Energy and Fuels

The energy and fuels group primarily focuses on alternate options of electricity generation techniques keeping in view the availability, sustainability and economy. The aim is to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels and therefore, minimize greenhouse gas emissions by increasing the contribution of renewables for power generation. This is done through implementing and commercializing existing systems / technologies for more efficient and better utilization of renewable sources like biomass, wind, solar and geothermal or and by adapting advanced technologies with fossil fuels. To mitigate greenhouse gas emission and global warming, it is indeed important to look into fuels that are economically viable and eco-friendly. Fuel cell technology has been chosen as a viable alternative for fossil fuel based power generation. The technology is matured, commercialized and is deployed in broad applications; primarily in transportation and small capacity power generation. DSRT, along with CHEM, Taiwan is actively engaged in implementing fuel cell technology for powering cell phone towers. Through this collaboration, the partners are engaged in the design and manufacturing of 5 kW Reformed Methanol Fuel Cell (RMFC) customized for telephone towers.

Reformed Methanol Fuel cell

Reformed Methanol Fuel cell is an indirect proton exchange fuel cell where the fuel methanol is reformed to hydrogen before being fed into the proton exchange fuel cell. The major advantage over direct methanol fuel cell includes higher efficiency, smaller cell stacks and better performance at the lower temperatures. The choice of fuel as Methanol is because the energy density of methanol is higher than any other hydrocarbon. Another major ongoing project this team involved is on identifying environmental friendly technologies like gasification and liquefaction of bio feed stocks for power generation along with emission reduction. The team comprises of a multidisciplinary research team from academicians from institutions and researchers from industries.