Hi all,
I'm new to this forum and arriving late at the party, so please excuse me if I cover ground that's already been covered.
I've recently become interested in hydrogen enrichment of gasoline engines. My first response when I saw the design of these cells was the same as many of you: "This violates Newton's Second Law, it's pure crap!" Then I started reading and researching a little more thoroughly and discovered that I might be wrong (again).
Here's a link to a Technical Paper submitted to the SAE regarding a study on this subject.
A Before Treatment Method for Reduction of Emissions in Diesel Engines
Quoting the abstract:
"This contribution describes the results of experimental investigation where a small amount of hydrogen and oxygen is produced by Hydrogen Generating System through the electrical dissociation of water and are added to the intake of a compression ignition engine operating on a commercial diesel fuel. It is shown that level of exhaust emissions including NOx can be moderately reduced using such a pre-treatment method in diesel engines. Due to its simplicity, low cost, combustion improvement and moderated reduction in exhaust emissions, such a pre- treatment method might be more attractive in comparison to other new after treatment technologies for application in diesel engines. "
While this study targeted reduction of emissions in diesel engines, note the phrase "combustion improvement"
This link provides some more detail on the mode of action. This page is on a commercial site for a company which markets these devices, but they are not responsible for the study that generated the data.
Not-Tsoo-Pa Enviro Fuel Systems (Medicine Water) Northwest Distributor of the Go Green Fuel Hydrogen Enrichment System
Of particular interest is the statement regarding the amount of hydrogen required to see a benefit:
"less than 1% of the inducted air volume"
Large units of this type are being built and marketed for commercial/industrial use on diesel trucks, mining equipment, etc. Neither the companies nor the devices are the shlocky, amatureish things that you see being promoted to the DIY market on the Internet.
Hy•Drive Technologies Ltd.
Not-Tsoo-Pa Enviro Fuel Systems (Medicine Water) Northwest Distributor of the Go Green Fuel Hydrogen Enrichment System
I have no affiliation with nor do I benefit from any of these companies.
I have recently built and installed a very simple electrolysis cell. I purchased a complete kit with assembly/installation instructions from an eBay vendor for $65. It is a copy of the Water4Gas design. I DO NOT recommend that you buy the eBook from Water4Gas, they charge more for the information than I paid for both the hardware and the info. I also feel that the marketing techniques used by Water4Gas have done much to discredit a technology which actually has value.
I first installed this cell on my '91 Honda Civic Wagon AWD. I drive the same stretch of I-5 every week, so I made 2 test runs (one north, then south) without the device, then again with it. The distance measures 188.9 miles. The first 2 runs (without the cell) averaged 32.6 mpg, with a total variation of .4 mpg. The second 2 runs (with the cell) averaged 35.5 mpg, with a total variation of .5 mpg. While not spectacular results, the improvement is 8.8%, which equals nearly $.40/gal at the current price of $4.47.
I will next be moving the cell to my '91 Honda Civic DX HB (can you tell I love the '91 Civic?). It is my daily driver and generally averages 40-42 mpg on the same stretch of I-5. I will post the results as they become available.