh ich h as emerged as leaders. We have recomm ended consortium and networking approach,

focused international collaborations, being a p art of the international da tabases, etc. to enhan ce

the p ace of our progress to meet the objectives. There is a good confidence that w e can sup ply

a large demand of materials for fossil and nuclear energy systems indigenously on a cost

competitive and quality basis. The demand for India is so large that if we are successful in

meeting the dem and s for our energy need s, we have the p ossibility of emerging as w orld leaders

with sup port of business strategies and policy d ecisions.

1.9.2 The energy systems, are rapidly evolving to meet high thermal efficiency and less environmental

burden s. Thus, there is an urgent need for designing and d eveloping advan ced materials andmanu facturing technologies. Plan of work an d strategy is outlined in this proposal. A proposal

on Advanced Manufacturing to enable making of components for current and future energy

systems at interna tionally comp etitive levels is comp lementary to this prop osal and is being

proposed in the Working Group on Cross Disciplinary Technologies (eleventh plan period)

un der the Steering Com mittee on Science and Technology.

1.9.3 There are limited and incomplete facilities for special alloy steel prod uction [like the Mishra

Dhatu Nigam Limited (MIDHANI), Hyderabad] and for steel forgings [like the Heavy

Engineering Corporation Limited (HEC), Ranchi]. To fill important futu re (and present) gap s

in these areas for the energy sector as well as for strategic systems, it is necessary to make

substantial investments in such facilities. In the case of the HEC, Ranchi, the transfer of its

forging d ivision to a pu blic sector under taking like the Bharat H eavy Electricals Limited (BHEL)

may also be considered. It is recomm end ed that an indicative bud get of Rs. 200.00 crores may

be provid ed for these. The exact roadmap for this may be d ecided after a brainstorming session,

to w hich, inter alia, the Departm ent of Atomic Energy, the BHEL, the MIDHANI an d the Larsen

and Toubro Limited may be invited.

1.9.4 There is also an emergent need to create facilities for the high temperature testing of mechanical

properties of materials (particularly creep an d fatigue) w hich are, currently, none-existent in

the country.

1.10 Requirement of Funds

An amount of Rs. 400.00 crores is projected as the requirement of funds for the creation of

facilities mentioned in the Annexure-VIIand those mentioned in para 1.9.3 above.


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Section II

R&D in Biofuels

Authors:

i) Dr. Anand Patwardhan, Executive Director, Technology Information, Forecasting & Assessment Council,

New D elhi Member.

ii) Shri R.P. Verma, Executive D irector (R&D), Indian Oi l Corporation Limited, R&D Centre, Faridabad

Member.

iii) Dr. Leena Srivastava, Executive D irector, The Energy and Resources Institute, New De lhi Member.

iv) Shri M.C. Nebhnani, Head, R&D Centre and General Manager, National Thermal Power Corporation

Limited, Noida Member.

v) Shri A.K. Goel, Director (R&D), Petroleum Conservation Research Association, New Delhi Special Invit ee

Vetted by : Dr. Pushpito Ghosh, Director, Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute, Bhavnagar,

Gujarat.


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2.1 Introduction

2.1.1 Among the various options of Biofuels, the following have huge potential for Ind ia as energy

sources and can fulfill different energy needs for the transportation as well as stationary

app lications like pow er generation for the urban and rural sectors:

SVO / Biodiesel

Ethanol

Biogas / Syn-gas

Next generation biofuels like bio-oil, bio-ethanol, Fischer-Tropsch liquid, b io-dimethyl

ether (DME), bio -hydrogen e tc.

2.1.2 A massive time bound strategy is needed for research and d evelopment at every stage i.e.

prod uction, processing / conversion and ap plication / use of biofuels to make them a

commercially attractive and w holesome energy option for the country.

2.1.3 Present challenges for R&D in biofuel sector lie mainly in judicious plantations of energy

crops and establishing the facilities for conversion into biofuels of appropriate specification.

