Table of Contents

1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................................2
1. Potential Problems Associated with Petrol- Ethanol Blends............................................................5
· Corrosion of fuel system components...............................................................................................6
· Phase separation................................................................................................................................6
· Fuel system blockages.......................................................................................................................7
2. Objectives........................................................................................................................................9
Specific objectives...............................................................................................................................9
2. Activities and Methodology...............................................................................................................10
 Survey of ethanol production in Nepal......................................................................................10
 Ethanol chemical testing and testing protocol development.......................................................10
 Establishment of library of standards of fuel, protocols of fuel testing and research document in
NOC..................................................................................................................................................10
 Survey of current status of infrastructure of transportation, storage and distribution.................11
 Engine and fuel system material survey and testing...................................................................11
Lab (Research) Engine Test...................................................................................................................11
 Simulator Engine Test...............................................................................................................13
 Vehicle testing...........................................................................................................................13
 Preparation of Protocol and guideline for ethanol blended fuel.................................................14
3. Modality of the Project Implementation............................................................................................16
Human Resource...................................................................................................................................16
Project Leader....................................................................................................................................16
Experimental Engineer......................................................................................................................17
Researcher 1 (Energy, Economics and Environment)........................................................................17
Researcher 2 (Fuels testing and chemical analysis of exhaust)..........................................................17
Researcher 3 (Fuels testing and chemical analysis of exhaust)..........................................................17
4. Follow up Study................................................................................................................................18
Timeline................................................................................................................................................18
5. Conclusions.......................................................................................................................................23
6. Bibliography......................................................................................................................................24

1
 List of Figures

Figure 1 : Distillation curves of petrol and E10...........................................................................................6

Figure 2 : Variable Compression Ratio Research Engine..........................................................................12
Figure 3 : Mutlicylinder Petrol Engine with Electronic Fuel Injection System (also named as simulator) 12
Figure 4 : Emission analyser......................................................................................................................12
Figure 5 : The activities and the expected outcome...................................................................................15

2
1. Introduction
Ethanol has been used as motor fuel typically as biofuel additives in several countries. It can be
produced from biomass feedstock including sugarcane, corn and other grain crop as well as from
cellulosic material like wood waste and agricultural crop residue. It can be used directly as an
alternative transportation fuel with especially designed spark ignition internal combustion
engines or in the form of ethanol-petrol blends with some or minimal engine/fuel system
modifications. Ethanol can also be used as knock suppressing components in petrol.

It has been estimated that, 18,045 m3ethanol can be annually produced in Nepal from molasses, a
by-product of sugar production. It has been estimated that the ethanol produced within the
country can replace as much as 14% of petrol import if 15-20% ethanol blends is used.

Several countries have introduced petrol-ethanol blends with small proportion of ethanol (3% to
5% denoted as E3 and E5) as knock suppressants or octane booster in replacement of MTBE
(methyl tert-butyl ether) and TEL (tetra ethyl lead) both of which are considered to be harmful.
Some countries of Europe and the US have been promoting E10 as an easy way to introduce fuel
from a renewable source without costly changes in the existing fleet of the vehicles on the road.
Brazil has been using E25 as a strong attempt to replace petrol by ethanol produced from
sugarcane, its domestic renewable fuel. India has been using ethanol blended gasoline since the
90s. Some of the oil supplying companies sell a 5 % ethanol blended gasoline in the market.
Ethanol for the purpose of blending with gasoline is produced from molasses. In some of the
states in India, it is mandatory to use a 5 % ethanol blend. As an attempt to curtail the foreign
fuel imports, Government of Nepal has announced to start implementing ethanol blended
petrol in Kathmandu Valley.

The effect of addition of ethanol to petrol results in changes in the properties of the base fuel.
The changes in the properties can affect engine performance which includes:
 power
 operability
 durability
 exhaust and evaporative emissions

3
The extent of the affects in the engine by the changes in fuel composition and properties depends
on:
 engine design
 age and technology
 the base fuel itself
 fuel system
 engine control system
 emissions control equipment.

In most of the countries it has been experienced that 10% ethanol-petrol blends can be used in
spark ignition engines without any major modifications to the air/fuel system. However, this has
to be ensured in case of vehicle fleet operating in Nepal which includes wide variation of
automobiles in make, age, and technology in order to gain confidence to make the E10 blend
mandatory

Ethanol is known to be hygroscopic in nature, resulting in adverse effects that includes:

 corrosion of certain metals
 degradation rubbers and plastics.

