Can Water Fuel Technology Cut Costs?

Hydrogen powered cars are fast becoming a reality. Companies such as Mercedes and Toyota have already developed engines fuelled on hydrogen.

But the technology has still some way to go before the price of a hydrogen car can match that of conventional models. In the meantime, some businesses are promoting a way to convert an existing car into a hybrid that uses both ordinary fuel and hydrogen. And the way to do this, they say, is by using water fuel technology.

Hydrogen

Scientists refer to hydrogen as a basic building block. It is 15 times lighter than air, constitutes about 75% of the sun, and is a vital part of water. Hydrogen is therefore an essential element in our lives and the solar system. It can also act as an emission-free fuel, although the technology to achieve this is expensive.

What some people have proposed, however, is that motorists can supplement the petrol or diesel in their cars with a simple, relatively cheap HHO generator.

HHO Generator

The claim is that an HHO generator extracts hydrogen from water and uses this to improve an engine’s performance.

The generator is a simple unit that can fit under the bonnet of a car. It consists of a small tank, which the driver fills with distilled water, and an electrolyte. The latter is usually potassium hydroxide.

The power to run the HHO generator comes from the vehicle’s alternator. This provides the electrical charge that goes into the distilled water/electrolyte mix in the generator’s tank.

The electrical charge causes a process of electrolysis to take place. This process separates the water’s oxygen and hydrogen molecules.

The generator then sends the molecules into the vehicle’s engine through the air intake. Once in the engine, the oxygen increases the octane level of the fuel. The hydrogen helps the engine’s combustion process.

The hydrogen does this by making the flame in the engine burn more rapidly than before. This means that the engine makes better use of the vaporised fuel. As a result, the more fuel that combusts, the greater the efficiency of the engine.

Benefits

Among the benefits listed by the advocates of water fuel technology are:

• Better use of fuel
• A reduction in emissions
• Greater engine power

Supporters of the water fuel system also say that the mileage per gallon for a petrol vehicle can increase by 25 – 50%. For a diesel engine, they maintain that the increase is 5 – 50%.

Viable

The above technology sounds simple and viable. The cost to buy and install an HHO generator is reasonable. And the reduction in running costs for a vehicle appears to be dramatic.

But water fuel technology has its critics. Some state that the principle behind the technology contradicts the first law of thermodynamics. Others say that if the technology works so well, and is so well priced, why doesn’t it appear in every car that comes off a production line?

On the other hand, some scientific studies do appear to give credence to the claims for water fuel technology. But whatever the reality may be, the idea of using water to cut back on emissions and increase miles per gallon is a fascinating idea.