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Driving further on greener fuel
Biofuel blends in KSRTC’s buses in India
N.S. Megharikh, Director (Personnel & Environment), KSRTC, & P.S. Anand Rao, Environment Officer, KSRTC, Bangalore, India




As part of a raft of environmental programmes,
81 buses in the Indian city of Bangalore now run on
a diesel:pongamia oil blend. As well as affording a
huge cut in emissions, this fuel has enabled annual
savings of over EUR 20,000.




                                                                               KSRTC is a pioneer in the use of SVOs blended with diesel


       Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC)
       was established in 1961 as a State Owned Road-
       ways Transport Undertaking. The Government of
                                                                                Turning fortunes around
       India and Karnataka State Government have a stake
                                                                                 Transport is an important index of the social, cultural and
       in the capital structure of the Corporation in the
                                                                                 economic development of any society. Although passenger
       form of an equity and capital contribution. KSRTC
                                                                                 transport is a business for public transport operators, it is
       has its headquarters in Bangalore, India, and is a
                                                                                 very difficult to run under a strict business principle of no
       public utility service that aims to provide adequate,
                                                                                 profit and no loss given that State transport undertakings are
       economical and properly coordinated passenger
                                                                                 run as more of a social service than a business. Financial per-
       transport services to the citizens of Karnataka State.
                                                                                 formance at KSRTC has been exceptional in spite of the need
       KSRTC currently operates 5045 schedules with a                            to fulfill this social responsibility obligation and its transfor-
       fleet of 5423 buses covering 1.75 million km and                          mation into a profit making organization is unheard of in
       carrying about 2.3 million passengers per day. Daily                      Indian State transport undertakings. Over recent years KSRTC
       traffic revenue ranges from INR 30 to 40 million                          has turned its fortunes around, starting from -480.28 million
       (EUR 515,000 to 687,000). KSRTC employs a work-                           INR (EUR -8.2 million) in 1995-1996 to +327.38 INR (EUR +5.6
       force of 25,897 in its 10 operating divisions, which                      million) for the period 2002-2003. Its revenue margin now
       include 56 depots, two regional workshops, a print-                       stands at +200.50 INR (EUR +3.4 million).
       ing press, three training centres and a hospital.
       KSRTC offers a range of passenger services using                          KSRTC has managed to become financially healthier by
       World Class Volvo AC buses, Ultra Deluxe buses,                           adopting new technologies and management concepts, cost
       Semi deluxe and Express buses. These aerodynami-                          control exercises and environmental upgrade programmes,
       cally designed and fuel-efficient buses operate on                        initiatives that have also made it possible to maximize traffic
       regional urban and suburban routes - both local and                       revenue.
       long distance services - that can be up to 1200km in                     Combating pollution
       length.                                                                   Headed by a Director (Personnel & Environment) at corporate
                                                                                 level, KSRTC’s ‘Environmental Cell’ came into existence in
                                                                                 1996 and is the first of its kind set up by any State Transport
                                                                                 Undertaking in the entire country. The cell monitors the envi-



26          Public Transport International - 4/2006
DOSSIER
 ronmental impact on air pollution, water pollution, noise pol-
 lution and waste generation and has introduced various tech-
 nological innovations in the areas of steam boilers, re-tread-
 ing of tyres, generation of distilled water and material waste.
 The progress of the environmental impact assessment and
 implementation of environmental upgrade programmes is
                                                                                                RELATION BETWEEN EMISSION CHECKS
 monitored from corporate level. Some of the pollution control
 measures in operation include:
                                                                                             AND DEFECTS FROM1999-00 TO 2005-06

 • Regular pollution level checks for the entire bus fleet and
   display of pollution free stickers.                                                  No. of checks * 10,000
 • Although emission levels have to be checked every six                                No. of defects * 1,000
   months according to regulations, corporation policy                         6
   requires vehicles to be checked once a month.                                                                                        5.386
                                                                                                                     5.048
 • Fuel supply quality controls at all depots via random checks                5
                                                                                     4.305           4.494
   of fuel critical parameters.
                                                                               4
 • Ambient air quality checks at nodes such as depots, bus