Ethanol blended petrol has not only the potential to damage the fuel system (tanks, pumps, hoses,
seals etc.,), it also can harm the existing systems for storage, transportation, and dispensing
system currently in practice in Nepal. Therefore, a comprehensive study on the compatibility of
ethanol with the materials of fuel system in the engine along with the distribution system is very
important. Apart from this, since ethanol changes the properties of the base fuel, the
performance, drivability and durability as well as emissions of the vehicle may have negative
impact. It is extremely important to study the effects of blending ethanol in the fuel in the
different types of vehicles operating in Nepal having different technologies used in fuel
induction system, combustion and emissions control.

Kathmandu University, School of Engineering and its Technical Training Center is equipped
with the facilities and has the capacity that is necessary for doing the material endurance tests,
engine and emissions tests, and engine and fuel system durability test. Further, School of Science
4
within the same premises house the necessary facilities to study the fuel chemistry. Therefore
Kathmandu University will like to put itself as the only institution in Nepal having capacity to
carry out all the intended study before the widespread implementation on ethanol blends in
Nepal.

The project will be named as NOC-KU Ethanol Project. It will be a collaborative project of the
two organizations. This project will run for two years. The first year will be the basic preparatory
phase in which general assessment of ethanol production in Nepal and its economic and
sustainability aspects, fuel properties testing, basic engine testing, and road trials of the test
vehicles will be done. The second year will be the implementation phase assessing the suitability
of implementation of ethanol blended petrol in Nepal. This phase will have the activities
including dissemination, trial distribution of blended fuel, user feedback assessment, and
consolidation of ethanol policy in production, distribution and use in Nepal.

1. Potential Problems Associated with Petrol- Ethanol Blends

Ethanol (C2H5OH) is a pure substance having fixed boiling points. However, petrol is composed
of hundreds of C4–C12 hydrocarbons, and has wide boiling temperatures. Ethanol contains an
oxygen atom so that it can be viewed as a partially oxidized hydrocarbon. When ethanol is
blended with petrol the resulting fuel’s properties can be different than that expected for average
mixture. It can be seen from Figure 1, which shows distillation curve of petrol and E10, that even
though boiling point of ethanol is in the range of some of the lighter hydrocarbons, the
distillation properties of the has different behavior than petrol. This can be assumed to affect the
drivability and performance of the automobiles running on such blends. There may be several
other problems associated with petrol-ethanol blends.

5
 Figure 1 : Distillation curves of petrol and E10

The use of E85, a mixture of 85 % ethanol and 15 % petrol, for flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) that
can run both on petrol and high ethanol blends, has become common. Blends with other
percentages of ethanol in petrol are commonly used in various countries around the world,
especially Australia (10 %), Brazil (up to 25 %), Canada (10 %), Sweden (5 %) and the USA (up
to 10 %). There is still debate about whether, how and to what extent ethanol in petrol may affect
the materials in the vehicle and cause excessive wear of parts in the fuel system and the engine.
In the US, car manufacturers have agreed to manufacture vehicle that use petrol with up to 10 %
ethanol.

A number of potential problems have been identified with the use of ethanol blends in the
vehicles. These are:

· Corrosion of fuel system components

Some soft metals such as aluminium copper, brass and zinc are incompatible with ethanol and
can suffer corrosion and pitting if exposed to it for extended periods. Furthermore ethanol
dissolves in water and is more electrically conductive than petrol. The presence of water can
facilitate corrosion and the conductivity facilitates the possibility of galvanic corrosion.

· Phase separation
Since water dissolves in ethanol to a much greater extent than it dissolves in petrol. Some water
can be dissolved in ethanol-petrol blends and will pass through the fuel system with no effect.
However, if the amount of water present is substantially high the blend will separate into an
upper petrol layer and a lower water/ethanol layer. Generally fuel is drawn from the bottom of
6
the tank so the water/ethanol layer will be drawn into the engine first and the engine will not run
thereby needing fuel system flushing and servicing.

· Fuel system blockages

In due course of normal engine operation deposits such as gums (fuel degradation products), rust
and scale will tend to build up in the fuel system. Generally gum binds the deposits. Often the
gums act as binders for the inorganic deposits. If the vehicle is switched from E0 (petrol only) to
E10 the increased solvent properties of the ethanol blend will loosen the binding gums and
causing the deposits to be mixed with the fuel and transported to the fuel filter causing
accelerated blockage. Sometimes this can result in loss of power and eventually complete vehicle
failure so the reliability of the vehicle is reduced.

· Volatility and vapour pressure changes affecting engine operability

E10 blend has a higher vapor pressure than petrol. This could result in the E10 blend vaporizing
prematurely in the fuel system before it reaches to the carburetor or fuel injector. This can
happen when the vehicle is left to ‘hot soak’ i.e. the engine and associated cooling devices have
been switched off while the engine is still hot. The likelihood this problem will depend on the
vehicle’s fuel system design, ambient temperature and pressure. The extent of this problem can
be different in carbureted and fuel injected engines.