Adequate d ata also needs to be genera ted th at establish conclusively the tangible gains realizable

in the transportation and power generation sector. While supporting the implementation of

projects for curr ently available biofuels, it will be necessary to p romote the tran sition tow ard s

next generation biofuels (from ligno-cellulosic biomass), wh ich go beyond utility as therm al

energy source and can be produced from a wider range of biomass feedstock in an energy

efficient way an d a t a redu ced cost. Co-produ ction of fuel and by-prod ucts in integrated bio-

refineries will improve the overall economy and competitiveness of biofuels and therefore

coordination w ith potential user indu stries of the by-produ cts is desirable. The u nits that w ould

produce biofuels (such as biodiesel) would need to be modular in the sense that they would

need to be co-located with the p lantations (i.e. the plantations would need to be spread w ithin

a radius of 7-8 km of the units). This modular approach would bring obvious advantages of

redu ced cost of transp ortation and hand ling of the feedstock (for e.g. Jatroph a). It w ould also

be imp ortant to set-up testing labs in d ifferent locations of the country for testing an d certifying

the qu ality of biofuels produ ced.

2.1.4 For consistent sup ply of quality biomass feedstock, research on imp roving crop yields using

ad vanced technologies shou ld be taken-up carefully. While dev eloping innovative technologies

and processes, apar t from economic factors, other issues such as environm ental impact both

positive such as green hou se gas mitigation an d negative such as p otential threat to biodiversityfrom m onoculture-energy balance keeping total perspective in view includ ing aspects such as

energy requ ired for prod ucing fertilizers and pesticides used in the cultivation of energy crops,

and the potential competition of food prod uction will have to be taken into accoun t.

2.2 Feedstock/ Raw Material (Cultivation, Harvesting and Primary Processing)

2.2.1 Biodiesel can be produced by planting Tree Borne Oilseed crops (TBOs) and shru bs such as

Jatroph a, Pongamia, Mahu a etc on the degrad ed land s classified as w astelands. Ind ia has large


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nu mber of species yielding non-edible oils likeJatropha curcas (Ratanjot) Pongamia pinnata/glabra

(Karanj),Hevea braziliensis (Rubber)Madhuca indica/longifolia (Mahua), Calophyllum inophyllum

(Undi), Salvadora persica/oleoides (Pilu), etc. The Jatropha oil offers certain advantages in

processing into biodiesel from the perspective of fatty acid composition and the low

phospholipid content.

2.2.2 Oil seeds available from other trees, which can yield suitable grade oil on economical scale, can

also be tried in the initial stages to run pilot R & D projects. Considering various factors, physico-

chemical characteristics like oil yield, sustenance in different type of wastelands including

moderately saline soils, fruiting, FFA content etc. Jatropha (Ratanjot) and Pongamia (Karanj)

places good options for plantations although little is known at this stage regarding the

performance of Pongamia-based biod iesel.

2.2.3 Enhancement of the oil yield from better plant varieties, improved oil seed species and fast-

growing tree crops which are capable of delivering fruits at short gestation periods for the

enhan ced prod uction of biodiesel than th e contemp orary is needed .

2.2.4 Fast growing seaweeds and microalgae as a source of biogas besides the conventional organic

matter d eployed for such pu rposes.

2.2.5. R&D Areas / Topics:

A) Medium / Long Term

i) Improved cultivation and agricultural practices for the enhancement of seed yield and oil

content in Tree Borne Oilseed va rieties through screening of germplasm / genetic

engineering and tissue culture etc for cultivation u nd er d ifferent agro-climatic conditions.

Work on cultivation aspects ofJatropha curcas was initiated in the mid-nineties byVinayak Rao Patil (in N asik, Maharashtra), CSMCRI, Bhavnagar (in Behrampur, Orissa)

and others. Since then a great deal of information has been obtained on the practices

that will need to be followed to ensure productivity of such plantations. Plantations

have now been established by CSMCRI on wasteland in two different agro climatic

zones. These were raised from seeds as w ell as cuttings o f selected plants. Significant

diff erences in grow th, flowering, male / female ratio, seed yield , seed to kernel ratio,

oil content and 12C/13C ratio w ere observed indicating the possib ility of improving the

species for seed yield, oil content and tolerance to environmental stresses. Useful

learning was also obtained on disease outbreak and means of dealing with the same.

