View Single Post
Old 02-09-2011, 06:12 AM   #12 (permalink)
IamIan
Master EcoModder
 
IamIan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: RI
Posts: 692
Thanks: 371
Thanked 227 Times in 140 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by UFO View Post
Really? I thought it was all a scam. Can you document this? It's strangely lacking.
The scam is usually in the way it is presented... and some of the things that are conveniently forgotten about how it works... and how it does not work.

The short version ... there is no conspiracy ... Hydrogen ICE and Hydrogen Injection have been done for decades ... and is well understood ... and there are good reasons why we do not see it being used in modern engines.

Short ~29 page over view of different Hydrogen combustion methods in ICE :

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogen...fs/fcm03r0.pdf

The short answer is that Hydrogen injection can help support leaner A/F ratios in a gasoline engine ... which will improve fuel economy ... but will reduce power.

The water injection is a crude application of the 6 stroke engine ... where liquid water uses some of the waste heat to produce steam ... thus producing a slight cooling effect ... and converting a small fraction of that converted waste heat into mechanical power as it phase changes to steam.

The water injection is needed when Hydrogen injection is used to control / mitigate the higher combustion temperatures ... that a ICE designed for straight gasoline , is not designed for.

There are engine service life issues with running some of these types of mods incorrectly ... and if not done correctly , it can significantly shorten the operating life of several engine components.

The reason we don't see it used in modern vehicles , is because Lean burn ratios as high as 25:1 in the Gen-1 Honda Insight have been achieved without it... anyone who and driven an Insight when it kicks into Lean Burn knows about the combination of improved MPG and the loss of power that comes with Lean Burn.

Asking the consumer to refill the hydrogen injection highly pressurized tanks , is not commercially viable... lacking infrastructure , cost, and convenience.

Some try to get around this issue of storage and refill by trying to do the electrolysis real time in the car off power from an alternator ... this method can help the car achieve a sustained lean burn ... but it has horribly low efficiency compared to the Honda Lean Burn Engines that do not need Hydrogen injection.

So in short there is truth there ... those who try and scam just ignore the problems of what they suggest , or they just don't know enough about what is happening to know about the problems ... and most scams will over promise the pros.


If you have any additional questions about the pieces ... feel free to ask , and I can go into more detail.
  Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to IamIan For This Useful Post:
Harlan (01-11-2012)