                                                                   Numbers
   stations and production units to assess the impact of air
                                                                               3             2.712
   pollution.
 • Noise level checks at production units and depots to moni-                  2
   tor noise pollution and keep within noise level limits - by
   means of acoustic treatment - at stationary generator sets.                 1                             0.652
                                                                                                                             0.264              0.258
 • Cleanliness levels in bus stations, administrative offices,
                                                                               0
   depots and production units, maintained through competi-
   tive grading of the depots.                                                      1999 - 2000      2001 - 2002     2003 - 2004        2005 - 2006
                                                                                                                Years
 • An afforestation programme launched by the organisation
   in 1996 in which over 278,000 saplings (pongamia and
   other varieties) have been planted and maintained.
 KSRTC is in the process of gaining ISO 14000 (2000) certifica-
 tion, and performs a monthly energy, water and waste mini-
 mization audit in all its units. On top of this, smoke emission
 checks have been regularly conducted on its fleet of 5423
 buses.                                                                                        COMPARISON OF EMISSIONS FOR BUSES
                                                                                     FUELLED BY DIESEL WITH THOSE RUNNING ON A 10% BLEND
Biofuel blend in KSRTC’s buses
 The KSRTC is a pioneer in the use of Straight Vegetable Oils                            Diesel
 (SVO) blended with diesel. Pongamia Oil began to be used in                             10% blend
 2003 and at present 81 buses are in operation in KSRTC’s
                                                                               10                                                        9.64 9.95
 Doddaballapur Depot using a 90:10 ratio mix of HSD (High
 Speed Diesel): Pongamia Oil. This split was arrived at by
 analysing the effect of using a biofuel / diesel blend in vari-                8
 ous ratios on a multi cylinder Ashok Leyland Diesel Hino
 engine. Induction of Pongamia Pinnata biofuel with diesel in                   6                                       5.803
                                                                      g/kWhr




 varying proportions on an engine test bed was tested at the                                                                    4.835
 different speeds (varying RPM and load of the engine) and
                                                                                4
 the results compared with the same engine using HSD. Sig-
 nificant emissions reductions were obtained especially for                          2.272 2.176
 SO x , PM, HC, CO and CO 2 emissions. The diesel:biofuel                       2
 ratios were calculated in varying percentages of 10 and 20
                                                                                                      0.307 0.285
 with diesel. The use of biofuel with diesel in the ratio of                    0
 90:10 (Diesel:Pongamia Oil) was concluded as being the                                  PM               HC               CO               NOx
 most cost effective (see overview of results below)1 and non-
 polluting substance for petroleum products, and resulted in                                                  Emissions
 a tremendous reduction in emissions (see opposite).
                                                                                     Reduction        Reduction         Reduction         Increase
 During the case study in the Doddaballapur depot of KSRTC,                            4.2%             7.2%             16.7%              3.2%
 biofuel was found to have caused no problems to fuel equip-
 ment or the engine. This was corroborated by Mico Bosch
 Ltd. (a fuel equipment and injectors manufacturing company
 in India) after dismantling the engine of KSRTC bus run on
 pongamia oil. The use of transesterified oil is more beneficial
 both for the engine and the environment. It chemically
 matches the quality and specification of diesel oil. However,



