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Field trials of bio-diesel in military vehicles

RPK

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New Delhi: In a significant move which can reduce the fuel bill of defence forces, DRDO is experimenting with bio-diesel for military vehicles such as the bullet-proof Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs).

The field trials of the bio-diesel on military vehicles are being conducted at DRDO's Pune-based lab, Vehicle Research and Development Establishment (VDRE), which specialises in developing defence vehicles.

"Defence Ministry has approved the directives for user trials of the bio-diesel and all the tests would be completed in another six month's time," DRDO Chief Controller William Selvamurthy said here.

"We are testing the fuel in terms of torque, power and other parameters keeping in mind engine's performance. 20 per cent of bio-diesel mixed with regular diesel has been accepted by the engines," said Director, Defence Institute of Bio- Energy Research (DIBER), Zakwan Ahmed.

Results of the tests which are being carried out on BMP-II engine, Swaraj Mazda and 2.5 tonne Tata trucks are being analysed for further improvement in the fuel and its quality, he said.

The bio-diesel extracted from Jatropha seeds is produced by DRDO at its Secunderabad-based facilities, where over 400 acres of land is being used for growing the plant.

During the technical trial phase, the bio-fuel experts in DRDO successfully managed to increase its shelf life by two years by increasing the proportion of anti-oxidants in it.

"We have also added anti-freezing agents in this fuel to increase its freezing point so that it can be used in high altitude areas," Ahmed said.

The project to develop bio-fuels for military vehicles and tanks was started a couple of years ago with DRDO making a significant breakthrough in developing oil which can be used to replace diesel in automobiles from the seeds of Jatropha plants.
 
I don't think in a country like India we should encourage bio fuels. We should go for other sources...


Exactly such stupid planners and thinkers we have to even suggest such tech. have they looked at what the potenial negative problems associated with such use of biofuels? Damn, the more I see India;s strategic planning coming to light, it shows how grossly underprepared India truly is. Watch some fool will defend the use of this. Solar, fuel cells, H2 are better fuel sources with less negative issues. Sure, the tech is lagging but that's why more research should be spent on it.
 
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I just have issues with bio-diesel simply because if we encourage this it will start to have the same negative impact that it had in S. America but on a larger scale. We have to understand that right now we are not able to feed our population. This would mean that someone will pay more money to farmers but not for food but for bio-diesel. What you think will happen ? Farmers will start selling their crops to oil companies thereby increasing the inflation to unimaginable levels.
 
^^^
I just have issues with bio-diesel simply because if we encourage this it will start to have the same negative impact that it had in S. America but on a larger scale. We have to understand that right now we are not able to feed our population. This would mean that someone will pay more money to farmers but not for food but for bio-diesel. What you think will happen ? Farmers will start selling their crops to oil companies thereby increasing the inflation to unimaginable levels.


Thats exactly what I was referring to....Don;t really understand what else did you infer from my statement? Biofuels is a dead before it began.....
 
Thats exactly what I was referring to....Don;t really understand what else did you infer from my statement? Biofuels is a dead before it began.....

I think Indian Biofuel comes from Sugarcane rather than Corn which is the case of US. Anyways I agree that Armed Forces should stick to conventional fuels. DRDO should try their bio fuel in civilian sector (Railways is a good place to begin) and transfer the savings to Armed forces.
 
I think Indian Biofuel comes from Sugarcane rather than Corn which is the case of US. Anyways I agree that Armed Forces should stick to conventional fuels. DRDO should try their bio fuel in civilian sector (Railways is a good place to begin) and transfer the savings to Armed forces.




Biofuel is really bad for any country. Its doesn;t matter what industry benefits from it, because at the end it is more negative than positive. The problem is that such crops which are grown solely for biofuels use my precious resources such as labor, land, water, etc. When India is a country that is precariously close to starvation, it is not feasible. The US and Brazil are different in that both countries have low populations and huge amounts of uninhabited land. They won;t feel any negative outlook as a result of biofuel but imagine what how crop prices world wide would be affected. It is a disaster waiting to happen...even in the US, many have argued this and most folks don;t really see this as an answer to our fuel problems...in fact it will lead to only more problems..
 

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