Under the CSIR NMITLI programme, a large number of provenances have beencollected and the best selections are being made keeping both seed yie ld and oil content

in mind. An important recent achievement is the success in tissue cul ture of Jatropha

from shoot tip and successful transplantation of such plants in the field. However,

much remains to be done to raise the productivity of the tissue culture protocol. Yet

another area of research is plant breeding to improve further the traits of plants.

ii) Development of crop varieties with more sugar or starch content and adap table to diverse

agro-clima tic cond itions for bioethan ol produ ction.


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In view of the ongoing debate regarding energy inp ut vs. energy outpu t from bioethanol,

there is a need to u tilize agricultural practices that imp rove the ou tpu t to inpu t ratio. This

would include more effective use of bio-fertilizers such as the patented Kappaphycus

seaweed sap that has r aised sugar p rodu ctivity by as mu ch as 40% in field trials cond ucted

by Renuka Sugar Mills.

iii) With the introdu ction of fast growing seaweeds in Indian w aters, especially the Kappaphycus

alvarezii seaweed, there is an opportunity to look beyond land-based plants for energy.

The produ ction of biogas from dr ifted seaweed s was worked on many years back and it

is feasible to look at biogas as a co-prod uct along w ith seaweed liquid fertilizer. It wou ld

be desirable to set-up a pilot project to produce five cylinders of biogas per day from

seaweed akin to the LPG cylind ers. This, in turn , will call for dep loyment of associated

technologies such as scrubbing of carbon dioxide, compression of the gas, etc. There is

also great potential to utilize smoke stack emission to raise the biomass prod uction rate.

There is great advan tage in mov ing to the sea for biofuel since it does n ot compete w ith

scarce land resources, requires no fertilizer nor an y w ater for irrigation.

B) Technology development/demonstration/commercialization projects for Short Term:

i) Improvement in irrigation management techniques / schedules, spacing, fertilizer doses,

pru ning, intercropping w ith suitable crops etc. und er d ifferent agro-clima tic conditions.

The studies conducted in the field have revealed the critical importance of appropriate

agronomic practices (pit depth; spacing; fertilizer needs, irrigation needs, etc.) in

addition to practices such as pruning to increase the number of branches and promote

bushiness of theJatropha plant. Promising results have been obtained by application

of deoil ed Jatropha cake in the Jatropha plantation itsel f. To ensure some income from

the land in the ini tial phase itself, inter-cropping has been successful ly carried out in

Orissa w ith pu lses such as g reen gram, black gram and Bengal gram. Another aspect in

the context of large-scale cultivation is the development of appropriate harvesting

techniques such as the v ibrator.

ii) Identification and control of pest and diseases.

During field experiments, rare occurrence of diseases (root rot fungal disease; white

patch due to leaf minor insects) has been observed which needs to be promptly managed,

for which a database of e ffective controls is essential.

iii) Implementation of technology development projects for p rimary p rocessing like efficientoil extraction, filtration, degu mm ing, drying etc. Already the k now how for processing

vegetable oil into EN14214 grad e biodiesel, integrated w ith by-produ ct recovery, has been

developed and even transferred to industry.

iv) Plantation of energy crops and development of cluster based m odel for collection of seeds,

farm man agemen t, storage, decortication, extraction of oil from oilseeds using existing oil

expellers. Logistics of seed storage n eed to be work ed ou t to m inimize oil degradation on


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storage. Use of stabilizers to p revent d egrad ation of oil has also to be looked into. Another

aspect to look at is the utilization of capsule shell as a source of energy. It has been

established to hav e similar calorific value to that of coal and given that it comprises 40%

of total capsule weight, there is considerable scope to utilize it if it can be compacted in

the form of briquettes.

v) The deployment / plantation for appropriate type of biomass / petro-crop d epending

up on var ied clima tic conditions.

vi) Acid oil (used vegetable oil) can also used as one of the raw m aterials for the produ ction

of biodiesel. Currently many biodiesel manufacturers are using it as raw material for

biodiesel prod uction.

