ISRO, Tata develop India’s first hydrogen cell bus
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Bengaluru: For the first time in the country, a Hydrogen-powered bus has been developed by Tata Motors and Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) after several years of research.The hydrogen fuel-fitted bus was demonstrated at Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, an Isro facility in Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu on Sunday.
It’s a CNG-type bus. Hydrogen in bottles at high pressure is stored at the top of the bus and there would be zero pollution. “This is a leap for automobile industry for future transportation. In this vehicle there will be zero pollution since the product of cold combustion is water. This is a result of great team work of Tata Motors and ISRO specialists with contributions from DSIR (Department of Scientific and Industrial Research) and PESO (Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organisation),” said honorary adviser to Isro, V. Gnana Gandhi, who led the technical team in this project.
The team ensured all safety measures for handling hydrogen in the bus. This development could help India to save considerably on crude oil imports.
According to a government-appointed committee led by Dr Kirit Parikh, trucks accounted for 37 per cent of the total diesel consumption in 2008-09, followed by buses 12 per cent and agriculture at 12 per cent.
As hydrogen is emerging as a leading contender for the ideal energy options of the future, Gandhi said that the Union government has set guidelines for automotive companies over the development and deployment of hydrogen-fueled vehicles by 2015.
“This R&D is the first endeavour in India, which will put the nation in a select club of countries, which use hydrogen fuel cell driven buses and will eliminate pollution,” Gandhi said.He added that most of the city buses in the tier-1 cities are expected to run using available hydrogen from fertiliser plants and oil refineries.
The hydrogen cells were a spin-off of the cryogenic technology that Isro had been developing for the last few years, the Benga-luru-based Isro officials said. “That’s not exactly the cryogenic technology... (It’s) liquid hydrogen handling and that’s where Isro has some expertise,” they said.
Isro has a very rich technology in producing, storing and handling gaseous and liquid hydrogen in the last three decades. Its expertise is also in safety.
Isro and Tata Motors had entered into an MoU in 2006 to design and develop a bus using hydrogen fuel cells.
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