                                                                       Public Transport International - 4/2006                                       27
DOSSIER
                                                                                   instead of the transesterifica-       of Indian Standards (BIS).
                                                                                   tion of the oil - a useful method     KSRTC has also embarked on
                                                                                   of reducing its high viscosity by     the large scale plantation of
                                                                                   use of a special fuel additive - a    pongamia and other varieties on
                                                                                   special two-stage filtration sys-     plots of vacant land.
                                                                                   tem - of 25 microns and one           The use of biofuel and its mar-
                                                                                   micron – was employed to              ket especially in public trans-
                                                                                   ensure clean filtration and pre-      port buses in India and else-
                                                                                   vent filter clogging. To achieve      where clearly depend upon
                                                                                   better combustion and spray of        various factors such as the pro-
                                                                                   the biofuel, the atomiser pres-       duction and application poten-
                                                                                   sure was increased from 230 to        tial, appropriate feedstock,
                                                                                   240 kg/cm2. A 200 RPM agita-          financial viability, environmen-
                                                                                   tor and a gear pump were also         tal impact, and government and
                                                                                   installed and operated every          institutional support. Neverthe-
                                                                                   three hours to keep the fuel cor-     less, the rising cost of fossil fuel
                                                                                   rectly mixed and steadily circu-      is certain to accelerate the pace
The biofuel was found to have caused no problems to fuel equipment or the          lating in the underground tank.       of use of biofuel.
engine during the experiment                                                       The use of biofuel at KSRTC in
                                                                                                                         1 A study on the use of biofuel in
                                                                                   the form of Straight Vegetable          KSRTC was carried out jointly by
                                                                                   Oil (Pure Plant Oil) with an            BMVEL/GTZ, TERI & ISEC in October
                                                                                   improved        filter    system        2005 and the findings were presen-
                                                                                   increased fuel efficiency from          ted at the ‘International Conference
                                                                                                                           And Expo – BIOFUEL 2012 – Vision to
                                                                                   5.10 km per litre to 5.12 km per        Reality’ (17-18 October 2005) organi-
                                                                                   litre as compared to the buses          zed by TERI, New Delhi.
                                                                                   run on HSD. KSRTC plans to
                                                                                   gradually convert its 56 depots
                                                                                   over to using a 10% biofuel
                                                                                   blend depending on the opera-
                                                                                   tional results, the cost of biofuel
                                                                                   and its availability. It plans to
                                                                                   run buses on 100% esterified
                                                                                   biofuel respecting the parame-
                                                                                   ters as laid down by the Bureau




               Overview of results of using 10% Pongamia Pinnata with HSD in
                        KSRTC’s Doddaballapur Depot for 81 buses


                                  Daily average vehicle journey             364km
                                           Average km per litre*            5.18
                             Cost per km on high speed diesel               INR 6.50 (11 euro cents)/km
                        Cost per km using 90/10 HSD/biofuel                 INR 6.39 (11 euro cents)/km
          Difference in cost per km using 10% pongamia oil                  INR 0.11(0.1 euro cent) /km
                                    Savings per bus per annum               INR 14,615 (EUR 251)
                     Approximate annual savings of 81 buses                 INR 1.183 million (EUR 20,291)

        *A test study was conducted by R.V.College of Engineering, Bangalore, India (www.rvce.ac.in) for Kar-
         nataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) using 10% pongamia oil with 90% diesel fuel at their
         engine test rig. The results were presented at the National Conference on Biofuels, held at National            If you have questions or want
         Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, India, March 23-25, 2006.                                         information on the technical
                                                                                                                         details of the trial please contact
                                                                                                                         megharikh@hotmail.com /
                                                                                                                         www.ksrtc.in



28             Public Transport International - 4/2006

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Driving further on greener fuel, Biofuel blends in KSRTC’s buses in India