2.2.6 Processing / Refining / Conversion Technologies

A) The presently available conversion technologies are as follows:

2.3 SVO / Biodiesel:

2.3.1 Biodiesel is produced by transesterifying oils and fats and is chemically known as fatty acid

meth yl ester. There are three basic routes to biodiesel produ ction from oils and fats:

Base catalyzed transesterification of the oil with methanol.

Enzyme-catalyzed transesterification

Direct acid catalyzed esterification of the oil with methanol.

Conversion of the oil to fatty acids, an d then to alkyl esters with acid catalysis.

2.3.2 While enzymatic transesterification is expensive and m ore in the research phase, the other

three m ethods can be used in batch or in continuou s mod e for processing of SVO into biodiesel.

World over th e base-catalysed m ethod is preferred w hen th e FFA content of the oil is low. The

process can have certain d isadvantag es if not p racticed p roperly, e.g., formation of emu lsion

during purification. These problems have now been overcome in the process developed by

CSMCRI, Bhavnagar and base-catalysed transesterification of SVO is being routinely carried

out for oils having as h igh as 8% FFA. The m ost common form of biodiesel uses m ethanol to

Digestion / bio-meth anation

i) Oilseeds SVO Bio-d iesel

ii) Sugarcane Ethanol

iii) Organic Residues Bio-gas

iv) Energy Crops/ Biomass Wastes Syn-gas

Extraction Transesterificationn

Fermentation

Gasifier

Methanol


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produ ce methyl esters as it is among th e cheapest alcohols available and p rocessing tend s to be

simpler. Ethanol can also be u sed to p rodu ce an ethyl ester biodiesel and higher alcohols such

as iso-propanol and butanol have also been used. It is to be noted, however, that there is an

optimum chain length for biodiesel and the use of longer chain alcohols may be beneficial

wh en the fatty acid chain length in v egetable oils is shorter than desirable. A byprodu ct of thetransesterification p rocess is the p rod uction of glycerol. There are other by-prod ucts as w ell.

2.3.3 R&D Areas / Topics:

A) Short Term

i) Transesterification process for handling high FFA interference and compatibility of the

process for multiple feedstocks. There are two w ays of hand ling the p roblem of high FFA.

One would involve acid catalysed transesterification and the other would involve

elimination of the FFA with concomitant p rodu ction of usable soap.

ii) R&D for removing the commonly encountered problems like deactivation of basic catalystby FFA, deactivation of acidic and basic catalyst by water etc. Such difficulties are best

hand led by ensuring that the oil is first refined to remove FFA and then m ad e moisture-

free prior to tran sesterification. In the case of acid oils, the acid catalysis shou ld be resorted

to since FFA rem oval is not p ractical in th is case.

iii) Development of storage add itives for SVO and biodiesel indigenously. The key aspect in

case of SVO would be prevention of FFA build-up and also elimination of oxidation

instability. In the case of biodiesel, the ad d itives wou ld be essential for oxidation stab ility

and redu ction of pour point w here u tilization of biodiesel und er very cold cond itions is

desired . Besides these, there could be additives to enhance engine performance of biod ieselwh ich calls for extensive research. Such issues become esp ecially imp ortant w hen use of

biodiesel in neat form is desired to take m aximu m adv antage of its high flash p oint, high

cetane value and low emissions. It is noteworth y that neat biodiesel does not come u nd er

the Explosives and Petroleum Act & Rules on account of its high flash point.

iv) Use of solid catalyst in p lace of base / acid catalyst in transesterification p rocess. This

wou ld be imp ortant if biodiesel is produ ced in un -integrated m anner by poor technologies.

