Posted on 09/18/2005 7:52:36 PM PDT by ChildOfThe60s
WILLIAM MARSDEN The Gazette
September 17, 2005
Peter Romaniuk of Innovative Hydrogen Solutions looks over his company's machine, which the company claims eliminates almost all emissions from gasoline-powered vehicles. The company says it is developing a version of the machine that will be one-eighth the size of the current prototype and that should be ready by next year.
Joe Williams Sr. believes he has the machine that will help save the world. It will make the sky blue, allow everyone to breathe easier, and, in a time of skyrocketing fuel prices, save us all money.
Yes, it's hard to believe. Williams is a Winnipeg boy who cut his business teeth managing McDonald's and Burger King franchises. Even now, he employs only 15 people in his Toronto and Manitoba offices. He entered this save-the-world field only 11 years ago and has invested just $7.5 million in his product.
But before you sniff skeptically and skip to the next story, read on.
--snip--
"It" is his Hydrogen Generating Module, or H2N-Gen for short.
Smaller than a DVD player - small enough to sit comfortably under the hood of any truck or car - it could be big enough to solve the world's greenhouse gas emission problems, at least for the near future. In fact, it could make the Kyoto protocol obsolete. Basically, the H2N-Gen contains a small reservoir of distilled water and other chemicals such as potassium hydroxide. A current is run from the car battery through the liquid. This process of electrolysis creates hydrogen and oxygen gases which are then fed into the engine's intake manifold where they mix with the gasoline vapours.............
(Excerpt) Read more at canada.com ...
See what ya think. Have at it.
I'm convinced.
Certainly, it could save the SUV. Typically, you have to reduce the weight of the vehicle to get more efficiency, but removing too much weight from a car or SUV could make it unsafe. So, if you can create a more efficient car engine, you don't have to sacrifice weight and safety.
Hel-LO? Chemistry 101 here.
Who else remembers the 'water injection' scheme popular back in the late70's (early 80's?): drill a hole in your intake manifold and put in a water drip line? The water would be sucked into the cylinders and would disassociate in the combustion.
If they could build a car that runs on hope and dreams, the supply of fuel would be endless.
This sounds amazing.
I hope this guy pulls it off.
Cause I'm sick of the oil companies ripping off people.
If this story is true, Hugo Chavez might try to kill the guy.
After writing all that - yeah - it is a really, really slim reed to be hanging your hopes on.
I remember that. I went so far as to install a small fogging nozzle into the air cleaner cover.
I had one of those onboard milage calculators that gave a new reading every 3 seconds or so. Fairly accurate too. Had I installed the rest of the water injection stuff I could actually tell you if it made any difference.
Unfortunately, I never got around to it. I kinda doubted that it would really work, and didn't want to corrode my new engine. Kinda wish I had, by now that 1979 van has melted down and is driving around as a Dodge Viper.
might make the burn produce a little less of some emissions
They aren't. It's the government that is doing it, that is responsible for it. If the oil companies had their way they'd be drilling all over and pumping oil for $10 a barrel. It's out there, make no mistake.
Keep saying to yourself.....it's the government.
Electrolysis is not an efficient way to create hydrogen or those who manufacture commercial gases such as hydrogen would be using it now. I believe all commercial grade hydrogen comes from cracking natural gas. Now if he had a means of miniaturizing a methane cracking plant and putting under the hood of a car, he might have something.
Another hydrogen snake oil peddler.
This is a full load of crap.
Just curious. What leads you to believe this?
The scumbags at canada.com have choped this story into four seperate pages (4x the ads, doncha know!). Here's a link to the "all on one page" printer friendly copy.
Repeat after me.
Electrolysis requires electrical energy.
When you burn the hydrogen produced, you get back considerably less energy that you used producing the hydrogen.
Unless this guy has found a way around the laws of thermodynamics. Which would be cool, but I sure wouln't bet the house on it.
This isn't an alternative to oil. You would still have to fill up your car with gasoline and his special mix. There are some serious concerns that I have with it: 1) are the engines that he is using with his technology rated for the increased temperatures due to the hydrogen burn, 2) does the increased efficiency compare with the increase in cost for components and his special mix, and 3) is the increased efficiency for real (and how does it compare with engines designed to operate at more optimal efficiencies)?
I am certainly not buying that he has saved the world. I am more interested in the potential for the PEM type fuel cell with an external reformer to reach a reasonable cost. That will be the time when technology vastly changes the method of locomotion in automobiles. And that will be a time when the efficiency and cleanliness take a giant leap.
Definition: the passage of a direct electric current through an ion-containing solution. Electrolysis produces chemical changes at the electrodes.
I'm encouraged by this article, especially finding out that this guy isn't the only one working on it. The fact that the emissions are so much lower is more important than the fuel savings-- and there's no reason to believe this technology can't be used in a hybrid vehicle, though both are expensive additions. The "hybridizing" of a vehicle adds about 4000 dollars to the price tag, but in the Toyota Prius results in an average emission level that is only about 10 percent of the other vehicles on the road.
Why can't the enlightened Canadians figure out a way to harness the the tidal gradient in the St. Lawrence Seaway? After traveling by ship up in that area and seeing the 24-28 foot tides (and I don't know the average tidal differential but it is BIG) I don't see why they couldn't install generators on a reservoir that let in and then out the tidal waters. Of course....they'd probably use the power to electrolyze water to produce hydrogen....to turn a turbine to generate poweer to electrolyze water. LOL! (Sorry, I amused myself)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.