Premature vaporisation of the fuel can result in vapour lock and fuel deprivation leading to hot
start problems, hesitation and even stalling when the operator attempts to restart and drive the hot
vehicle.

· Enleanment affecting engine operability

Older vehicles typically use carburetors or mechanical fuel injection systems to deliver the
fuel/air mixture to the engine. These systems are open-loop which means that the fuel air mixture
is pre-determined by the calibration of the fuel delivery system. Carbureted systems will result in
some enleanment (increased oxygen due to presence of oxygen of ethanol) therefore the
carburetor has to be recalibrated (i.e. tuned) for the higher oxygen levels otherwise there can be
drivability issues. A lean mixture results in hotter combustion, a greater tendency to cause engine
spark knock and hotter exhaust gas temperatures (higher combustion temperatures will also

7
increase NOx formation). More modern engines typically use electronic fuel injection systems
and are closed-loop which means that the engine control unit (ECU) monitors the exhaust gases
and adjusts the fuel/air mixture to optimise combustion. Closed loop systems may adapt to the
additional oxygen in the ethanol and prevent enleanment but this depends on the condition of
oxygen sensors.

· Paint damage from spillages

Since ethanol has higher solvent properties, it may damage the paint at the vicinity of the fuel
tank inlet of the vehicles. This has to be assessed through tests.

· Carburetor icing problem

Carburetor system icing is a phenomenon experienced by vehicles operating under idle engine
conditions when warming up or when cruising, typically under cool, humid ambient conditions.
It occurs because of a reduction in temperature caused by increased vaporization of the fuel
containing ethanol which has lower boiling temperature than petrol. This results in the air
temperature falling below its dew point, so that the moisture condenses and then freezes onto
carburetor components. The deposition of ice on components acts as a restriction to air flow,
which can result in stalling or a loss of power, with clear implications for vehicle operation and
safety. This has also to be studied in case of cold weather condition of Nepal.

· Possible effects in fuel distribution system

The blends would have the same effects of material incompatibility, corrosion and phase
separation problem in the fuel storage and distribution as well. This has to be properly assessed
in the case of usual fuel storage and distribution system employed in Nepal.

Summary:

The problems described above have to be thoroughly studied in different vehicle models that are
in the streets of Nepal. Apart from studying the potential problems and ensuring that the vehicles
would not have any adverse effects when switched to 10% ethanol blends, there are other issues
to be addressed regarding ethanol production capacity, its economics and sustainability.
Therefore, the proposed study has several objectives which when fulfilled will give proper
guidelines in implementing the ethanol blends in Nepali market.
8
 2. Objectives
The proposed study will attempt to determine the effect of ethanol-petrol blends on the
performance, efficiency, and emissions of petrol engines operating in Nepal. More specifically,
this research deals with the effect of ethanol blending on engines that are calibrated to operate on
100% petrol. The other objectives listed are related to economics and policy.

Specific objectives:

1. To review ethanol production process in Nepal, the quality that can be supplied, and its
economic and environment aspects/benefits.
2. To analyse the chemical properties of ethanol available in Nepal in terms of the quality
and properties pertaining to internal combustion engine operation, physical properties of
petrol-ethanol blends including distillation properties and vapour pressure, and to develop
test protocol for NOC for regular monitoring of the fuel quality.
3. To study the possibility of replacing MTBE with ethanol and the economics of the
replacement.
4. To evaluate current petroleum transportation, storage and dispensing system considering
the future conversion to ethanol blended fuel.
5. To study the effect of blending on the materials used in the fuel system and engines as
well as dispensing systems in laboratory experimentation.
6. To study the effect of ethanol blending on the performance and emissions of test engines
of different technologies, i.e. carbureted engines and fuel injected engine in the
laboratory.
7. To select vehicles of various types, makes and technologies and test in real world
operation in cooperating with volunteers (NOC, government office vehicles and
interested private vehicle owners).
8. To develop the methods for blending, storage and dispensing and to dissemination to the
concerned.
9. To disseminate the process of storage, precaution in dispensing and precautions for the
same by preparing proper guidelines and precautionary messages to the suppliers and
users about the use of blends in different vehicles and technologies.

9
 2. Activities and Methodology
The following sections provide the details of the activities involved in the project and the
methods to be followed for completing those activities.

 Survey of ethanol production in Nepal

A field survey of ethanol production plant status, their technology, capacity and tentative
production cost will be done. The life cycle assessment will also be done to study the
sustainability aspect of ethanol production, transportation and usage. Economics of ethanol
production will also be studied so that this study will be able to provide the basis of the pricing
of the blended fuel which, in the beginning, should be less than the base petroleum fuel, as a sort
of incentives to the consumer of such fuel. Economic and technical study will also be done for
the replacement of MTBE by ethanol. Generally, since MTBE being an additive can be avoided
to be added while procuring the petroleum product.