In the fully integrated p rocess developed at CSMCRI, such p roblems are fully overcome

mak ing it a zero effluent d ischarge process with recovery of catalyst as potash fertilizer.

Non etheless, research should continu e on solid catalysts but it mu st be borne in m ind tha t

the conversions will have to be quantitative, the reaction should ideally be done under

amb ient cond itions, and th e catalyst mu st not suffer deactivation. An equ ally imp ortant

issue is the use of excess methan ol and th e problems tha t are encountered in recovering

such m ethanol. An imaginative solution is necessary.

v) Development of some simple transesterification process for converting SVO to bio-diesel

using locally available means which can be used by villagers by employing a simple

reactor/ vessel for local pow er generation to help in d istributed pow er generation for


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remote villages where grid connectivity cannot be provided. This can be taken up

immediately since un der r ural conditions the batch process wou ld be m ore app ropriate

and such a p rocess has alread y been d eveloped by CSMCRI, Bhavn agar. The process is

under ambient conditions, except thermal energy required for oil expelling, soap

manufacture and distillation of glycerol. It is also a zero discharge process, with

co-prod uction of oil cake, soap, p otash fertilizer and refined glycerol. The cake, soap and

fertilizer can be used locally itself. Moreover, the biodiesel is of EN14214 quality which

can be used in n eat form in tractors, generator sets, etc. as already d emon strated.

vi) It is proposed to set up a 5 cu. m. / day biogas unit utilizing residue obtained after expelling

sap from Kappaphycus alvarezii seaweed . It is further p roposed to p urify and comp ress the

gas and fill it into gas cylinders for easy transp ortation and use.

B) Medium Term

i) Enzymatic degradation of lignocellulosic biomass by standardizing specific microbes and

optimization of fermentation p aram eters for high conversion rate of lignocellulose intobiodiesel.

ii) Application oriented R&D to find out new app lication areas for using glycerol as

by-product of transesterification in industries. The focus should be on high volume

app lications such as their use in prod uction of polyurethan e and biodegradable polymers.

iii) Development of continu ous process of transesterification for biodiesel prod uction relevant

to large scale plants. It is important to point out that transesterification is not the rate

limiting step and th at p rocesses are constra ined by t ime taken for oil expelling, oil refining,

pu rification and solvent/ glycerol recovery.

iv) R&D to use bio-ethanol in place of fossil methanol in transesterification process and

studying the overall performan ce of the p rocess and quality of produ ct vis--vis the m ethyl

ester.

C) Technology development/demonstration/commercialization projects:

i) Technology development to use alcohols of higher molecular weights like propanol,

butanol etc. to improve the cold flow properties of the resulting ester and to make this

process more efficient.

ii) Technology development for downsizing the transesterification facility for developm ent

of modular portable plants for biodiesel production at a much smaller scale and itsdem onstration for rura l app lications. The CSMCRI process is already qu ite appropriate

for 200 liter scale onw ard s and a d emon stration plant is already in operation in Rajasthan

wh ich hop es to process 300 tonnes of Jatroph a seed p er ann um operating in one shift.

iii) Assessmen t of economy of scale of transesterification plant, cost of prod uction, life-cycle

costing and ROI etc. The cost of prod ucing biodiesel wou ld h owever largely be dictated

by seed cost.


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iv) Setting-up of an integrated economic size bio-diesel plant based on mu ltiple feedstock

containing varying p ropor tions of FFA. It is best to do this by keeping an integra ted p roduct

portfolio in mind rather th an h aving sole focus on biodiesel.

2.4 Bioethanol:

2.4.1 Bio-fuels like bio-ethanol are mainly extracted from molasses prod uced in the sugar-making

process in India. The three main types of feedstocks used for ethanol production worldwide

are:

Sugar s (like molasses, cane su gar, beet, sweet sorghu m and fruits)

Starches (like corn, wh eat, rice, po tatoes, cassava, sweet p otatoes, etc.) and

Lignocelluloses (like rice straw , bagasse, other agricultural residu es, wood , and energy

crops).