  • 1. Driving further on greener fuel Biofuel blends in KSRTC’s buses in India N.S. Megharikh, Director (Personnel & Environment), KSRTC, & P.S. Anand Rao, Environment Officer, KSRTC, Bangalore, India As part of a raft of environmental programmes, 81 buses in the Indian city of Bangalore now run on a diesel:pongamia oil blend. As well as affording a huge cut in emissions, this fuel has enabled annual savings of over EUR 20,000. KSRTC is a pioneer in the use of SVOs blended with diesel Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) was established in 1961 as a State Owned Road- ways Transport Undertaking. The Government of Turning fortunes around India and Karnataka State Government have a stake Transport is an important index of the social, cultural and in the capital structure of the Corporation in the economic development of any society. Although passenger form of an equity and capital contribution. KSRTC transport is a business for public transport operators, it is has its headquarters in Bangalore, India, and is a very difficult to run under a strict business principle of no public utility service that aims to provide adequate, profit and no loss given that State transport undertakings are economical and properly coordinated passenger run as more of a social service than a business. Financial per- transport services to the citizens of Karnataka State. formance at KSRTC has been exceptional in spite of the need KSRTC currently operates 5045 schedules with a to fulfill this social responsibility obligation and its transfor- fleet of 5423 buses covering 1.75 million km and mation into a profit making organization is unheard of in carrying about 2.3 million passengers per day. Daily Indian State transport undertakings. Over recent years KSRTC traffic revenue ranges from INR 30 to 40 million has turned its fortunes around, starting from -480.28 million (EUR 515,000 to 687,000). KSRTC employs a work- INR (EUR -8.2 million) in 1995-1996 to +327.38 INR (EUR +5.6 force of 25,897 in its 10 operating divisions, which million) for the period 2002-2003. Its revenue margin now include 56 depots, two regional workshops, a print- stands at +200.50 INR (EUR +3.4 million). ing press, three training centres and a hospital. KSRTC offers a range of passenger services using KSRTC has managed to become financially healthier by World Class Volvo AC buses, Ultra Deluxe buses, adopting new technologies and management concepts, cost Semi deluxe and Express buses. These aerodynami- control exercises and environmental upgrade programmes, cally designed and fuel-efficient buses operate on initiatives that have also made it possible to maximize traffic regional urban and suburban routes - both local and revenue. long distance services - that can be up to 1200km in Combating pollution length. Headed by a Director (Personnel & Environment) at corporate level, KSRTC’s ‘Environmental Cell’ came into existence in 1996 and is the first of its kind set up by any State Transport Undertaking in the entire country. The cell monitors the envi- 26 Public Transport International - 4/2006
  • 2. DOSSIER ronmental impact on air pollution, water pollution, noise pol- lution and waste generation and has introduced various tech- nological innovations in the areas of steam boilers, re-tread- ing of tyres, generation of distilled water and material waste. The progress of the environmental impact assessment and implementation of environmental upgrade programmes is RELATION BETWEEN EMISSION CHECKS monitored from corporate level. Some of the pollution control measures in operation include: AND DEFECTS FROM1999-00 TO 2005-06 • Regular pollution level checks for the entire bus fleet and display of pollution free stickers. No. of checks * 10,000 • Although emission levels have to be checked every six No. of defects * 1,000 months according to regulations, corporation policy 6 requires vehicles to be checked once a month. 5.386 5.048 • Fuel supply quality controls at all depots via random checks 5 4.305 4.494 of fuel critical parameters. 4 • Ambient air quality checks at nodes such as depots, bus Numbers stations and production units to assess the impact of air 3 2.712 pollution. • Noise level checks at production units and depots to moni- 2 tor noise pollution and keep within noise level limits - by means of acoustic treatment - at stationary generator sets. 1 0.652 0.264 0.258 • Cleanliness levels in bus stations, administrative offices, 0 depots and production units, maintained through competi- tive grading of the depots. 