Defence Material Research and Store Development Establishment (DMRSDE), Kanpur has developed a new fuel called Alka gel which can be ignited at temperatures as low as -40 degree Celsius. The discovery will now enable soldiers deployed at extremely cold locations to cook food without any hassles of igniting fire by conventional methods.
The order for commercial production of the gel has been imparted to a chemical manufacturer of the city. The manufacturer has provided the gel in two packings of 170 gram and 140 gram, filled in a cylindrical container, which functions as a stove for cooking food.
The container fuel can be ignited at will and the food material to be cooked be placed on it, while to turn off the stove, it just needs to be closed with the lid provided with the container.
Until now, the Army used chemically solidified kerosene oil to cook food at low temperatures which had a number of disadvantages like higher density leading to transportation problems apart from the kerosene’s odour in the cooked food. The new gel has now solved these problems apart from providing higher calorific value whereby the food gets cooked quicker.
In the new cooking apparatus, a fuel quantity of 170 gram will be sufficient for 3 hours of cooking activity. Once consumed, the container can be refilled by gel available in tube packing of 140 and 170 grams. Sources requesting anonymity said, the gel is prepared from amalgamation of alcohol, polymer and some gelling agents.
This amalgamation has very low freezing point due to which it does not solidify even at low temperatures and can successfully replace kerosene oil used till now.