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Old 07-10-2008, 12:07 AM   #127 (permalink)
fshagan
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Quote:
Originally Posted by budgenator View Post
Not impossible I've seen reputable reports of big-rig diesels getting a solid real-world improvement of 10% with theses devices. The 2H2+O2 gas is drawn into the engine improve the combustion efficiency, the worst the combustion efficiency is the bigger the improvement is. It works but it's not the magic-bullet that some claim it is.
I don't think I've seen any of the home-made or "hydrogen on demand" devices that have been studied. The information I've seen on big rigs is that blended fuel, where they use compressed hydrogen from a tank that is injected to take up about half of the volume normally taken by diesel, has some beneficial effects. Because it cools combustion it reduces NOx emissions, and they seen MPG improvements over diesel alone. The information I've seen never mentions what the cost of the compressed hydrogen is, so I've never been able to figure out if the blended fuel systems are economical or not.

The home-built units you see now should be tested in a controlled environment; small changes in driving behavior can make a dramatic improvement in MPG for most drivers, and I suspect the main beneficial effect of these devices is that the drivers are coasting more, etc. without even realizing it.
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