R&D key to IndianOil's growth

Hyderabad: Dr SSV Rama Kumar, Director (R&D), IndianOil, on Wednesday said research & development (R&D) has been playing a key role in the growth of public sector oil major IndianOil.

Addressing the media in the city, he said, "The diligent focus of IndianOil in research & development is what sets the company apart as a technology leader. In view of the deleterious effects of the fossil fuels, we need to find alternative sources of energy to create a sustainable future, which is decarbonised.

However, carbon is still the cheapest energy source and will continue to remain so for the next 20 years. But there is a strong need to control and contain the carbon output to reduce the carbon footprint even when we use the carbon fuels."

He further explained: "For instance we have been using LPG for cooking for a very long time. Recently we have found a way of enhancing the thermal efficiency of LPG so that with less quantity of LPG you would be able to do more cooking. This has led to the development of a product call IndaneXtraTej which gives 5 per cent saving on LPG consumption".

This is a tangible benefit of differentiated LPG with high thermal efficiency which also saves a lot of foreign exchange since almost 50 per cent of the LPG used in India is imported, he added "On the industrial side, by adding a little bit of nano material we have enhanced the thermal efficiency of LPG as a metal cutting gas which can replace the toxic acetylene gas used for metal cutting", he added.

About ethanol, Ramakumar said, "The government has mandated the usage of 10 per cent of ethanol in the transportation fuel. But currently not more than 6 per cent of ethanol is being added to the fuel."

"In view of the non availability of ethanol to mix with the fuel, IndianOil's R&D has found new avenues to produce ethanol," he added. The 2G ethanol, which is an alternative source, comes from wheat straw and paddy straw, he said and added that already projects are proposed in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh."