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Two On-Board “Water–to–Hydrogen” Schemes Surface
18 September 2005
Two schemes for on-board devices designed to produce hydrogen for subsequent injection into the conventional fuel-air mix (gasoline, diesel or natural gas) have coincidentally surfaced together in the press over the weekend.
The basic premise of each is that the injection of hydrogen into the fuel mix will increase efficiency and decrease emissions. This is somewhat similar to the approach that is being taken with HCNG—a mixture of hydrogen and compressed natural gas being tested for heavy-duty engine use in the US, Canada and China.
The efficiency of the each of the devices and the amount of hydrogen that can be mixed with the conventional charge all apparently remain yet to be determined.
The Independent (UK) reports that OM Energy is developing the “Electro-Hydrogen Generator.” According to the paper,
The generator works by spinning the water very quickly, creating an electro-magnetic field which splits the hydrogen from the oxygen. Current methods of separating hydrogen, using fossil fuels or electrolysis, release harmful emissions into the environment. The technology also has other applications, such as powering ships.
Dr Fulcieri Maltini, an independent consultant who has reviewed the technology, said: “It’s a completely novel way to produce hydrogen.”
[...] once fitted inside a car, [the generator] would extract the hydrogen from water and mix it with petrol. Should the new technology, the first of its kind, prove successful, vehicles would use water as the main fuel supply and need only a small amount of petrol.
The company apparently is a Russian company, but UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), an arm of the Government, has persuaded it to base itself in the UK by attracting funding from international institutional investors and individuals. OM Energy has already applied for a patent for the technology. If it succeeds, the Government will take a proportion of any sales.
Across the Atlantic, the Montreal Gazette reports on a more conventional approach based on an on-board electrolysis unit—the Hydrogen Generating Module, or H2N-Gen for short—that apparently uses battery current to drive the electrolytic process.
The company, Innovative Hydrogen Solutions, plans first to target heavy vehicle fleets such as public transit buses, trucks and trains.
The Canadian Environmental Technology Verification (ETV), a non-profit Toronto company licensed by the federal government to verify environmental technology, is testing the unit, although it has not yet issued approval.
Target price for the unit is C$7,500 (US$6,352).
There is a tendency, when confronted with stories such as these, to be either enthusiastically credulous, or skeptically dismissive. Odds are the skeptics will have it right—but that shouldn’t deter the attempts, or the tests. We’ll track along as these—and others—come to the plate and try to provide as much detail about the technologies and the testing as we can get.
September 18, 2005 in Engines, Hydrogen, Research | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)
Comments
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | September 18, 2005 at 08:51 PM
Adding ethanol to the water, a great device to make hydroGin :)
Posted by: tonychilling | September 18, 2005 at 11:01 PM
Breaking down water into hydrogen and oxygen is not a problem, it has been done for a very long time. The real
issue is that you never get more energy than what you put in. If you have a fuel engine running a 10kw generator breaking down water into hydrogen and oxygen
you may end up with the equivalent of 8kw of hydrogen.
What needs to be demontrated is that the process generates MORE power in hydrogen than it consumes.
The process may work but it may be no better than conventionnal electrolysis. The inventor should demonstrate and explain his process can generate more power than it consumes. Otherwise it is yet another occurence of the "perpetual motion" scam.
Posted by: Andre Bonneau | September 19, 2005 at 05:27 AM
Back in the early 1970's (during the first oil crisis)a friend of mine built an electrolytic generator for his car, the idea being that the hydrogen and oxygen would make the combustion process more efficient. It seemed to work OK, but showed no increase in milage. One day the car backfired and the generator exploded. This was the end of his experiment. (His wife was very unhappy about this!)
Posted by: Al Syme | September 19, 2005 at 07:03 AM
Metafilter had a post about the Montreal Gazette one, and make good points have been raised by skeptics in the comments:
http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/45199
Posted by: Mikhail Capone | September 19, 2005 at 09:19 AM
OH! Just old ordinary everyday fusion will do the job, but unless you want a big bang up front, don't use a droplet more than you can see.
I'm beginning to understand why my serious proposal about a BioDiesl Hybrid that has no valves, transmission, injectors, sparkplugs, etc isn't getting too much attention. I have to compete with humbugs with Phds behind their name.
Posted by: Lucas | September 19, 2005 at 12:05 PM
"The generator works by spinning the water very quickly, creating an electro-magnetic field which splits the hydrogen from the oxygen."
Okay, since when we can create electro-magnetic field by spinning the water very quickly? What i understand is that electro-magnetic only created when a current passing through a conductor.
Posted by: rexis | September 19, 2005 at 07:09 PM
http://media.egotastic.com/media/pictures/0707/lily-allen-nipple.jpg
We love to catch celebrities unwittingly showing them. Sometimes it's an genuinely unintentional nipple slip, other times it's obvious they're doing it for attention. But we've never had a celebrity show off her nipples on national television. Especially not a third nipple. But that's exactly what British singer, and cutie, Lily Allen did.
Yes, Lily Allen has a third nipple, and she's definitely not afraid to show it off. She actually whipped it out in the middle of an appearance on a British game show, and had the cameras zoom right in. Now you know you're never going to see that on American TV.
http://media.egotastic.com/media/pictures/0707/lily-allen-nipple-video.jpg
Posted by: Lilymally | July 17, 2007 at 01:41 PM
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Posted by: desktopbot | September 04, 2007 at 08:55 AM
sup guys
Im a very "strong" christian and I guess I have a couple questions on my mind..
I've been thinking a lot about dating.. but im not sure where to get going.
My coworkers have been telling me christian dating is the way to go.. so I've done a little research on danbury christian dating
The below is a little report I found on google
"Christian dating is popular way for Christian single men and women to connect with each other and find out if they might share a life together as husband and wife. Finding a soul mate, making a lifelong friendship and developing a relationship for marriage takes many different routes. Here a few steps to consider.Operations Of Dating Websites* Changing or compromising your beliefs, likes and dislikes only to please your dating partnerLook in your local Yellow Pages under "Dating Services" and "Singles Organizations" for your area; give them all a call even if not listed as Christian and ask if they have a Christian division; if not, they may or may not be willing to refer you to potential competitors. Some of the Christian dating services online are run by Christians and some will be run by non-Christians; this may or may not be important to you.Christian Dating is almost like regular dating, except that the singles search for a Christian mate who has same values, morals and beliefs. Everyone in this part of the world wants a good companionship, whether it is casual dating or the search for soul mate, people look for new ways to meet a new person. Christian Dating is a great way to find love for a Christian, especially if someone is looking for a partner who not only shares faith but also shares ideas and hopes. Christians have opportunities to meet and mingle with other Christians through their church groups but they are limited to the people that belong to their own church. Christian Dating online has become one of the latest craze on the internet."
What do you guys think?
Any comments?
Thanks A lot
Posted by: mydayEmit | July 24, 2008 at 04:12 PM
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Words like these should be a warning to everyone:
The proper response should be to old onto one's wallet and contact the authorities responsible for investigating and prosecuting fraud. Liquid water molecules spin billions of times per second all by themselves; breaking them into their component elements requires the input of energy, which is notably absent from that description.A real invention which did that without energy input wouldn't need hype to sell it, and the inventor could live off his Nobel Prize winnings for some time anyway.