ISRO Chief Dr. Somnath calls for Increasing efficiency and stopping carbon emissions at Graphic Era International Conference to save world from pollution

ISRO Chief Dr. Somnath calls for Increasing efficiency and stopping carbon emissions at Graphic Era International Conference to save world from pollution

Dehradun, Nov 9

Secretary of Central Government’s Department of Space and Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Dr. S. Somnath has called upon the need for rigorous research on controlling the pollution caused due to combustion process.

Dr. Somnath was addressing an international conference on ‘Saving the world from Pollution’ as chief guest organized at Graphic Era Deemed University, here today. He said that the process of combustion is similar to burning of fuel, but the reaction of oxygen that takes place in combustion releases enormous amount of energy. This causes pollution in the environment as well as space. Rocket constitutes of 80% of fuel and the engine takes up only 10-20% of the total space. The fuel used in rockets is in the powdered form of aluminium known as aluminum oxide. Similarly, many dangerous materials are used in the form of fuel including hydrogen chloride. This causes a lot of pollution. Automation should be included in rocket engine designs, he added.

Chairman of ISRO Dr. Somnath said that earlier the engines of rockets that returned from space could not be reused but now engineering has made it possible. Now rocket engines are being reused and the detailing has significantly increased.

Dr. Somnath said that energy and combustion are core areas of research and increasing their efficiency along with reducing pollution are research topics. “The green fuel available with us such as hydrogen, methanol, ammonia, etc., also require works to increase their efficiency and to overcome their challenges. Coal, wood, etc are also good sources of energy but their carbon emission is very high. Their usage in the form of gas by the gasification process will help in reducing pollution and is also a core area of research. Works are being done with the objective of transitioning combustion to zero emission,” he said.

Renowned Missile Scientist, Member of the Niti Aayog and Chancellor of Graphic Era Deemed University Dr. V. K. Saraswat said that landslides, floods and variations in the weather are all due to global warming. Not only Uttarakhand but the whole world is facing disasters because of these factors. Carbon dioxide and green house gases are also big reasons for this and humans are responsible for that, he said.

Dr. Saraswat said that we have developed science and technologies but we have to own the pollution caused because of these. We have to look out for controlling the combustion process in IC engines that are in used in rockets, aircrafts, etc. The solutions for pollution caused by mobility, industry, thermal power plant, chemical process and combustion process are less. A lot of research is required in this area as well.

He said that renewal energy, electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles and alternative fuels cause the least pollution. A strategy is required for transitioning from available fuels to the greener fuels. The efficiency of blended fuels can also be increased. More reasearch is needed for this. A new fuel can be made by blending diesel with hydrogen and CNG with hydrogen. While comparing the pollution caused during the life cycle of electric vehicle and pollution caused by hybrid vehicles both result in same amount of pollution. With time the efficiency of electric vehicles also decreases.

Memeber of the Niti Aayog Dr. Saraswat emphasized on alternative fuels and said that methanol causes 50% less pollution, it does not emit sulphur gas and carbon dioxide emission is also less. Hydrogen is the cleanest fuel. In the combustion process of IC engine hydrogen can be used as fuel. Challenges such as storage, transportation, etc., are related to hydrogen. Methods of hydrogen production, cost effectiveness and storage, etc. need to be worked upon.

Secretary of The combustion Institute- Indian Section P. K. Pandey highlighted the achivements and activities of the institute. In the conference, CEO and Managing Director of Dastur Energy Atanu Mukherjee gave details about the scale of energy, economy and security. He said that solar energy, wind energy, etc., have advantages as well as limitations. That is why choosing the right fuel is important.

In the conference, Chairman of Graphic Era Group of Institutions Dr. Kamal Ghanshala said that India is the first country that has successfully sent a spacecraft to the South Pole of the Moon which is a major achievement of ISRO. Under the guidance of Dr. V.K. Saraswat, the country has built unique missiles like Prithvi, Dhanush and Agni. Dr. Ghanshala highlighted the journey and milestones of Graphic Era that have been achieved till now. He said that in this international conference technologies to deal with the challenges of reducing carbon emissions and increasing capacity will be discussed in detail.

In this international conference scientists will discuss various topics such as bio-fuels production and utilization, hybrid electric vehicles, software control engine, methanol production and utilization, hydrogen fuelled IC engines, gas turbines and rocket engine combustion, spray combustion, super Sonic combustion and optical diagnostics for IC engines. In the conference, scientists will present more than 120 research papers on these topics. Dr. Ugur Guven from United Nations, Prof. Zhang Huangeei from Singapore, Prof. Ming- Sun Wu from Taiwan, Dr. Prakhar Jindal from Netherlands, Dr. Ashish Vashishtha from Ireland, Dr. Santanu Chaudhury from Chicago and Dr. Narayanaswamy Venkateswaran from US will be participating in the conference. A souvenir was released in the conference and a huge cake was also cut to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Combustion Institute.

Director General of UCOST Dr. Durgesh Pant, Pro Chancellor of Graphic Era Deemed University Prof. Rakesh Kumar Sharma, Vice Chancellor Dr. Narpinder Singh and Vice  Chancellor of Graphic Era Hill University Dr. Sanjay Jasola along with faculty members and students of the university were present in the conference. Organizing Secretary of the International Conference and HOD of Graphic Era’s Department of Aerospace Engineering Dr. Sudhir Joshi gave the vote of thanks. The conference was hosted by Dr. M. P. Singh.

In the international conference, the people of the state were congratulated for Uttarakhand’s Foundation Day being held today.Member of the Niti Aayog and Chancellor of Graphic Era Deemed University Dr. V. K. Saraswat expressed happiness over the organizing of this important international conference on 25th Foundation Day of Uttarakhand and congratulated the people of the state. He informed that today is also the 50th anniversary of The Combustion Institute.

Secretary of Department of Space and Chairman of ISRO Dr. S. Somnath and Chairman of Graphic Era Group of Institutions, Dr. Kamal Ghanshala also paid homage to the martyrs on the  foundation day of Uttarakhand and gave best wishes to the people of Uttarakhand.