Biogas Upgrading and Bottling Technology for Vehicular and Cooking Applications - Management of Natural Resources in a Changing Environment - page 138

as shown in Fig. 3 . The fuel change over switch allows the driver to switch from
petrol to CNG with the fl ick of a button. CNG conversion kits usually do not include
the CNG tank or cylinder or the cylinder valve, which are purchased separately. The
price of a CNG conversion kit is usually in the range of Rs 40,000-65,000.
Creating a market for upgraded biogas takes time and there are many obstacles.
As natural gas and upgraded biogas are interchangeable in vehicles, the two fuels
may be used in parallel. In this way a market can be built up for biogas powered
vehicles fuelled mainly by natural gas, and upgraded biogas can then be phased in
as it becomes available in suffi cient volumes. Natural gas as vehicle fuel reduces the
CO 2 emissions by about 25 % compared to petrol because of the lower carbon con-
tent per energy value. Running vehicles on upgraded biogas may reduce overall CO 2
emissions even further, if the biogas comes from waste products.

Biogas Upgradation and Bottling Unit

IIT Delhi has successfully developed an automated biogas upgrading and bottling
system as shown in Fig. 4 . The aim of experimental work was to increase the effi -
ciency and performance of the existing biogas upgrading and bottling facility at
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, according to the standard requirements for
biogas bottling in India.
The system was modifi ed for an automatic control so as to get biomethane of high
purity (90-92 % methane) with relatively less losses of gases. This research work has
focused on the study of biogas purifi cation by water scrubbing, at ambient tempera-
ture (25 °C) using automated controls. Our principal goal was to identify an optimum
column diameter and to optimize the pressure throughout the column. The purifi ed

Fig. 4 Biogas upgrading and bottling plant at IIT Delhi