The Hindu Business Line : Panel on CNG quality norms to submit report in 3 months

For quality
"The norms will help GAIL, city gas companies, and vehicle manufacturers to be on the same wavelength as far as fuel specification is concerned so that manufacturers can design their engines to meet the emission norms."

New Delhi , Nov. 7

Norms outlining quality specifications for compressed natural gas (CNG) are in the pipeline. A committee set up to work out quality specifications guidelines for CNG is hopeful of submitting its report within the stipulated time frame to the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA).

Sources here told Business Line that "the first meeting of the Committee was held last Friday, where GAIL shared the gas specifications with the members and broad specification parameters have been discussed."

The Government had asked GAIL to set up a committee to formulate quality norms for CNG and submit its report within three months to EPCA. "The norms will help GAIL, city gas companies, and vehicle manufacturers to be on the same wavelength as far as fuel specification is concerned so that manufacturers can design their engines to meet the emission norms," the sources said.

Taking note of the expanding CNG programme across cities, a need for quality specifications was felt, sources added. Though CNG has been introduced for some time now and Bureau of Indian Standards has formulated a draft on specifications, there was no fuel quality specification in place, industry sources said.

The EPCA, according to sources, felt that since this was the time for moving from Euro-II to Euro-III emission standards for CNG vehicles, there was a need for improving the engine technology. Thus, the advanced technology required improved specifications, they said.

The norms are also expected to address the concerns about the discrepancy in the quality of CNG that is being supplied by various agencies. The minimum methane content of the gas as per Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) is only 80 per cent whereas the gas supplied by Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL) and others have over 90 per cent methane content.

The Committee includes former Indian Institute of Technology Professor, Mr H.B. Mathur, representatives of Automotive Research Association of India, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, GAIL, IGL and MGL.

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