Dhrubatara Mitra with the generator. Pix: Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, Feb. 10: A young scientist, Dhrubatara Mitra, selected by the Centre’s Department of Science and Technology, under the young professional programme for research in social development initiatives, today claimed to have found an alternative to diesel.

Test results over the past six months have proved that the new fuel, extracted from karanj seeds found in abundance on the Chotanagpur plateau, can be used to run generators and even light and heavy vehicles with increased fuel efficiency, Mitra claimed.

The results have already brought international giants to the Society for Rural Industrialisation, Ranchi, (SRI) and its director Ajoy Kumar Basu, under whom Mitra is pursuing his research. While the UK’s Birmingham University has approached SRI, Ranchi, for long-term collaborative research, another multi-national, Airbridge Greens, has evinced interest in a long-term technical contract with SRI .

“The most common use of karanj oil is manufacture of industrial grease. Tribals in Jharkhand have been using the oil for lighting, medicinal purposes and as a pest repellent. However research has proved that if pre-heated to a certain temperature, karanj oil exhibits the same viscosity as that of diesel,” the young scientist told The Telegraph.

“I come from a remote village in Deulti in Bengal where we have to depend on diesel generators due to frequent power cuts. Since diesel is costly and in most cases adulterated, it has been a childhood dream to develop an alternate and cheap fuel,” Mitra recollected.

A 5-kilowatt diesel generator was used for the experiment and the diesel tank was replaced by a constant temperature oil tank. When the karanj oil was preheated to a certain temperature, the results of running the generator with karanj proved much better vis-à-vis running the generator with diesel.

Mitra pointed out that the results showed that while one litre of diesel gave 1.6KW electrical energy, a litre of karanj gave 2.1KW. So, there was less carbon emission when the generator was run on karanj oil, compared to diesel.

Since the generator could be run with higher fuel efficiency on karanj oil, the same principle could be used to run diesel automobiles as well. But, more research would be needed to test the efficacy of karanj oil. “The generator was dismantled after running for 500 hours over six months. Though run on karanj oil, instead of diesel, no visible impact on the internal structure was noticed,” Mitra said.

“The best part of karanj is that the oil is virtually free. Four kilos of karanj seeds for a kilo of oil costs around Rs 30. Add to that a processing charge of Rs 10. After extracting the oil, the oil cake could be resold for use as pesticides for Rs 30. The final cost of karanj oil will be Rs 10 per litre compared to diesel that costs Rs 40 per litre,” SRI director Ajoy Kumar Basu said.