2.4.2 Among the various competing processes, bioethanol from lignocellulosic biomass appears to

have econom ic potential. The crops r esidues su ch as rice straw, bagasse etc. are not currently

used to d erive desired economic and environm ental benefits and thu s they could be imp ortant

resource for bioethanol production. The major source of feedstock required for ethanol

produ ction in India comes from sug arcane-sugar molasses.

2.4.3 Sugarcane crops require long time as well as high irrigation and fertilization. These factors

explain the high costs involved in the p rodu ction of sugarcane and ethanol, and question the

competitiveness of producing sugarcane relative to other crops. In this case higher level of

alcohol by fermentation w ould autom atically red uce the cost of pur ification. So there is am ple

scope for mod ification in the present fermen tation process used in the sugar indu stry for the

production of ethanol

2.4.4 The production of ethanol from biomass/ lignocelluloses involves:

Pretreatment to hyd rolyze the hemicellulose,

Hyd rolysis of cellulose to prod uce glucose,

Fermentation of sugars to ethanol, and

Ethanol recovery.

2.4.5 Both enzyme based and non-enzyme based process configurations are used to obtain ethanol

from biomass. In the non-enzyme based approach, acid is used for both hemicellulose and

cellulose hydrolysis. While Separate H ydr olysis and Fermentation (SHF) is used in the n on-enzyme based fermentation. Both these processes have their own advan tages and disadvantages

based on th e type of feedstock being u sed.


A) Short Term

i) Increasing the yield of sugarcane, sugar content in the cane juice and u til ization /

distillation of secondary cane juice to produ ce ethanol.


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ii) Undertaking rigorous input-output analysis.

iii) Looking at best options for produ ction of absolute alcohol relevant both to petro-diesel

and biodiesel preparation.

B) Medium / Long Term

i) R&D for developm ent of an efficient process for the produ ction of Bio-ethanol from

alternative sources like sweet sorgh um , rice stalks wasted grains an d lignocelluloses.

ii) New decomp osition routes to decompose biomass into cellulose, hemi cellulose and lignin

at one step to produ ce ethanol to avoid an ad ditional pretreatment step to remove lignin,

which consumes additional energy.

iii) Developm ent of fast acting, stand ard ized and sp ecific microbial species for biomass

degradation to produce bio-ethanol.

iv) Development of cost effective processes for processing of lignocellulosic biomass to

produce bioethanol.

Development of efficient and cost effective chemical and physical pretreatment

technology of lignocellulosics to make the biomass matrix more accessible to

enzymes.

Developmen t and selection of optimized organ isms and process for fermentation of

mixed su gars like hexoses and pen toses etc. into bio-ethanol.

Integration of process steps for process design and scale-up for ind ustrial app lication.

v) R&D for development of an efficient fermentation process for produ ction of bio-ethanol

from starch.

vi) Pur ification of bio-ethanol by either azeotropic distillation or by use of molecular sieves is

an imp ortant area along with bio-ethanol prod uction.

vii) An imp ortant research area is genetic engineering of petrocrop i.e. to genetically impr ove

tree species to prod uce better quality and quan tity of oil.

C) Technology development/ demonstration/commercialization projects:

i) Technology development to modify the present fermentation process used in the sugar

indu stry for the prod uction of ethanol.

ii) Development and standardization of enzyme based process configuration for produ cing

ethanol an d making this p rocess cost effective an d efficient.

iii) Utilisation of indigenously developed p ervaporation membran es and molecular sieves in

the alcohol drying p rocess.

2.5 Next Generation Biofuels:

2.5.1 Syn gas and bio hydrogen are other newer options, which could be explored after proper

R&D in th ese areas. Synthesis gas p rodu ced from the gasification of biomass in the gasifiers


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can be used d irectly as fuel gas for process heat in indu stries or for electricity genera tion throu gh

gas tur bines or can be therm o-chemically converted into different fuels (gaseous an d liquid )

after purification of gas by pressure swing adsorption (PSA) and gas shift processes and

polymerization (like Fischer-Tropsh etc.) and into liquid fuels like methanol, petrol, diesel,

Methyl Tetra Butyl Ether etc. or into gaseous fuels like hydrogen from methanol producedafter polymerization of syn gas.

