From lab to industry: Amid LPG shortages, CSIR-NCL’s homegrown DME technology promises cleaner alternative, eyes industrial-scale production

CSIR-NCL’s Methanol to DME Pilot Plant (250 kg/day) using a patented indigenous catalyst. (Express Photo)

“DME, a synthetic fuel boasts several advantages over conventional options. It burns cleaner, emitting minimal amounts of soot, nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), and particulate matter. Furthermore, DME exhibits thermal efficiency that is comparable to traditional fuels, making it a viable substitute,” Dr Lele explained.

Also present at the conference were Dr Thirumalaiswamy Raja, chief scientist, catalysis division, CSIR-NCL, Rajesh Date, Managing Director, Atrium Innovation and Vijay Kumar, Managing Director, Texol Engineering, Pirangut.

Dr Raja explained they had developed a patent-protected DME production process technology that utilizes an indigenously invented highly active, selective and cost-effective catalyst, ensuring efficient conversion of methanol to DME.

“Our research team began integrating catalyst chemistry with reactor engineering—an approach that later became the hallmark of this technology,” Dr Raja said. CSIR-NCL’s technology allows production of DME at 10 bar pressure with minimal opex penalty so that it can be directly filled in LPG cylinders. This technology has already been successfully scaled up to a pilot capacity of 250 kg per day, Dr Raja added.

CSIR-NCL has further developed a burner prototype that can work on flex mode, from 100% LPG to 100% DME and all the compositions in between. This patented burner design has been tested for its efficiency at the LPG Equipment Research Centre (LERC), Bangalore. Domestic production of DME from methanol is the fastest way to reduce dependence on imported LPG, Date said, adding that this technology holds a promise to mitigate the LPG crisis and can be deployed at a larger scale.