In a couple of years you could be travelling in a train that runs on derivatives of non-edible vegetable oils. The railways have successfully tested bio-fuel on a Shatabdi Express between New Delhi and Amritsar, while stationary locomotives are gearing up to run on the eco-friendly fuel.
Executive Director (mechanical engineering) of Indian Railways Shakeel Ahmed says the railways have already tested 5 per cent to 20 per cent blends of bio-diesel fuel on engine test beds at the Research Design and Standards Organisation, Lucknow.
Though fuel efficiency for the blends is 1 per cent lower than for high-speed diesel, improved lubrication more than compensates for the deficiency. Recently, a Shatabdi was successfully run from Delhi to Amritsar and back on a 5 per cent bio-diesel blend.
Bio-diesel is derived from natural oils, edible as well as non-edible, which are made of triglycerides. Triglycerides when reacted chemically with alcohol in the presence of a simple catalyst result in fatty acid esters, which are very similar to petroleum-derived diesel. These esters, called bio-diesel, process higher
