Quote:
Originally Posted by P-hack
I'm merely pointing out that 144 watts in and of itself is misleading in this context. And also the displacement of the engine is a variable as well, since 144 watts isn't going to have the same effect. But it is a good starting point anyway. There are a fair number of variables but not infinite, so the best way to seganize it is to isolate those variables via experimentation. You stated that under certain conditions you can get more than 144 watt gain with hho, can you graph out the gain vs those variables for a given displacement/configuration? Is it largely tied to rpm?
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I have a large amount of data from engines on test stands, so it cannot be said that this will translate directly to driving conditions. The data is the property of the investment group that funded the research so they own the rights. I cannot divulge much of the data collected while under their pay. However, HHO was just a step in the research path that they have moved on from and I am free to speak about the general principles. I hope to set up my own basic engine test stand and get our own set of numbers. The following is only for spark ignited engines. I absolutely cannot discuss diesel combustion and it's markedly different set of principles.
With that being said, you are correct, 144 watts is just a number. It happens to be the maximum wattage absorbed by our battery of Faraday cells. Twelve volts times 12 Amperes. The current is limited to that amount for automotive DC systems. But, that wattage is not what any particular engine needs to see an effective flow of augmenting gas. You are correct in your realization that there are certain variables to the equation, however, it is not as simple as "big displacement needs more gas" as the HHO purveyors like to say. It follows the principles of HCCI studies and all the variables that lead to "detonation". Engines that run hot, have high compression and have turbulent combustion chambers are ideal for HHO augmentation.
Thus engines can vary wildly as to how much HHO they need. But, the important thing is to understand that flame speed right below the detonation point is much more "sensitive" than it normally would be and that sensitivity is accentuated by the seeding of hydrogen, ozone and water vapor ( the real constituents of HHO). An example of the disparity is the 5.9 L Dodge engine that now resides in our work truck and one of the Daihatsu 1.0 L engines out of my wife's little car. The big Dodge is a 96 model with the high turbulence "magnum" heads and about 9:1 compression. It is all cast iron including the heads. It tends to run hot with the aggressive use of EGR that Chrysler programmed across a broad range of it's load map. At a 50-55% loading ( measured injector time compared to full throttle) and 1500 rpm the engine would knock with the electrolysis generator at 12 amps. It still knocked at 5 amps. It didn't knock at 4 amps and the injector pulse width was reduced 9% while maintaining the same RPM and load. Using the stock ECU we had no control of ignition timing and this truck has no spark retard. 87 octane US standard was used. The 1990 one liter Daihatsu engine has about 8:1 compression and aluminum hemispherical heads that are very lazy in the sense of turbulence. It uses EGR sparingly. It didn't knock even with 12 amps feeding the electrolysis generator. Even manually advancing the distributor timing to try to induce knock at the 50% at 1500 rpm load setting didn't yield much benefit. The injector pulse width did decrease 5% at stock timing and 12 amp generator feed rate. We were able to induce knocking and see greater than 10% injector reduction when hot air was pulled from the exhaust heatshield and the fuel was heated to coolant temps (85 degrees C). 87 octane US standard fuel was used.
In summary, the same things that allow HCCI engines to reach 50% thermal efficiency are the same things that can help out an HHO engine - pressure, turbulence and heat and time. Yes, time. RPM does come into play in the sense that time is needed to build the critical mixture and high RPM is not conducive to this. An HHO augmented engine is going to favor lower RPMs much like an HCCI engine.
I am in the process of obtaining and applying an Opterand pressure sensing spark plug into one of my engines. The pressure curve will tell the tale more than anything and the parameters mentioned above will be more easily tabulated.