 Ethanol chemical testing and testing protocol development

As described in earlier section, ethanol to be blended with petrol should strictly have chemical
specification as per standard. To test the chemical composition of ethanol chromatographic
technique will be used. Kathmandu University has gas chromatography (GC) and high
performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) instruments at various research labs. Any one of
those machines can be employed in the study. The specification of the fuel grade ethanol and the
testing protocol will also be recommended which can be used by NOC at later stage while
procuring ethanol from industry.

Since, the properties of fuel after blending is also a main concern for the operation and
performance of the automobile engines, specifications of the blends and the test protocol will
also be developed for NOC. Basically, density and volatility are the most important properties of
the blended fuel pertaining to the engine operation. For the fuel properties testing, already
existing fuel testing lab of NOC will be used so that the capacity remains with NOC. The same
protocol will be used by NOC to test whether or not the properties of the blends are within the
acceptable range.

 Establishment of library of standards of fuel, protocols of fuel testing and research document
in NOC
A library of standard in fuels testing will also be established at NOC central office. This library
will be established after substantial number of reference documents including American
Petroleum Institute (API), British Petroleum (BP), American standard of Testing and Materials
10
(ASTM), and International Standard Organization (ISO), along with the research documents,
articles and papers related to fuels, petroleum, and alternative fuels will be collected during the
project period.

 Survey of current status of infrastructure of transportation, storage and distribution

A survey of current status of infrastructure of transportation, storage and distribution of petrol
will be done with special consideration on future implementation of ethanol blended fuel.
Scrutiny of any possible material that can be degraded by ethanol blended fuel will be done. If
necessary, test will be done to observe any effect or damage on the material related to
transportation, storage and distribution. Attention will also be given for the possibility of water
leakage due to any reason. An attempt will be made to categorize the petrol pumps on the basis
of their capability to handle ethanol blended petrol so that NOC will later issue necessary
guidelines to upgrade the petrol pumps to be compatible with blended fuels. This guideline will
include the recommendation for the standards of transportation and storage tanks and procedures
to blend and store.

 Engine and fuel system material survey and testing

A survey of the material and type of fuel systems of the representative vehicles available in
Nepal will be done. For this fuel systems (tanks, pumps, lines and other accessories) of
representative automotive brands and different make year will be purchased and tested in
laboratory. The test will be done to observe if any material incompatibility can be present.

Lab (Research) Engine Test

After the study of the behavior the fuel systems, engine tests will be done in the test and research
engines of Kathmandu University.

11
 Figure 2 : Variable Compression Ratio Research Engine

Figure 3 : Mutli cylinder Petrol Engine with Electronic Fuel Injection System (also named as
simulator)

Figure 4 : Emission analyser

12
VCR Research Engine

The setup consists of single cylinder, four stroke, variable compression ratio (VCR) research
engine connected to eddy current dynamometer. It is provided with necessary instruments for
combustion pressure, crank-angle, airflow, fuel flow, temperature and load measurements. These
signals are interfaced to computer through high speed data acquisition. The set up has stand
alone panel box consisting of air box, twin fuel tank for dual fuel test, manometer, fuel
measuring unit, transmitters for air and fuel flow cooling water and calorimeter water flow
measurement. The setup enables study of VCR engine performance for both diesel and petrol, for
brake power, indicated power, frictional power, brake mean effective pressure, indicated mean
effective pressure, brake thermal efficiency, indicated thermal efficiency, mechanical efficiency,
volumetric efficiency, specific fuel consumption, air-fuel ratio, heat balance and combustion
analysis.

This research engine test will give an idea on the performance of the engine when blended fuel is
used.

Gas Analysers

There are various analysers available for the measurement of emissions from the engines. These
are state of the art analysers known for accuracy and reliability.

Horiba Mexa 584L Emission Analyser

A gas analyser, Horiba Mexa 584, which is basically an automotive emission analyser, measures
CO, CO2, THC and excess O2.

 Simulator Engine Test

The fuel blends will be tested in the stand alone multi-cylinder engine of a car available at KU.
This will provide further confidence in real engine operation.

 Vehicle testing
After completion of the research engine and simulator engine tests, and material compatibility
tests, vehicles testing will be done. For this, two vehicles of Kathmandu University will be
employed. One vehicle will be carburetor fitted and another vehicle will be fuel injection fitted
vehicle. Both winter and summer season operation of the vehicles will be closely monitored in
terms its drivability, mileage and reliability with the regular measurement of the exhaust

13
emissions and observation of the potential components for any adverse impact due to the use of
ethanol blend. If all of these tests show promising results then vehicle fleet of NOC will be road
tested in its usual operation fuelled with ethanol blends. For this five petrol vehicles of different
age and technologies will be selected. Placebo test will also be done in which two of the vehicles
will be given pure petrol instead of ethanol blended petrol such that any biased feedback from
the operator/driver could be detected.

