Quote:
Originally Posted by Arragonis
Please excuse this interjection but I just want to try and understand HHO - I've read postings and arguments on it before but not really grasped what it is all about.
As I have it the idea of HHO is that your car's electrical system will produce Hydrogen from water using fairly simple chemistry /physics.
And you can then feed this Hydrogen into the engine.
According to some it can be used to reduce the fuel content but produce the same energy.
And/Or it can make burning of existing fuel better and make a bigger bang which in turn means less fuel needed in normal use and therefore more MPG.
The downside is that the production of Hydrogen requires more energy added than is released by the process and that energy has to come from somewhere which in a car is via the electrical system and ultimately from burning more fuel.
Is that kind of it ?
|
Unfortunately, that is the extent of what most people understand. By the reasoning you have outlined, HHO cannot work and shouldn't. The simple analysis of energy in versus energy produced results in a negative outcome.
However, if you understand that combustion of long chain hydrocarbons is a complex series of partial reactions that decompose the chain before the ultimate release of energy as the constituents fall into the ash ( lowest energy state ), you might be able to grasp the importance of "seeding" the pre-combustion mixture with HHO gas which just happens to be part of the partial reactions. The hydrogen forms H+ and OH- radicals which interact aggressively with the fuel mixture. The National Energy Research Labs (NERL) is waiting on funding to conduct research on this seeding phenomenon with hydrogen.
They have conducted their research on the seeding effects of the other constituent of HHO - oxygen. Depending on the impurities found in an electrolytic cell, trace amounts of Ozone ( O3 ) are produced and NERL has found that amounts as small as 40 parts per million (ppm) can effectively accelerate oxidation ( combustion ) a measurable amount.
Then, there is the water vapor produced by most YouTube HHO generators. This is unaccounted for by both the proponents ( most of whom do not understand a large percent of their gas output is simply steam ) and opponents of HHO. Classic studies by engine manufacturers dating back to the Second World War show efficiency gains when miniscule amounts of water ( in comparison to the amounts injected to quench detonation ) are used. The gains are on the order of 2-3 % in BFSC. Small, but measurable.
The important aspect of HHO application is the environment right before combustion via spark ignition. Combustion is initially an endothermic situation. This is what happens right before detonation when a perfect storm of conditions causes combustion to start without the energy of a spark front. This is also the core studies of those who are developing Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engines. Fuel seeding is a pathway that is being pursued.
The bottom line is that HHO is not a simple "make it and bake it" situation. And it's not going to result in double the mileage. That's the scam. But, it can provide fuel efficiency gains in the 5 - 15 % range depending on the situation.
Why don't I produce one for the masses? Because the gains are not in line with the costs of making this work economically for the average consumer. There are more effective methods than HHO to reach such gains.
I am in the process of integrating one of our units into a family car just to show that it can work. The science is there, so it is just an exercise in engineering. The unit is an industrial generator not sold on Ebay. But, maybe I should sell it on there considering the prices people are paying for some of the junk generators.