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In India, , as per mandate of hon'ble Supreme Court of India for reduction of emission due to vehicles, compressed natural gas (CNG) powered city buses and passengers cars are in use since 2000. Their usage is limited to metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore etc. due to limitation of CNG storage and dispensing infrastructure along with low energy density storage. High energy density liquid form of natural gas storage (LNG) can overcome these difficulties and promising in near future. Simultaneously, there is a need for development of efficient fuel storage system, fuel supply system, engine optimization & calibration, engine lubricant etc. suitable for implementation of LNG for automotive application. In this background, the present work is aimed at the framework of engine testing facility, development of dedicated lubricant and performance of the engine for LNG application.

The ever increasing demand of fuels for vehicles can only be met by use of alternate fuels like Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Hydrogen (H2). The 18 percent hydrogen enriched CNG fuel referred to as HCNG has the potential to lower emissions and is considered to be the first step towards promotion of a Hydrogen economy. While, automotive industry matures up with the usage of new engines, lubricant manufacturers are also moving on to the next stage by formulating oils to be used in gas engines such as CNG, HCNG etc. This paper presents the evaluation of gas engine oil on 6-cylinder heavy duty CNG engine using HCNG. The six cylinder engine was chosen due to its importance for urban bus transportation. The engine was optimized for using HCNG fuel. Initial performance of the engine using HCNG was compared vis-à-vis CNG and, thereafter, the engine was subjected to endurance test of 500 hours as per 8 mode engine simulated driving cycle.