A case for Honge oil as substitute for diesel

By S.K.Ramoo

BANGALORE, APRIL 5. The Sustainable Transformation of Rural Areas (SuTRA), a programme unit of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, has lately done commendable groundwork and research to demonstrate the potential of Honge oil as an effective substitute for diesel in the operation of diesel engines in rural areas.

Honge oil is extracted from the seeds of the Honge tree (whose Latin name is Pongamia Pinnata) which is grown in all parts of the country. In several States, its leaves are used as green manure, its seed cake is employed as fertilizer and its oil endowed with fungicidal properties is traded as non-edible vegetable oil.

According to Prof. U.Shrinivasa, Chief Programme Executive of SuTRA, who is the Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IISc, India possessed 300 varieties of oil seed trees. He said extensive experimentation and field trails by SuTRA had demonstrated that Honge oil could be a low-cost, appropriate bio-fuel in the operation of diesel engines.

He said that the performance of diesel engines using Honge oil was found to be satisfactory, meeting scientific parameters. This was notwithstanding the higher carbon residue, when compared to diesel. The performance of diesel engines after 650 hours of running, equivalent to 30,000 km of travel, was found to be up to the mark.

According to him, the oil's higher viscosity could easily be corrected by pre-heating it before use. He claimed that the output of diesel engine remained the same although the calorific value was slightly lower, compared to the output when run on diesel. The distinct advantage of using the oil was that it was cheaper and highly economical in the long run as it only cost Rs.10.50 a kg. It would result in foreign exchange savings.

According to him, raising Honge plantations in rural areas will be both remunerative and beneficial to farmers as a hectare of Honge plantation with an yield of 10 tonnes of seeds will fetch an income of Rs.40,000.

He said that as a biofuel it offered a lot of advantages as it would fetch substantial additional income to farmers. Its oil extraction would provide employment in rural areas. He said that its use as biofuel in diesel power-generating plants would lead to de-centralisation of power supply in rural areas.

The other advantages would be drastic reduction in transmission and distribution losses and improvement in power supply reliability, even in remote rural areas. Its cost of production could be drastically reduced by raising large number of Honge trees.

According to foresters, Honge was a versatile tree which could be grown in all parts of the country, including the saline-soiled coastal belt, with care and nursing. Its output could be increased with scientific methods of cultivation, including grafting, gooting and use of green house and mist chambers.

The Karnataka Rural Development Department had promised assistance for raising Honge plantations by farmers in the State.

A discussion held recently on the IISc Campus was of the view that greater awareness required to be created among farmers and felt that they be educated about financial advantages from raising Honge plantations.

It wanted that research be conducted involving 300 varieties of oil-bearing seed trees for identifying ones which offered similar potential as the Honge oil. The meeting was of the view that more scientific data be generated relating to the performance of diesel engines using Honge oil as substitute. It constituted a Committee of Experts to popularise the use of Honge oil as it would result in saving precious foreign exchange.

According to Prof. Shrinivasa, about a hundred years ago, Rudolph Diesel used peanut oil to run engines. Interestingly, far back in 1930s at Calcutta (now Kolkata), 11 vegetable oils, including Honge oil, were used as substitutes for diesel in a study. It was not sustained as fossil fuels were found cheaper at that time.

Interestingly, an industrial unit, M/s. Dandeli Ferroalloys, by employing Honge oil as diesel substitute was saving lakhs of rupees. According to its spokesperson, it could be an effective substitute for diesel without being a deterrent to the performance of diesel engines. What is required is a strategy for a multi-pronged approach to popularise Honge oil.

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Section  : Southern States
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