1999 - 2000 2001 - 2002 2003 - 2004 2005 - 2006 Years • An afforestation programme launched by the organisation in 1996 in which over 278,000 saplings (pongamia and other varieties) have been planted and maintained. KSRTC is in the process of gaining ISO 14000 (2000) certifica- tion, and performs a monthly energy, water and waste mini- mization audit in all its units. On top of this, smoke emission checks have been regularly conducted on its fleet of 5423 buses. COMPARISON OF EMISSIONS FOR BUSES FUELLED BY DIESEL WITH THOSE RUNNING ON A 10% BLEND Biofuel blend in KSRTC’s buses The KSRTC is a pioneer in the use of Straight Vegetable Oils Diesel (SVO) blended with diesel. Pongamia Oil began to be used in 10% blend 2003 and at present 81 buses are in operation in KSRTC’s 10 9.64 9.95 Doddaballapur Depot using a 90:10 ratio mix of HSD (High Speed Diesel): Pongamia Oil. This split was arrived at by analysing the effect of using a biofuel / diesel blend in vari- 8 ous ratios on a multi cylinder Ashok Leyland Diesel Hino engine. Induction of Pongamia Pinnata biofuel with diesel in 6 5.803 g/kWhr varying proportions on an engine test bed was tested at the 4.835 different speeds (varying RPM and load of the engine) and 4 the results compared with the same engine using HSD. Sig- nificant emissions reductions were obtained especially for 2.272 2.176 SO x , PM, HC, CO and CO 2 emissions. The diesel:biofuel 2 ratios were calculated in varying percentages of 10 and 20 0.307 0.285 with diesel. The use of biofuel with diesel in the ratio of 0 90:10 (Diesel:Pongamia Oil) was concluded as being the PM HC CO NOx most cost effective (see overview of results below)1 and non- polluting substance for petroleum products, and resulted in Emissions a tremendous reduction in emissions (see opposite). Reduction Reduction Reduction Increase During the case study in the Doddaballapur depot of KSRTC, 4.2% 7.2% 16.7% 3.2% biofuel was found to have caused no problems to fuel equip- ment or the engine. This was corroborated by Mico Bosch Ltd. (a fuel equipment and injectors manufacturing company in India) after dismantling the engine of KSRTC bus run on pongamia oil. The use of transesterified oil is more beneficial both for the engine and the environment. It chemically matches the quality and specification of diesel oil. However, Public Transport International - 4/2006 27
  • 3. DOSSIER instead of the transesterifica- of Indian Standards (BIS). tion of the oil - a useful method KSRTC has also embarked on of reducing its high viscosity by the large scale plantation of use of a special fuel additive - a pongamia and other varieties on special two-stage filtration sys- plots of vacant land. tem - of 25 microns and one The use of biofuel and its mar- micron – was employed to ket especially in public trans- ensure clean filtration and pre- port buses in India and else- vent filter clogging. To achieve where clearly depend upon better combustion and spray of various factors such as the pro- the biofuel, the atomiser pres- duction and application poten- sure was increased from 230 to tial, appropriate feedstock, 240 kg/cm2. A 200 RPM agita- financial viability, environmen- tor and a gear pump were also tal impact, and government and installed and operated every institutional support. Neverthe- three hours to keep the fuel cor- less, the rising cost of fossil fuel rectly mixed and steadily circu- is certain to accelerate the pace The biofuel was found to have caused no problems to fuel equipment or the lating in the underground tank. of use of biofuel. engine during the experiment The use of biofuel at KSRTC in 1 A study on the use of biofuel in the form of Straight Vegetable KSRTC was carried out jointly by Oil (Pure Plant Oil) with an BMVEL/GTZ, TERI & ISEC in October improved filter system 2005 and the findings were presen- increased fuel efficiency from ted at the ‘International Conference And Expo – BIOFUEL 2012 – Vision to 5.10 km per litre to 5.12 km per Reality’ (17-18 October 2005) organi- litre as compared to the buses zed by TERI, New Delhi. run on HSD. KSRTC plans to gradually convert its 56 depots over to using a 10% biofuel blend depending on the opera- tional results, the cost of biofuel and its availability. It plans to run buses on 100% esterified biofuel respecting the parame- ters as laid down by the Bureau Overview of results of using 10% Pongamia Pinnata with HSD in KSRTC’s Doddaballapur Depot for 81 buses Daily average vehicle journey 364km Average km per litre* 5.18 Cost per km on high speed diesel INR 6.50 (11 euro cents)/km Cost per km using 90/10 HSD/biofuel INR 6.39 (11 euro cents)/km Difference in cost per km using 10% pongamia oil INR 0.11(0.1 euro cent) /km Savings per bus per annum INR 14,615 (EUR 251) Approximate annual savings of 81 buses INR 1.183 million (EUR 20,291) *A test study was conducted by R.V.College of Engineering, Bangalore, India (www.rvce.ac.in) for Kar- nataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) using 10% pongamia oil with 90% diesel fuel at their engine test rig. The results were presented at the National Conference on Biofuels, held at National If you have questions or want Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, India, March 23-25, 2006. information on the technical details of the trial please contact megharikh@hotmail.com / www.ksrtc.in 28 Public Transport International - 4/2006