Ashok Leyland has successfully developed, in association with Eden Energy of Australia, a 6-cylinder, 6-litre 92 kW BS-4 engine for operation with hythane. Hythane is a blend of natural gas and hydrogen (usually 20 per cent 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 the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and the Indian Oil Corporation.
Application of these engines to buses is at an advanced stage at Ashok Leyland, which is also in discussion with Government agencies regarding making hythane available for commercial use in the future.
It may be recalled that Ashok Leyland pioneered the use of CNG fuel for mass transportation in the country by rolling out India’s first CNG bus in Mumbai in 1997. 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 the company was India’s first multi-point fuel injection (MPFI) for high capacity CNG engine in 2008.
