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Originally Posted by Old Tele man
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Hi Old Tele man,
That was interesting. I wonder what anybody else made out of it.
It reads like the author didn't really know how an engine works, but sure could figure out flame speed.
On page 27, table III shows the engine energy balance (various A/F ratios with and without added hydrogen). (Ignoring that they could run the engine at 21:1 A/F on just gasoline.)
For the non hydrogen, almost normal A/F, the table claims that at a fuel consumption rate of 164 hp the cooling system takes 62 hp and 46 hp goes out the exhaust. I think 38% of the fuel power - that's 170% of the shaft hp - going out the radiator is preposterous.
The indicated hp is 49 and the measured bhp is 36. So the thermodynamic efficiency is claimed to be 30%, which I find unlikely since this is at part throttle. I can't see what they did wrong, but I can't believe those numbers.
But, it does seem like the experiment shows that for a wide range of hydrogen flow rates, (up to much higher than is possible with on-board electrolysis) the A/F cannot be leaner than 21:1 and the engine still be considered drivable. And at 21:1 there isn't enough improvement in efficiency to bother.
-mort