 Preparation of Protocol and guideline for ethanol blended fuel

The outcome of the study will be able to provide necessary guidelines regarding petrol storage,
blending, distribution and use as well as the standard of ethanol intended to be blended and the
petrol ethanol blends. This study will also prepare publicity materials (brochure, pamphlets,
posters etc.) regarding ethanol blends to create awareness about ethanol blended fuel.

The activities and the expected outcome is given in the following flowchart.

14
 Activities Outcomes

Economics and vision on long term

Survey of ethanol production in Nepal
sustainability of ethanol distribution

Ethanol chemical testing and Fuel ethanol and blends standard

testing protocol development specification

Survey of current status of infrastructure Guidelines and standards for petrol pumps
of transportation, storage and distribution for ethanol blended fuel distribution

Guidelines to the users on material

Engine and fuel system material survey
compatibility of different vehicle make
and testing

Understanding of the performance and

Single cylinder (carbureted) research engine tests
emissions of carbureted engines

Multi cylinder electronic fuel injected lab Understanding of the performance and

engine tests emissions of fuel injected engines

Guidelines to the users on carburetor and

On road vehicular tests on
fuel injected engine for blended petrol
carbureted and fuel injected engines

Dissemination of the guidelines and

Initiation and operation of pilot distribution
standards to the users
system for ethanol blended fuel in Kathmandu

User feedback and user encountered Framework for implementation of ethanol

problem assessment blended petrol in Nepal

Figure 5 : The activities and the expected outcome

15
 3. Modality of the Project Implementation
The project will be carried out by the designated team of Kathmandu University consisting of a
Team leader, a research coordinator and three researchers. All the basic experimental works will
be carried out at Kathmandu University Technical Training Center that houses the necessary
instruments for the engine and automobile testing facilities. An office space will be dedicated to
the project at Kathmandu University Technical Training Center having most of the project
related facilities. The researchers hired by KU will be enrolled as Masters by Research (either
Mechanical Engineering or Environmental Science and Engineering). All of their theses will be
supervised by the team leader. In addition, about 10-15 students currently studying at final year
of undergraduate and graduate programmes will be considered for their project work and theses.

NOC will form a project monitoring panel consisting of experts in different areas relevant to the
proposed project monitoring. This may include people from engineering section, procurement
section, distribution section, marketing section and administration. The activities of the proposed
project will be finalized after extended discussions with the expert panel at NOC. The proposed
activities will be carried out according to the finalized activities. All the outcome of the project
activities and the progress will be shared with the expert panel. The expert panel is expected to
provide necessary suggestions to help formulating the policies and guidelines for implementation
of the ethanol blended petrol in Nepal. At the beginning of the study, the expert panel at NOC
and the research team of KU as mentioned will visit a selected country which has a long and
successful history of ethanol blended fuel so that both the team will have necessary exposure for
future implementation of such programme in Nepal.

Human Resource
The human resource involved in the proposed project will be experts and practicing engineers
and scientists in the relevant area. The persons involved in this project, their desirable
qualifications and experiences, and their responsibilities are proposed as follows:

Project Leader: The developer of the concept of this proposal, Dr. Bivek Baral, will be the project
leader. He is an Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering Department at School of
Engineering, Kathmandu University and currently positioned as the Acting Director of
Kathmandu University Technical Training Centre. His area of research is energy and
environment and has long experience in engine related research work. His PhD topic was related
to fuel adulteration and its effects on the combustion and emission of petrol engines. He has led

16
numerous research and developmental work on alternative fuels for engine, engine performance
and emissions etc. His recent work was development of gasifier-engine system for rural
electrification funded by NORAD (7,000,000.00 NRs). The outline of his professional
experience is given in the attached CV.

The team leader will be responsible for the management of finance and human resources and
work as a liaison between KU and NOC. He will manage day to day running of the project and
supervising all the study work, field works and experiments. He will be responsible for: ensuring
that all the set goals and objectives are fulfilled, timely reporting of the work, maintaining the
schedule and maintaining the overall quality of work.

Experimental Engineer: S/he will be an experienced mechanical engineer with working

experience in design and operation and experimentation on energy systems and internal
combustion engines. S/he will work as an expert in conducting experiments in engines and
testing automobiles in real world condition, and analyzing and interpreting the results.