2.5.2 Prod uction of syn gas from d ifferent feedstocks and its purification and conversion into fuels

involves major technological issues which need to be researched and developed first at an

economically viable scale for proper utilization of this option for India.

2.5.3 Similarly, pyrolysis of biomass for the production of bio-oil or pyrolysis oil presents another

option for harnessing biomass resou rce for fuel generation. Pyrolysis of biomass involves heating

biomass at partial vacuum or modified gaseous environment at high temperatures to obtain

bio-oil, char and oth er specialized chemicals suitable for industr ies. How ever, pyrolysis process

is known for long an d its utility needs to be reviewed vis--vis other op tions.


A) Long Term

i) Next Generation Bio-fuels:

a) Syn gas: Conversion of biomass into synthesis gas and different value added

bio-products through thermo-chemical conversion (bio-refinery concept) by

cost-effective, highly resistant and high activity catalysts.

b) Bio-hydrogen: Prod uction of bio-hyd rogen from ligno-cellulosic material throughgasification and synthesis or biological process like microbial degradation.

c) Bio-oil:Prod uction of bio-oil or pyrolysis oil from biomass and other w aste materials

throu gh flash pyrolysis.

R&D to design the p yrolysis reactor using high temp erature sustaining materials in

reactors walls, by-prod uct separation and flow etc and efficiency for making this

process more efficient and economically suitable.

d) Fischer-Tropsch (FT) liquid, Bio-dimethyl ester (bio-DME) throu gh gasification,

synth esis of ligno-cellulosic material.

e) Development of petrol-alcohol-water micro emulsion fuel as a substitute for petrol

and ethanol blended petrol. PCRA has sponsored a project in this area to

Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT-Delhi.

ii) Production of bio-diesel from alternative sources of biomass like algae and other aquatic

organisms. However , prod uction of biogas from algae can be initiated in th e short term

itself.


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2.6 Application / Use Sector

2.6.1 Biofuels mainly biodiesel and bioethanol could be used as a substitute to conventional petroleum

or in blending, to power both stationary as well as mobile engines. Straight Vegetable Oils

(SVOs) also provides an option for stationary engines after undergoing some preliminary

treatment. However, performance of the engines in long run and the design modifications

required for the engines using these biofuels needs to be examined and researched in near term

before promoting their large scale comm ercial use. It also needs to be borne in m ind th at after

oil expelling and refining, there is not that mu ch more on e needs to d o to make biodiesel and

therefore the adv antages may be limited comp ared to the disadvantages.

2.6.2 Uses of by-products after transesterification of SVO are other issues w hich need to be tackled.

Glycerol, oil seed cake an d fruit hu ll are the major byp rodu cts in th e produ ction of biodiesel. In

transesterification p rocess with every 100 liters of biodiesel prod uced, around 10 liters of glycerol

is generated as a by-product. The glycerol is contaminated with solvent, catalyst and other

impurities which necessitates purification. The production of huge amount of glycerol asby-prod uct of transesterification in future will exceed the requirement / dem and and th erefore

R&D for new er ap plications areas for glycerol usage like fiber p rod uction etc may be searched

in for optimum utilization of glycerol. Many comp anies have already initiated R&D programmes

aimed at utilizing glycerol as a polyol assuming that it will be an inexpensive feedstock in

future.

