Has anyone looked into these things? There are a lot of theories about how to get better gas mileage, I wonder if this would be a better way to assist the current gas powered engines. From what I have heard, a system could be added to a vehicle to take water and break it down into hydrogen and oxygen and mix the hydrogen/oxygen with the incoming air/fuel mixture to increase an engines efficiency.
I heard this at work and I came home and started searching on my own last night, so I don't have a lot of information yet. The guy I was talking to said there was a kit already for sale for different sized engines. I have yet to find this kit, but I did find a place that you can get plans and build your own. (HydroStar from HyTronics) Once again, I haven't gotten a lot of information yet, so I am sure that there are other places that sell kits too.
the amount of electricity required to convert water to hydrogen is rediculous. the amount of energy the motor will have to put out via the altenator would be extreme. infact i doubt youd ever be able to generate enough electricity to create enough hydrogen to counteract the draw from the engine.
and the effiecentcy of hydrogen is crap, it burns way too fast, so youd be burning it off way before you generate enough to effect the gas milage.
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If you can figure out a way to utilize heat energy for something other than heating the interior that would be a huge improvement. Most engines only make use of 40% or less of the total energy in a unit volume of gasoline. The rest is lost to friction (about 5-6%) and heat through the cooling system or exhaust.
the thing is - you cant create electricity from that much heat efficiently. anyone can create hydrogen, its not that hard, it just takes a lot of electricity, and i dont think there is enough heat energy available, or a way to utilize it without effecting the efficiently of the engine negitavly.
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1991 Nissan Maxima SE V6 5SPD - daily beater - Sold
1988 VW GTI 1.8l 16v - weekend beater - Blown engine
2005 Elantra GT sedan 5spd - Woo, no more beatup cars!
My point was that any way that you can use heat is better than moving it to atmosphere which is why most vehicles don't have electric heaters - I think only some diesels use that in the intake. It doesn't have to be electricity.
I think I remember BMW developed a way to make use of exhaust heat. It took heat from the exhaust to produce steam which drives an auxiliary drive unit on the crankshaft.
would be cool if they could use the heat from the exhaust to do something to help a hybrid motor, maybe use the steam to generate electricity while cruising on the highway when the normal hybrid system cant recharge.
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1991 Nissan Maxima SE V6 5SPD - daily beater - Sold
1988 VW GTI 1.8l 16v - weekend beater - Blown engine
2005 Elantra GT sedan 5spd - Woo, no more beatup cars!
the amount of electricity required to convert water to hydrogen is rediculous. the amount of energy the motor will have to put out via the altenator would be extreme. infact i doubt youd ever be able to generate enough electricity to create enough hydrogen to counteract the draw from the engine.
and the effiecentcy of hydrogen is crap, it burns way too fast, so youd be burning it off way before you generate enough to effect the gas milage.
If you read in the FAQ section of that site, you will find that the system produces relatively low voltage. Also, this system does not make the car run solely on hydrogen, it works with the exsisting gas/air mixture.
If you could use the waste engine heat to convert water to hydrogen might be OK, but this does not appear to be the process here. If using electricity, unless say some form of catalysts is used to amplify the process, the energy input has to be more then the output (no process is 100% efficient). The electricity has to be generated by the alternator via the gas engine that runs on gasoline. In the long run gasoline is converted to hydrogen to be burned, not very efficient.
One way to utilize the waste exhaust is through a turbocharger. On some aircraft engines the turbocharger was connected mechanically to a supercharger. Hence a turbo/supercharger.
If you could use the waste engine heat to convert water to hydrogen might be OK, but this does not appear to be the process here. If using electricity, unless say some form of catalysts is used to amplify the process, the energy input has to be more then the output (no process is 100% efficient). The electricity has to be generated by the alternator via the gas engine that runs on gasoline. In the long run gasoline is converted to hydrogen to be burned, not very efficient.
One way to utilize the waste exhaust is through a turbocharger. On some aircraft engines the turbocharger was connected mechanically to a supercharger. Hence a turbo/supercharger.
I guess I don't see the waste created by the alternator. It is already suppling electricity to the rest of the car. Maybe the waste could be the old alternator when I purchace a new alternator with more amperage.
Know what? Buy a turbo. Atleast it pays for itself.
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Well, that's not what I am really looking for. But thank you for the suggestion.
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When you increase the alternators production by 30 amps to produce your H2, your are creating more work for the engine. 30 amps at 12V is 360 watts. That is about 1/2 hp. It takes addition fuel to produce it. By the time you figure in the ineffeciency of the engine and alternator and H2 Cell, you are probably burning 3-5 times more fuel creating the H2 than you will get from it.
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Why do people think that alternators provide electricity without any effort? I have seen so many posts, well just add a couple more alternators and then you will have all the electricity you need. Wow, basic physics folks.
I got these from a Mythbusters forum. Are these fair statements?
I replied with,
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That's the explination I have been looking for! I did not know how much engine energy it takes to run an alternator. Now for another question, why does it use more power? The way I see it, the A/C compressor creates pressure which "slows" down the belt. The altenator doesn't have anything in it to slow it down.
Yea read the site. Its not something in development, its in the market already. It convert water to hydrogen on the go and only when engine is running. H2 is supplied to the engine like nitrous but in a steady stream. This reduce fuel use and get less emission. Also there is no hydrogen storage, its being used as it goes.
Toy car running with hydrogen: http://www.horizonfuelcell.com
2AA can convert enough hydrogen in 30sec for the car to run 5mins. Not really efficient or practical but it show what can be done. I got 2 of them at home and it works. The fuel cell produce about 0.7V DC and I can connect them in series to produce 1.4V.
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