Researcher 1 (Energy, Economics and Environment): S/he will be a mechanical engineer or

environmental engineer with experience in renewable energy and energy economics. S/he will
focus on the energy and environment as well as economic aspects of ethanol production and its
use as automotive fuel. S/he will focus on life cycle assessment of ethanol in Nepal from its
production and consumption in the form of automotive fuel.

Researcher 2 (Fuels testing and chemical analysis of exhaust) : S/he will have a background in
environmental science or environmental chemistry. S/he will perform chemical composition and
physical properties testing of petrol and blends. S/he will be responsible for the development of
protocols and standards for ethanol blended petrol for NOC. S/he will also be performing
automotive exhaust emission analysis.

Researcher 3 (Fuels testing and chemical analysis of exhaust) : S/he will have a background in
mechanical engineering. S/he will perform material compatibility testing, engine performance
and durability testing as well as vehicle on road testing.

17
 4. Follow up Study
After satisfactory results in the first year regarding the material compatibility, engine operation
and road test of the test vehicles, the second year will be dedicated to implementation of the
blended fuel in the market of Kathmandu. For this, a petrol station will either be
established/leased by NOC and will be operated by jointly by NOC and KU. This station will be
used to disseminate about the ethanol blended fuel, guidelines on using the blended fuel. First of
all the government/corporation vehicles will be encouraged to use the blended fuel. In order to
entice the private customers the pricing of the fuel will be such that it will provide financial
incentive in using the blended fuel. This can either be obtained by putting the profit of sales to
provide concession in the fuel price.

This station is also be used as a point to obtain feedback of the users in order to assess and
evaluate the real on road performance and durability of the automobile as obtained from the
feedback of the users.

To establish the proposed petrol station that will explicitly sell blended fuel, a suitable private or
government petrol pump will be selected, leased and operated by a joint agreement between
NOC and KU. NOC also can decide to initiate a petrol pump in Kathmandu valley. In such case,
the pump will be dedicated only for selling ethanol blended petrol in future.

Timeline
The duration of the first phase is one year. The following Gantt Chart shows the activities in the
first year and the time dedicated for the activities in months. Similarly the next Gantt Chart
shows the activities of the second year.

S. N. Activities 1st Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1 Project Inceptation
2 Survey of ethanol production in Nepal
3 Ethanol life cycle assessment and sustainability studies
4 Ethanol chemical testing and testing protocol development
5 Survey of current fuel distribution infrastructure
6 Engine and fuel system material survey and testing
7 Single cylinder (carbureted) research engine tests
8 Multi cylinder electronic fuel injected lab engine tests
9 On road vehicular tests on carbureted and fuel injected engines
10 First year reporting

S. N. Activities 2nd Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1811 12

1 Operation of pilot distribution system for ethanol blended fuel
2 Survey of the feedback from the users and problem assessment
3 Final reporting
Budget

The total budget of the proposed work for two years is NRs 15,555,000 in which the grant from
NOC to KU is proposed to be NRs 8,598,000 and KU contribution is proposed to be NRs
6,957,000. The first year grant from NOC to KU is 5,466,000 and the second year grant is
3,132,000. The detailed budget for the two years is given in the following tables.

Table 1. First Year Budget

19
SN # of KU Contribution
Budget Heading Unit Unit Rate Total NOC Funding
Units (Equivalent)
A Expert Services Costs
A.1 Expert Human Resource
A.1.1 Project Leader (B Baral) Per Month 12 36,000 432,000 432,000
A.1.2 Research Coordinator Per Month 12 36,000 432,000 432,000
A.1.3 Unforeseen increments in salary 100,000 100,000
A Subtotal Expert Services Costs 964,000 964,000
B Active Researcher Cost
B.1 Core research staffs
B.1.1 Researcher (Energy, Economics and Sustainability) Per Month 12 32,000 384,000 384,000
B.1.2 Reseracher (Fuel and Emission Characteristics) Per Month 12 32,000 384,000 384,000
B.1.3 Researcher (Engine) Per Month 12 32,000 384,000 384,000
B.1.4 Unforeseen increments in salary 100,000 100,000
B.2 Temporary/Short term Research Staffs
B.2.1 Temporary/Short term Research Staffs Hours 300 300 90,000 90,000
B.2.2 Technician Hours 400 300 120,000 120,000
B Subtotal Active Researcher Cost 1,462,000 1,462,000
C Equipment, Tools, Materrial & Technical Services
C.1 Equipment and Tools
C.1.1 Fuel system (tanks, pumps, line) In Total 4 50,000 200,000 200,000
C.1.2 DestructibleTest Eninges (Carburetted and fuel injected) In Total 2 150,000 300,000 300,000
C. 1.3 Basic Instrumentation In Total 1 50,000 50,000 50,000
C. 1.4 Experimental test engines In Total 2 2,000,000 4,000,000 4,000,000
C.1.5 Used test vehicle (Carburetted) In Total 1 500,000 500,000 500,000
C. 1.6 Used test vehicle (Fuel Injected) In Total 1 750,000 750,000 750,000
C. 1.7 Hand Tools In Total 1 50,000 50,000 50,000
C. 1.8 Gas Chromatograph In Total 1 1,500,000 1,500,000 1,500,000
C.1.9 General fuel testing equipment In Total 1 100,000 100,000 100,000
C. 1.8 Miscellaneous In Total 1 100,000 100,000 100,000
C.2 Computer and Furniture
C.2.1 Desktop Computer Set 4 30,000 120,000 120,000
C.2.2 Laptop Computer Set 3
C.2.3 Multifunction Printer Set 1 30,000 30,000 30,000
C.2.4 Study Desk Piece 4 8,000 32,000 32,000
C.2.5 Chairs Piece 5 5,000 25,000 25,000
C.2.6 Miscellaneous In Total 1 50,000 100,000 100,000

