India's largest bus manufacturer, Ashok Leyland, is going to implement a 6-liter engine that will run on clean natural gas (CNG) enriched with hydrogen, making it the first bus powered by an internal combustion engine aided by hydrogen.

The engine has successfully been tested by Eden Energy Limited, a company from Australia, and features a 6-cylinder, 92 kW (123 hp) configuration. It was initially built to meet the Bharat IV (Euro IV) pollution norm, which is mandatory in India. The results from the calibrated control system and exhaust catalyst testing for the naturally-aspired engine would meet Bharat V requirements.

Hythane, Eden's US subsidiary, and also the company who stood at the roots of the project, tested the engine and found that the NOx emissions have been reduced by 16.6%, the total hydrocarbon emissions have been lowered by 15.1%, including a non-methane, CO2 emissions have been reduced by 6.2% and the fuel efficiency improved by 6.5%.

By joining and being a founding member of the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy (IPHE), India has created a National Hydrogen Energy Roadmap, that plans a transition to hydrogen powered vehicles and a suited infrastructure. It's called Roadmap Vision 2020, and, as the title suggests, it plans that 1 million vehicles to run on hydrogen by 2020. Also, a large-scale refuelling station for hydrogen-enriched natural gas will be constructed in Mumbai by the end of the year, and will refuel 50 to 70 buses using the Hythane engine.

So, if CNG can be enriched with hydrogen, then why such a heavy opponency from various persons and institutions that seek to dismiss the experimental findings of those so called "HHO scammers"? Maybe there's no smoke without fire, and they're right… hydrogen can really improve mileage and cleanliness of petrol-based fuels.

Source: The Green Optimistic UK