2.6.3 Similarly, oi l s eed cake may be u sed as su bstitutes for chemical fertilizers in fields but various

technical issues exists in th is, which needs to be encoun tered before hand . Also, in view of the

high d eficit in the diet of livestock and the futu re availability of Jatroph a cake, farm ers may u se

this oil seed cake as animal feeds only after detoxification and feeding trials. But, it is found

that the cake contains crude proteins and so the in-vitro digestion in animals is very low,

indicating higher content of bypass p roteins. Moreover, it w ould be d ifficult to tell physically

wh ich cake has been d etoxified an d wh ich has not and , therefore, it may be better to consider

cultivation of non-toxic varieties of Jatrop ha in specific locations for u se of the cake locally as

cattle feed.

2.6.4 R&D Areas in the Application / Use Sector:

A) Short / Medium Term

i) New app lication development for glycerol like bio-fibre prod uction, biodegradable plastics,

etc, wh ich m ay be u seful to th e indu stries, as well revisitng old app lications such a s theirutility in surface coatings, polyurethane, anti-freeze, etc.

ii) R&D projects to optimize the use of oilseed cake as manure by removing the residu al

(toxic) effects of cake in soil, rate of degradation of cake in various soil types and under

different clima tic conditions, rate of release of nu trients in soil and their optimum up take

by plants. The cake should be u sed as it is to take advan tage of its nematicidal prop erties

already established by Anan d Agriculture University and CSMCRI for tomato cultivation.


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The cake also app lication as m anu re in a nu mber of other crops an d initial sale of Jatroph a

cake has already been effected at Rs 3000 per tonn e. There is room to stud y a large v ariety

of crops and also to und ertake detailed study to d ispel any app rehensions there may be

about r esidu al toxicity that creeps into th e soil or into the p rod uce.

i ii) The chem ical comp osition of Jatroph a cake clearly ind icates presence of certainanti-nutrients bu t, otherw ise, the cake is rich in essential nu trients, especially the am ino

acid composition. It may be useful to utilize the cake as a source of amino acid and to

destroy all anti-nutrients and other un wan ted substan ces in the course of produ cing such

useful am ino acid formu lations. It is best not to consider the app lication of cake d irectly

as animal feed to avoid r isk of consumption of cake that is not su itably d etoxified.

iv) R&D in the field of design / modification of present automobile engines, stationary

equipm ents etc. and developm ent of energy efficient equipm ent like lanterns and stoves

to ru n on SVO or biodiesel similar to kero lamp s.

v) Investigation on the effect of bio-oil after alternate ways of treatment on heavy enginese.g. tractors etc.

vi) Alternate use of jatropha cake other than fertilizer e.g. biogas, pesticides and large DG

sets etc.

vii) Instead of looking at the SVO as a source of fuel, it may be useful to look at its app lication

as an add itive in d iesel at low levels (1-2 %) if there are any gains that accrue from su ch

use, e.g. imp roved lubricity of the fuel.

B) Identified areas for technology development/demonstration/ commercialization:

i) Demonstration using biodiesel and SVO in diesel engines and stationary equipments andstudying their effects on p erformance and storage stability after required m inimum period

of operation.

2.7 Biomass Gasification

2.7.1 Fuelwood, agricultural residues (rice husk, sugarcane trash and coconut shells), wheat straw,

pu lse sticks, press mu d etc. are the m ain gasification fuels today. Biomass is available throu ghou t

the country bu t the p resent biomass u sage is mainly for cooking in chulhas (cook stoves) with

poor efficiency. In addition to residues that are available, it is possible to have dedicated

plantations on wasteland or degraded lands that are not normally used for agriculture, for

gasification p urp ose.

2.7.2 Theoretically, almost all kinds of biomass with moisture content of 5-30% can be gasified.

How ever, not every biomass fuel can lead to the su ccessful gasification. Developmen t w ork

carried-out with common fuels such as coal, charcoal and wood indicate that fuel properties

such as sur face, size and shape a s well as moisture content, volatile ma tter and carbon content

influence gasification.


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2.7.3 Biomass-based power generation can have higher capacity factors. The conversion options are

thermo chem ical or biochemical. The therm o chem ical processes involve combu stion, gasification

or pyrolysis. Biomass gasification involves conver

R&D Energy - Planning Com 11th Plan

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