Truckers/Diesels running on Hydrogen

[Ford_Forgotton]

You read that right.

STORY HERE

[ QUOTE ]
HFI is a bolt-on, aftermarket part that injects small amounts of hydrogen into the engine air intake, said Canadian Hydrogen Energy's Steve Gilchrist. Fuel efficiency and horsepower are improved because hydrogen burns faster and hotter than diesel, dramatically boosting combustion efficiency.

[/ QUOTE ]

[Pat Dolan]

I am not a chemist, and the only one in the house just left a few minutes ago, but:

By electrolizing, you are using energy from the truck's electrical system to rip apart the bond between hydrogen and oxygen in water. All of the energy you can get back is just from that liberated by the reverse (this time a reaction) of putting them back together. Less the inefficiencies (huge) of each step along the way.

I have a great deal of trouble believing that you can lift yourself very far by your own bootstraps.

Pat

[Spencnaz]

I agree, the electrolysis of water is a very energy intensive process. It would therefore have to require more shaft work (horsepower applied to an electrical generator) and therefore more drag on the engine to generate the voltage necessary for the electrolysis.

But alot of diesel fans have been using propane to boost power and fuel economy, hydrogen in a small tank probably would prove useful.

[Hornet]

I heard Paul Harvey talking about this today, and my first thought was bulls***. Harvey failed to mention that the hydrogen was only supplmenting the diesel. I've personally made hydrogen using a bench power supply and a jar of water. The process takes way to long to be able to actully use the fuel as you produce it. Granted my experiment was crude but I got the idea.

[svswan]

Make of this what you will. I have a friend who flew out to the Philipiens and filmed a documentery of a guy who runs his car on water. He gets 100km per liter of sea water. There is a device slightly larger than a big car battery in the engine compartment that he pours the water into and out comes Hydrogen which feeds into the injection system. The car is a newer Toyota Camery with mods to deal with bruning hydrogen. She was convinced. I don't write it off. Aperently he had meetings with Germany and Denmark amongst others but could not come to terms for sale of the technology.

Wild - yes. Possible? There are a lot of smart people out there who prove the establishment wrong on occation. Maybe this Canadan company is close to what he discovered. At $4000 minimum I won't be buying a system soon however....

[Pat Dolan]

What your friend (obviously not a technical person) was missing was the question of where the energy came from to dissociate the water? There is no free lunch in the energy business, but there sure are a lot of phonies & con men.

[macinco]

If propane works to increase HP and mileage (at the expense of the propane, so I am not sure you get more miles/dollar), I don't see why hydrogen would not have the same effect. I think the amount of actual energy/BTUs of the hydrogen used in negligable (compared to the diesel), but the characteristics of the combustion of the diesel is supposed to be improved considerably (just like with propane), resulting in increased mpg, less emmisions, more HP.

Sounds like it might be fairly cheap to try out (if you DIY). Maybe instead of electroysis running from your alternator, one could make a canister of NaOH solution and dump a chunk of alumiminum in it? But how would you regulate it/turn it off. (Sounds like an engine runaway waiting to happen...LOL)

I think the person in the PI was running on pure hydrogen though, different animal.