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OSU engineer: Hydrogen system in autos a scam (!)
www.gazettetimes.com ^ | 7-31-2008 | By Steve Lathrop

Posted on 07/31/2008 11:54:15 AM PDT by Red Badger

The hydrogen gas systems being used by several mid-valley drivers cannot deliver any kind of efficiency, says Bob Paasch, the Boeing professor of mechanical design at Oregon State University.

“The process is a scam,” he said. “It’s wishful thinking. If it were true, every power company and auto company in the world would be using it.”

Paasch said the systems — which use water and baking soda to create hydrogen via an electrical charge from the battery and alternator — violate the second law of thermodynamics and can’t work.

“People who buy into this are wasting their money,” he said.

Paasch has conducted tests on a similar device in the past and found it did not live up to any of the claims made by the inventor, who said it would deliver 50 percent more horsepower and double the gas mileage.

The systems being used are electrolysis, according to Paasch. Hydrogen and water can be burned through this process but more energy is required to drive the cell than can be extracted from it.

Ray Warren of Millersburg and Elden Huntling of Lebanon have the systems installed in their respective gas- and diesel-powered trucks and say they have seen a significant increase in gas mileage.

“These types of systems have been proven to be frauds,” Paasch said. “It’s impossible for the process to produce more energy than it consumes.”

Nonetheless, Huntling and Warren stand by their mileage claims. Warren admitted his mileage dropped significantly after several fill-ups but says he expected it and that a simple adjustment to his computer will correct the problem.

“I stand by the system,” he said.

Huntling has seen no decreases. “All I can say is that I’ve increased the mileage on my diesel truck by 64 percent,” he said. “It runs off excess power from the alternator.”

Paasch says this can’t be.

“The alternator doesn’t produce excess power. The alternator requires more mechanical energy than the hydrogen process can produce.”

Paasch also says the system is potentially unsafe.

“You have a highly flammable gas and the possibility of electric sparks in an enclosed space,” he said. “It’s a very dangerous situation.”


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Technical
KEYWORDS: energy; fuel; gas; hydrogen; scam; transportation
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To: editor-surveyor

LOL, as a matter of fact...

You take care bud.


161 posted on 08/01/2008 12:17:39 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (I'm a non Soros non lefitst supporting maverick Gang of 1, who won't be voting for McCain.)
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To: DoughtyOne
Well, lets go right to the 'experts' on this system:

"Warren admitted his mileage dropped significantly after several fill-ups..."

(Hunting)" “It runs off excess power from the alternator.”

Stupid statement as their is NO EXCESS POWER from the alternator.

162 posted on 08/01/2008 12:18:21 PM PDT by ColdWater
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To: editor-surveyor
A nuclear bomb is from a statistical point of view 100% efficient. Nothing else comes close. Capiche?

Why is a nuclear bomb 100% efficient and a hydrogen explosion NOT 100% efficient. Both work on the same principle:

E=MC2

163 posted on 08/01/2008 12:21:43 PM PDT by ColdWater
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To: Rick.Donaldson

You got it all wrong.

We’re talking about the hazards of practical handling, and from that respect, the only other fuels that are even close to being as dangerous as hydrogen are methanol and ethanol.

Static charges that are so small that they are undetectable to instruments can ignite all three of the above. Not so for gasoline.


164 posted on 08/01/2008 12:22:38 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Jimmy Carter is the skidmark in the panties of American History)
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To: ColdWater

You need to admit that you don’t understand what is being discussed. A hydrogen explosion has no relation whatsoever to any nuclear reaction.


165 posted on 08/01/2008 12:24:38 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Jimmy Carter is the skidmark in the panties of American History)
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To: ColdWater
hydrogen explosion NOT 100% efficient. Both work on the same principle:

E=MC2

If you are talking about hydrogen combustion, it is not an E=MC2 reaction. It is a chemical reaction that releases energy breaking/creating molecular, not atomic, bonds.

166 posted on 08/01/2008 12:26:15 PM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: editor-surveyor
You need to admit that you don’t understand what is being discussed. A hydrogen explosion has no relation whatsoever to any nuclear reaction.