C.3 Consumables for Experiments

C.3.1 Fuel Grade Ethanol In Total 50,000 50,000 50,000
C 3.2 Fuel for engines In Total 200,000 200,000 200,000
C 3.3 Lubricants and other engine consumable In Total 30,000 30,000 30,000
C.3.4 Engine Parts for repair and replacement In Total 100,000 100,000 100,000
C.3.5 Laboratory reagents and apparatus consumables In Total 150,000 150,000 150,000
C.3.6 Unforeseen In Total 50,000 50,000 50,000
C Subtotal Equipment, Tools, Materials, and Local Technical 8,437,000 1,480,000 6,957,000

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D Other costs
D.1 Space, Electricity, Office Consumable, Local Transportation,
D.1.1 VehicleStationery
Office Rent (Paper, cartridges and other stationery) In Total 50,000 50,000 50,000
D.1.2 Transportation and vehicle rent In Total 100,000 100,000 100,000
D.1.3 Electricity and space cost In Total 200,000 200,000 200,000
D.1.4 Books andJournals In Total 20,000 20,000 20,000
D.1.5 Miscellaneous In Total 15,000 15,000 15,000
D.2 Conference and Publication
D.2.1 Dissemination workshop organization Times 2 50,000 100,000 100,000
D.2.2 Attending local workshop Times 5 5,000 25,000 25,000
D.2.3 Regional workshop Times 5 50,000 250,000 250,000
D.3 Communication and Visibility
D.3.1 Researcher/ Project leader communication cost Monthly 12 5,000 60,000 60,000
D.3.2 Meetings allowance and refreshments In Total 12 20,000 240,000 240,000 d
D.3.3 Advertisement In Total 2 50,000 100,000 100,000
D.4 Local Field visits
D.4.1 Field visits for Researcher and Project Leader In Total 2 100,000 200,000 200,000 Researche
D.5 International Travel
D.5.1 Conference Travel Cost 2 times e
D.5.2 Daily Allowance 2 times e
D.5.3 Journel / ConferenceRegistration cost 2 times e
D Subtotal Other Costs 1,360,000 1,360,000 0
E Admin Cost
E.2 Accounting Cost Hours 200 500 100,000 100,000
E.3 Other admin services cost Hours 100 500 50,000 50,000
E.4 Audit cost In Total 50,000 50,000 50,000
E.5 Admin overhead
E Subtotal Admin Costs 200,000 200,000

SN # of KU Contribution
Budget Heading Unit Unit Rate Total NOC Funding
Units (Equivalent)
1st Project Year Summary 12423000 5466000 6957000

a - in case of government increment and Dashain allowance

b - to be provided by NOC and later returned to NOC
c - To be either provided by NOC from the possible supplier as sample or to be purchased from India
d - Meeting each month with NOC team for progress discussions
e - Cost to be provided by NOC as per its rule

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Table 2. Second Year Budget

SN # of KU Contribution
Budget Heading Unit Unit Rate Total NOC Funding Remarks
Units (Equivalent)
A Expert Services Costs
A.1 Expert Human Resource
A.1.1 Project Leader (B Baral) Per Month 12 36,000 432,000 432,000
A.1.2 Research Coordinator Per Month 12 36,000 432,000 432,000
A.1.3 Unforeseen increments in salary 100,000 100,000 a
A Subtotal Expert Services Costs 964,000 964,000
B Active Researcher Cost
B.1 Core research staffs
B.1.1 Researcher (Energy, Economics and Sustainability) Per Month 12 32,000 384,000 384,000
B.1.3 Researcher (Engine) Per Month 12 32,000 384,000 384,000
B.1.5 Researcher (Fuel and emissions charactristics) 12 32,000 384,000 384,000 a
B.1.5 Unforeseen increments in salary 40,000 40,000
B.2 Temporary/Short term Research Staffs
B.2.1 Temporary/Short term Research Staffs Hours 150 300 45,000 45,000
B.2.2 Technician Hours 200 300 60,000 60,000
B Subtotal Active Researcher Cost 1,297,000 1,297,000
C Equipment, Tools, Materrial & Technical Services
C.1 Equipment and Tools

