Dimethyl Ether (DME)

June 11, 2023

Recently, researchers at IIT Kanpur developed a 100% DME-fuelled engine with a mechanical fuel injection system.

About Dimethyl Ether:

  • It is a synthetically produced alternative to diesel for use in specially designed compression ignition diesel engines.
  • It can be produced indigenously, and several countries, like Japan, USA, China, Sweden, Denmark, and Korea, are already using DME to power their vehicles.
  • The DME-fuelled engine emitted extremely low particulate and soot emissions and almost no smoke without using expensive exhaust gas after-treatment devices and advanced engine technologies.
  • It can be a viable alternative fuel and engine technology to adapt to conventional diesel engines used in India’s economy’s agricultural and transport sectors.

Properties of Dimethyl Ether

  • It has a very high cetane number, which is a measure of the fuel's ignitibility in compression ignition engines.
  • Under normal atmospheric conditions, DME is a colorless gas.

Application of Dimethyl Ether

  • It is used extensively in the chemical industry and as an aerosol propellant.
  • It is used in chemical industries and also to produce dyes and plastics.

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