Whatever. However, you are ducking the question. Please explain why a nuclear reaction is 100% efficient and a hydrogen explosion is not.

167 posted on 08/01/2008 12:27:11 PM PDT by ColdWater
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To: thackney
If you are talking about hydrogen combustion, it is not an E=MC2 reaction.

But it is.

168 posted on 08/01/2008 12:28:27 PM PDT by ColdWater
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To: ColdWater
No, burning hydrogen does not convert mass to energy.

The mass of the reactants will equal the products.

2H2 + O2 -> 2H2O

There are equal amounts of each element on both sides of the equation.

A nuclear reaction is not the same.

169 posted on 08/01/2008 12:31:44 PM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: ColdWater

Like I said before, you need to back up your nonsense with a better education. You are way off on both counts. A thermonuclear reaction is atomic in nature and falls under E=MC2. A Hydrogen explosion in normal atmosphere is a thermo-chemical reaction in nature and on a molecular level and is governed under the laws of thermodynamics .


170 posted on 08/01/2008 12:34:38 PM PDT by PSYCHO-FREEP (Juan McCain....The lesser of Three Liberals.")
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To: ColdWater
Well, lets go right to the 'experts' on this system:

"Warren admitted his mileage dropped significantly after several fill-ups..." 
That's an interesting comment to highlight.  If Warren is your expert, didn't he also state or imply that his mileage did go up for several tanks full?  Why?

(Hunting)" “It runs off excess power from the alternator.”  Stupid statement as their is NO EXCESS POWER from the alternator. 
I can't see how it could enhance this process even if it did, so in that we certainly agree.  (Stupid statement)
171 posted on 08/01/2008 12:34:53 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (I'm a non Soros non lefitst supporting maverick Gang of 1, who won't be voting for McCain.)
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To: thackney
No, burning hydrogen does not convert mass to energy. The mass of the reactants will equal the products. 2H2 + O2 -> 2H2O There are equal amounts of each element on both sides of the equation. A nuclear reaction is not the same.

Actually, the masses are different, according the the formula E=MC2.

172 posted on 08/01/2008 12:34:58 PM PDT by ColdWater
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To: editor-surveyor
Electric to heat is 100% efficient, if you don't count where the electric comes from.
173 posted on 08/01/2008 12:36:13 PM PDT by Realism (Some believe that the facts-of-life are open to debate.....)
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To: DoughtyOne
didn't he also state or imply that his mileage did go up for several tanks full? Why?

I must have missed that statment...

174 posted on 08/01/2008 12:36:38 PM PDT by ColdWater
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To: ColdWater

Correct.

And the difference in mass is represented by the chemical bonds that are formed when hydrogen burns.


175 posted on 08/01/2008 12:38:04 PM PDT by djf (Locusts? Locusts??! What a podunk plague! Let me tell you about the Bernankes...)
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To: ColdWater
Are you claiming the 4 hydrogen atoms and 2 oxygen atoms on the left side of the equation have a different mass than right?

E = M x C2 is only applicable when converting mass to energy. A chemical reaction does not do this. It changes chemical energy as found in the molecular bonds and results in a change in heat.

176 posted on 08/01/2008 12:41:23 PM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney

Time for your education update:

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/einsteinlight/jw/module5_equations.htm


177 posted on 08/01/2008 12:42:11 PM PDT by ColdWater
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To: djf
And the difference in mass is represented by the chemical bonds that are formed when hydrogen burns.

No, electrons are released or moved in chemical reactions, they are not destroyed or created. There is no change in mass.

178 posted on 08/01/2008 12:43:12 PM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: ColdWater

Thanks but I covered all this in far greater detail while getting my engineering degree.

What mass do you believe is created or destroyed in the chemical reaction?


179 posted on 08/01/2008 12:44:37 PM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney

“No, electrons are released or moved in chemical reactions, they are not destroyed or created. There is no change in mass.”

Did you read my link?


180 posted on 08/01/2008 12:44:48 PM PDT by ColdWater
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