C.2 Computer and Furniture

C.3 Consumables for Experiments

C.3.1 Fuel Grade Ethanol In Total 50,000 b
C 3.2 Fuel to run engines and vehicles In Total 200,000 b
C 3.3 Lubricants and other engine consumable In Total 30,000 30,000 30,000
C.3.4 Engine Parts for repair and replacement In Total 100,000 100,000 100,000
C.3.6 Unforeseen In Total 25,000 25,000 25,000

Subtotal Equipment, Tools, Materials, and Local Technical

C 155,000 155,000 0
Services
D Other costs
D.1 Space, Electricity, Office Consumable, Local Transportation,
D.1.1 VehicleStationery
Office Rent (Paper, cartridges and other stationery) In Total 25,000 25,000 25,000
D.1.2 Transportation and vehicle rent In Total 50,000 50,000 50,000
D.1.3 Electricity and space cost In Total 200,000 200,000 200,000
D.1.4 Books andJournals In Total 10,000 10,000 10,000
D.1.5 Miscellaneous In Total 15,000 15,000 15,000
D.2 Conference and Publication
D.2.1 Dissemination workshop organization Times 1 50,000 50,000 50,000
D.2.2 Attending local workshop Times 2 5,000 10,000 10,000
D.3 Communication and Visibility
D.3.1 Telephone, fax, courier and others Monthly 12 3,000 36,000 36,000
D.3.2 Meetings allowance and refreshments In Total 12 10,000 120,000 120,000 c
D.3.3 Advertisement In Total 2 25,000 50,000 50,000
D.4 Local Field visits
D.4.1
D.5 International Travel
D.5.1 Conference Travel Cost 1 times 4 d
D.5.2 Daily Allowance 1 times 4 d
D.5.3 Journel / ConferenceRegistration cost 1 times 4 d
D Subtotal Other Costs 566,000 566,000 0
E Admin Cost
E.2 Accounting Cost Hours 150 500 75,000 75,000
E.3 Other admin services cost Hours 50 500 25,000 25,000
E.4 Audit cost In Total 50,000 50,000 50,000
E.5 Admin overhead
E Subtotal Admin Costs 150,000 150,000

SN # of KU equivalent
Budget Heading Unit Unit Rate Total NOC Funding
Units Contribution
2nd Project Year Summary 3132000 3132000 0

a - in case of government increment

b - to be obtained from NOC -KU operated petrol pump
c - meeting each month for progress reporting
d - Cost to be provided by NOC as per its rule

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 5. Conclusions
A two year project ‘NOC-KU Ethanol Project’ has been proposed as a preparatory activity to
implement ethanol blended petrol in Nepal. Ethanol from sugar industry of Nepal has a potential
to replace as much as 14% of petrol import of petrol. In order to prepare for the implementation
several activities including economic and environmental study, material compatibility test of fuel
distribution system and the engine, engine test for compatibility of the blended fuel, drivability
and durability, and on road test have been proposed in the proposal. The outcome of the project
is expected to be comprehensive guidelines including fuel standard, fuel distribution system
standard, guidelines to the consumers on the use of blended fuel on various vehicular and engine
technologies and finally a framework for implementation of ethanol blended petrol in Nepal.

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 6. Bibliography
Volatility and vehicle driveability performance of ethanol/gasoline blends: a literature review;
CONCAWE Fuels and Emission Management Group by its special task Force FE/STF20: R.
Stradling ( Chair )

A Literature Review Based Assessment on the Impacts of a 10 % and 20 % Ethanol Gasoline

Fuel Blends on Non- Automotive Engines. Report to Environment Australia , Orbital Engine
Company, December,2002

Setting a Quality Standard for Fuel Ethanol; Report Presented to Department of the Environment
and Heritage, by International Fuel Quality Center, Hart Downstream Energy Services.

Effect of Ethanol Blends on a Spark Ignition, 4-Stroke, Internal Combustion Engine, Shane
Curtis, Mark Owen, Terrence Hess and Scott Egan, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah,
December 2008

Problem Inventory and Evaporative Measurements , Stockholm University , ATRAX AB, Auto
emission KEE Consultant AB, AVL MTC AB.

Handbook on Ethanol : Production and Utilization; Edited Charles E. Wyman

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