On a long shot this afternoon, I contacted the office of Dr. Robert Dopp, President of DoppStein Enterprises, holder of 40 something patents in the realm of ultra efficient electrolysis units. I got his secretary on the line, thank you google, and asked her if DoppStein Ent. had a standard website or resource that they referred individuals to who were asking about home electrolysis unit design. She actually went and got the president of the company on the line! He said I had lucked out cause he had just a couple of free minutes, and proceeded to talk to me for almost 10 minutes about the ins and outs of cell design and the greater issues of automotive application in general. He said that he, too, was skeptical about all of this business because no one had, as of yet, produced real figures or any kind of reputable peer-reviewed publication on the matter. He also said, however, that the lack of data hadn't deterred him from personally investing into the matter, because a lack of data only proved that no one has yet proved it. It doesn't disprove it, it just fails to prove it. When I commented that I was surprised he was taking the time to talk to me he said, "Well, clearly you've got me talking about something that I'm passionate about." He told me that he's currently working on the same project as I am right now, with automotive application, and asked me to keep him updated! What an honor, huh.
Well, that gives me a bit of hope. If any of you would like to check out his website, its here: DoppStein Enterprises.
I also talked to him about what sort of materials I was using, and he said, "There's no reason why 316 and 304 grade stainless steel should work as well as it does... but it does!" That's also comforting, since I just dropped $20 on a roll of it. :)
Well, I get the Rover back today in about an hour and a half. Hopefully it will start this time!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Alpha Post: You're gonna do WHAT?!
As the title of this blog hints, I will begin tinkering this week with the virtues of on-board generated HHO to increase the fuel efficiency of my 1988 3.5L V8 fuel injected gas guzzlin' Range Rover. The premise is simple enough if I break it down.
First I will pull electricity from the battery and use it to perform electrolysis on a small amount of water which is kept in the engine bay. This energy is supplied by the alternator, supplied by the engine, and is therefore parasitic. It drains horsepower and therefore fuel economy from the system. The HHO will be generated parasitically from this energy. This means that I'm not actually getting any new energy from the Hydrogen or Oxygen gas. In fact, I'm LOSING energy making the gas because there is resistance and friction in the electrical and mechanical components of the engine and the alternator and the battery. So, WHY BOTHER? I'm glad you asked.
When I invest the energy into making HHO and incorporate that HHO into the air/fuel mix inside the engine, the HHO burns so hot that it radically changes the amount of gasoline fuel that ACTUALLY gets burned. A normal combustion engine is terribly inefficient. A turbine gas engine is reasonably good at what it does, but the standard naturally aspirated piston engine is just TERRIBLE at what it does from an efficiency perspective. All that changes when you bring hydrogen gas into the equation. Hydrogen burns at a very high temperature, unlike regular low-octane fuel. When hydrogen burns with the fuel/air mix, it burns at such a high temperature that it burns almost all of the gasoline which has been injected into the cylinder area. Essentially, the amount of energy that I have to spend to make hydrogen gas is LESS than the energy that I gain from the dramatic increase in the way the gasoline burns.
I've found multiple guys on youtube and .com companies who have done this and are either sharing by public domain or selling for profit their techniques and designs. The premise is simple enough, but the execution has more potential kinks and bottlenecks than you'd initially think. Already in my entry level foray of research, I've found a few major design branches for the gas generating apparatus. I'll have to pick one eventually and run with it, I suppose. I'm a big fan of this guy, Zero, who has a youtube channel: ZeroFossilFuel
Trying to wade in and just watch these things could be a bit intimidating or just boring if you're not into it... I've watched almost all of them, though. I'm hooked, and this guy is my hero. He's clearly a nerd and a geek of an elite order. I highly recommend watching his stuff if you plan on trying it out. I, myself, will also try to catalog my own process such that anyone with as little know-how as me will be able to follow alongside my blunderings and solutions and do at least as much as I have.
For now, I'll stick to the guts of the mechanical obstacles and the ultimate vision: make an on-board electrolysis machine increase the efficiency of my Rover. Later, we'll get into the implications, motivations for pioneering and advocating this technology, and the vision for helping others with the application (if it works, obviously).
Feel free to post questions, comments, encouragements, insights, and even doubts if you wish. I'd like this website to facilitate some real dialogs about the on-board HHO injection process as well as the alternative fuel issue in general.
Wish me luck!
Joshua P. Suich
First I will pull electricity from the battery and use it to perform electrolysis on a small amount of water which is kept in the engine bay. This energy is supplied by the alternator, supplied by the engine, and is therefore parasitic. It drains horsepower and therefore fuel economy from the system. The HHO will be generated parasitically from this energy. This means that I'm not actually getting any new energy from the Hydrogen or Oxygen gas. In fact, I'm LOSING energy making the gas because there is resistance and friction in the electrical and mechanical components of the engine and the alternator and the battery. So, WHY BOTHER? I'm glad you asked.
When I invest the energy into making HHO and incorporate that HHO into the air/fuel mix inside the engine, the HHO burns so hot that it radically changes the amount of gasoline fuel that ACTUALLY gets burned. A normal combustion engine is terribly inefficient. A turbine gas engine is reasonably good at what it does, but the standard naturally aspirated piston engine is just TERRIBLE at what it does from an efficiency perspective. All that changes when you bring hydrogen gas into the equation. Hydrogen burns at a very high temperature, unlike regular low-octane fuel. When hydrogen burns with the fuel/air mix, it burns at such a high temperature that it burns almost all of the gasoline which has been injected into the cylinder area. Essentially, the amount of energy that I have to spend to make hydrogen gas is LESS than the energy that I gain from the dramatic increase in the way the gasoline burns.
I've found multiple guys on youtube and .com companies who have done this and are either sharing by public domain or selling for profit their techniques and designs. The premise is simple enough, but the execution has more potential kinks and bottlenecks than you'd initially think. Already in my entry level foray of research, I've found a few major design branches for the gas generating apparatus. I'll have to pick one eventually and run with it, I suppose. I'm a big fan of this guy, Zero, who has a youtube channel: ZeroFossilFuel
Trying to wade in and just watch these things could be a bit intimidating or just boring if you're not into it... I've watched almost all of them, though. I'm hooked, and this guy is my hero. He's clearly a nerd and a geek of an elite order. I highly recommend watching his stuff if you plan on trying it out. I, myself, will also try to catalog my own process such that anyone with as little know-how as me will be able to follow alongside my blunderings and solutions and do at least as much as I have.
For now, I'll stick to the guts of the mechanical obstacles and the ultimate vision: make an on-board electrolysis machine increase the efficiency of my Rover. Later, we'll get into the implications, motivations for pioneering and advocating this technology, and the vision for helping others with the application (if it works, obviously).
Feel free to post questions, comments, encouragements, insights, and even doubts if you wish. I'd like this website to facilitate some real dialogs about the on-board HHO injection process as well as the alternative fuel issue in general.
Wish me luck!
Joshua P. Suich
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