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Hydrogen as an alternative fuel source

If you’re like most of us in the United States, you’re starting to look for some relief at the pump. I just filled my car up the other day with 11 gallons and the price came to just over $44. That’s right, the dreaded $4/gallon. Because I drive a lot, and I also like to drive classic cars, I have been seriously considering alternative fuels.

BioDiesel is a viable answer.

For a while I had a 1984 Mercedes 300D Turbo Diesel and have tested BioDiesel in it several times. It ran great (same as regular diesel, but with less soot) and the power seemed to be the same, but it’s hard to get to where I live and I don’t have the space to install a proper distillation system to clean and prepare the fuel. Yes, you can actually burn pure vegetable oil in a diesel engine, but it tends to solidify a bit when it gets cold, so you need to treat it a bit first.

So while biodiesel is a great thing and if you can get it in good condition (and you can get a diesel vehicle), then by all means go for it.

So what to do with my gasifiers? I’ve looked at ethanol, but studies show that it takes more energy to grow corn and refine it than we get from ethanol fuel, or that the margin is so small it’s just not viable. Studies also show that if all the corn grown in the US were used to make ethanol, we would only provide 6% of the fuel needed. Methanol works, but it’s a bit harder to come by and, like ethanol, is only suitable for use as an additive to make regular gasoline a bit better.

I’ve never been a fan of hybrids; They just don’t get the mileage you would expect a true alternative to get. Sure they can get 50MPG at their best, but a 1982 Honda Civic coupe might get 62MPG. So what’s the problem? Hybrids also come complete with nasty big rechargeable batteries, one of the worst things for the environment. And honestly, let’s not forget the biggest waste product of a car: the car and the manufacturing process of that car. New cars create a lot of waste and I want something that will expand my existing vehicles and make them more viable.

Basically, that means this: What else can I burn in my car that is good for the environment and has low emissions?

The answer: Hydrogen.

I know what you’re thinking, “wow sir, I don’t want to drive with a bomb!” And honestly, who would? Interestingly, when gas-burning vehicles were becoming common, many people were very concerned about how flammable gas is and how dangerous it was to drive with tanks. It turns out that we have survived. We can also build much better tanks these days. There are propane and natural gas vehicles that have fuel tanks that are pressurized with highly explosive gases and have very low leakage shock ratio. Much less than a thin metal gas tank.

Norway even has a hydrogen highway that stretches for several hundred miles and has fuel stations along it. Iceland is working on a similar scenario. Hydrogen is a viable fuel, and it’s starting to catch on.

But that still doesn’t solve my concern that I want something that will work on my current cars. Can they burn hydrogen? Yes they can. Modern engines are very capable of burning hydrogen. They sometimes require a bit of fine-tuning in their air-fuel ratios, but they can burn just about anything that can be compressed and ignited with a spark.

If you have the ability to get a good supply of hydrogen, and know a competent mechanic, you can convert your car to an H-burner. That’s unlikely, though, and the prospect of hauling heavy hydrogen tanks in my trunk is not. it filled me with enthusiasm. So I looked a little further.

And I found HHO conversion systems.

He knew that hydrogen was the most common element in the universe, and he knew that it is the main ingredient in water. What he didn’t know is that there is a tried and true process for extracting hydrogen from water. It’s called electrolyzing water. Electrolyzers have 2 (or more) rods or plates in water. They then run electricity between them, and the process breaks the bond between the oxygen and hydrogen in the water, causing a gas called HHO to be emitted.

Unfortunately, this process is slow and turning your car off completely is not currently feasible, but there are ways to add this HHO gas to your fuel. What it involves is a small electrolyzer that turns water into HHO gas in your car as needed. It cranks when your car starts and then bubbles happily. It doesn’t add a lot of HHO, and in most cars it’s best not to. What you add is more oxygen and enough hydrogen for your car to burn through gasoline faster.

I won’t go into the details, but much of a car’s power and efficiency comes from when the fuel is burned, not how or how much. The faster it burns, the more of its power is translated into turning the engine. We’ve all had really bad gas a time or two and you can feel like your car doesn’t have as much power. This is usually because the gas is not burning fast enough or completely.

Adding HHO seems to really help this and provides significantly better power transfer and burn to the engine.

There are many products that can help you take advantage of this technology. One of these deals is from Hydro Fuel Solutions and their product Super Hydro 2 ($389 USD). Also, there seem to be plenty of people offering information on how to build your own hydrogen generator, like Water4Gas, which for $97 will provide over 400 pages of information on how to build your own generator and stick it to the man.

Obviously they cater to different markets, the Super Hydro 2 is for people who want a complete and working product and things like the Water4Gas eBook is for people who want to learn how it works and adjust and optimize their process.

I’ve started playing around with the HHO conversion and am doing extensive testing before posting my numbers, but they look promising. I’ll be sure to post the results when I’m done and show whether or not I was able to save money on the pump (wouldn’t that be nice?) or have to wait for some new advanced technology and a new car to save my pocket.

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