Posted on 05/20/2008 11:24:57 AM PDT by Red Badger
A British company, Hydrofuel Technologies Ltd, is urging motorists to use water to reduce fuel costs with a car battery-powered onboard electrolyser, on its website, (www.runyourcaronwater.co.uk ). Hydrofuel’s DIY guide explains how motorists can convert cars to a water-burning hybrid to improve engine performance and save money. It says users of its system have reported mileage increases of between 50% and 100%.
Nadim Hussain, the firm’s MD, says: “We want to spread the word that water can be used to help power a car alongside petrol or diesel, and introduce this technology to the UK on a large scale, so that motorists can take control of their fuel costs and reduce their carbon ‘tyreprint’ at the same time.”
The identity and location of his company is not identified on the website, which offers its products priced in dollars. It is not connected to the Canadian company Global Hydrofuel Technologies Inc, (www.globalhydrofuel.com), which markets technology using aluminium to assist H2 electrolysis.
Runyourcaronwater’s manual explains how to use electricity from a car's battery to separate water into HHO (2 parts hydrogen, 1 part oxygen). It says introducing HHO to the fuel mixture significantly improves the combustion cycle of the engine, resulting in improved mileage and lower emissions. Unlike the product of hydrogen fuel cell technology, this combustible gas is only extracted and burned as needed, making it “completely safe” and removing the need for storage tanks. The only by-product released into the air is water.
Hussain says users can expect “increased engine power, smoother gear changing and a cleaner, quieter, longer-lasting engine”.
Runyourcaronwater.co.uk is offering membership at a special, time-limited price of $97 (about £49), which includes its instruction manual, free updates and technical support, as well as access to an online marketplace where members can buy ready-made systems from other members around the world. And, if a motorist wants to go down the DIY route, the materials needed to convert the car can be bought cheaply from any hardware store.
Hussain adds: “Our water-hybrid system is cheaper and more effective than other forms of alternative fuel technology, such as LPG conversion, and will reduce the speed at which we are using up our declining oil reserves - without the environmental costs of bio-fuel production.” He says thousands of successful ‘water-conversions’ have been carried out around the world, providing proof that this technology works”.
The load on the altenator will exceed the energy provided by combustion of the hydrogen.
Take the belt off your alternator and turn it by hand until the voltmeter shows a charge, then get back to me.
Smoother gear changing makes me suspect the entire concept.
They aren’t powering the car with hydrogen, consider it a fuel additive that improves combustion. The power for the engine is still coming from the liquid fuel.
It probably works by speading up the flame speed in the cylinder after ignition.
I’ve seen studies that show a net fuel savings.
Yes, if only the HHO combustion is considered. But the fuel in the cylinder will be HHO + gasoline, so the added HHO isn't working all by itself.......
I’ve followed discussions about this on automotive forums, diesel forums to be precise. No clear gains have been attainable on a regular basis. One problem that popped up a few times was the water freezing. It takes energy to separate the HHO and the proportions just don’t work. The turbo on my diesel engine will flow over 1000 CFM of charge air. How much hydrogen can you make using electrolysis and an on board power source compared to 1000 CFM per minute?
On a diesel engine, you can just inject the water straight in the intake and burn it. It will provide moderate HP gains at virtually no cost. You can also inject propane, water/methanol mixed, Nitrous. About any combustible that won’t cause pre-ignition during compression. But, there is little savings as these energy sources also cost $$.
Going through the posts, it looks like a little background info is needed.
The alternator does not make electricity for free, any electricity produced is accompanied by a drag on the engine greater than the electric power generated.
Hydrogen is not made for free, any hydrogen you make with combustion will produce less power than the energy you used to make it.
Internal combusion engines are very inefficient. 90% of the fuel energy measured as gross heat will be lost as heat and not move the car. A gasoline engine tops at at about 30% effienciency compared to an ideal heat engine (carnot effiency).
You can lose energy making electricity and lose even more energy converting that electricity into hydrogen and still come out ahead if you can increase the effiency of the engine by a couple of percent.
No perpetual motion or magic needed.
But there is waste in an IC engine, right. So if you were using energy that would otherwise be wasted to perform electrolysis, there might be a net gain.
Flawed logic. You just explained why it would give better mileage than running an air-conditioner. But not how it could give you better mileage than just not having an air-conditioner.
If it takes X amount of energy to create H2, it must give back more than X, or mileage will decrease. The only exception is if you harnessed otherwise wasted energy, such as heat creation or brake friction.
This video is worthless in the worst way. He says he’s burning hydrogen, the flame he has is blue and that is most likely a hydrocarbon. A hydrogen flame is colorless.
No flame is “hotter than the sun” since the cooler surface of the sun is around 6,000 degrees C. while the hottest torches run less than half, LESS THAN HALF, of that.
The demonstration with the flame on a plate is bogus, any flame will do that on a cool surface. Try a propane torch on cool metal and see the same thing. Ask any welder about preheating metal to dry it out before welding.
Bogus video as it really showed nothing but misinformation.
I sure don’t know if it can be made to work. But wouldn’t it be great to be able to say something like, “We know how to run our cars on OUR water. You can figure out how to drink YOUR oil?”
Here’s a thought. How about harnessing the waste heat of a normal internal combustion engine to produce high pressure steam and drive a turbine? Then that energy could be used to make hydrogen or charge a battery.
200 degree coolant coming out of the block could be sent to an exhaust manifold jacket via pump to be superheated and released through the turbine. It would then be passed through a condensing radiator and then pumped on to the normal radiator.
Your wish is my command..........
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/05/rolls-royce-com.html#more
See my #35. What do you think?
Read your comment and think about it. The AC isn't wasted, you are at least getting cool air. But your plan is to give up the cool air, but still get worse mileage than just not running the AC at all.
If energy used exceeds energy produced, you are better off not doing it.
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.