KAPTN KEN'S
KAPTN KEN'S
WATER/GASOLINE PROJECT
Welcome reader, interested in adding water to gasoline to improve engine performance and emmisions?
Having read in the AAA magazine, that is issued every two months to members, a reply to a readers question regarding "Add On's" to a car that will give better mileage. I completely disagreed with the reply which stated that there were no, so called ‘Add On's" that gave any improvement. In the past, I had installed a water injection system with some success, also knowing that during the war, the Royal Air Force added a water injection system to their Rolls Royce Merlin engines in the Spitfires with great results, therefore I set out to research the subject.
The Internet is full of articles dealing with the subject and there are several "after market" gadgets with questionable claims, that can be obtained, however one line of thinking directed at this subject peaked my interest and having some limited, electrical/physics knowledge, I delved further into the system. It is based on the fact that water can be split into its components by electrolysis to produce hydrogen and oxygen. This is nothing new, the process has been known for centuries, but with current interest in the use of hydrogen as a fuel, it felt like this was a possible source of the gas. A Professor called Yull Brown did some research on the gasses produced by electrolysis and thus the gas has become to be known as Brown's gas. According to him, the gas is a break down of the water into two hydrogen atoms, one oxygen atom, then bonded but not chemically combined, HHO( Hydroxy). The gas burns well and has three times the energy of gasoline.
There are plans and directions on the Internet to build a system that will completely power a small car on this Brown's gas, yes a car that can be run ENTIRELY on water, but the construction is very complex and in my opinion needs further refinement before it can be used routinely. So I looked for something a little more simple to start with and less expensive that can be built by an average person, like me. A very good description of such a system was found on the Internet and authored by Myla Madson and after comparing this with other similar methods, I settled on a plan to build my own system.
The heart of the system is an electrolysis unit that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. We now know that hydrogen is being touted as the possible energy source of the future, and some car manufacturers are already producing cars that run on this fuel. The drawbacks are the necessity of commercially producing large quantities of the gas with it's associated pollution with byproducts, usage of energy to produce it, storage under high pressure and distribution, and much of the hydrogen production is from oil derivertives! Electrolysis is performed mostly on a small scale, however enough gas can be produced using a small unit and then using the result as an additive to the regular gasoline in a "On Demand" mode. The gas thus produced is sucked into the engine via a vacuum line and burns alongside the gasoline. This method has been demonstrated to increase the MPG as much as 45%, increase the engine power, burn the gasoline more efficiently and produce an exhaust that is much cleaner.
I experimented with an electrolysis unit built in a small plastic jar and using two small coils of wire, immersed in salt water and supplied with 12 volts DC. As expected, I got bubbles of hydrogen coming from the negative electrode and bubbles of oxygen coming from the positive electrode, at least I assumed that is what they were. So with much reading and drawing I formulated my design.
Two Glass jars of 2 quart capacity with plastic lids were bought from Walmart, the lids were actually from two other jars that were made of plastic so as to provide insulation of the two terminals. The electrodes were made as follows.
1) Obtaining a coil of stainless steel wire from Ace Hardware. ($3.95 Stainless steel is preferred as it is less prone to corrosion.)
2) Fabricating four pieces of clear 1/8 thick plastic (Perspex) 2 ½ by 4 inches.
3) Various stainless steel screws, nuts and wing nuts to act as electrical terminals.
4) 4 nylon "L" adapters with nuts, to transfer the gasses through the lids.(Smaller plastic versions are available in the "Irrigation Drip" supplies department.)
5) A tube of super glue, a bottle of model plastic glue.
6) Several feet of transparent tubing.(Appropriate size)
7) An in line fuse holder and 10 amp fuse.
8) Several feet of thick conductor wire.(12 gauge)
The four pieces of plastic were drilled with very small holes, two at the top and two at the bottom to hold the ends of the wire, The two longest sides were notched using a hacksaw so that the wire could be wound around and not slip or touch the other windings.
The stainless steel wire was then wound tightly on the plastic plate using about 15 feet of wire and the end left about six inches after threading though the small holes. When all four electrodes were fabricated, they were positioned one half inch apart, stabilized with small plastic pieces and glued together with the plastic glue.
Four holes, two small and two larger ones were drilled in the plastic lid. The terminals were assembled into the smaller holes using the stainless steel hardware and the nylon elbows were glued into the larger holes using the super glue. A short, 4 inches, piece of aquarium tubing was glued into the under side of one of the nylon elbows using clear silicone glue (RTV), this was the air inlet side. The electrodes were simply wired by twisting two leads together from odd coils and making a loop with needle nose pliers, then bolted to the underside of the terminal. The even coils were treated the same and bolted to the underside of the other terminal. This meant that alternate coils were connected together to form two combined electrodes to provide a large surface area.
The electrode
A final version of this configuration consisted of five electrode coils with three being connected together to form the cathode (hydrogen) and two connected to form the anode (oxygen) Other configurations are possible and are described in articles on the Internet.
The second jar was built as a "Bubbler"
Two larger holes were drilled in the plastic top and two nylon elbows were glued into position, as before with one having a four inch tube glued in place. An oblong aquarium air bubbler was attached to this tube. At this stage the electrolyser was checked with a ohm meter for any shorts between the coils.
The unit was then bench tested.
A half a teaspoon of common baking soda was added to the jar, this acts as an electrolyte, then distilled water was added to almost fill the jar, trial and error determined the exact level. Tap water can be used but forms a mineral deposit on the inside of the glass jar. The baking soda is not mandatory, but distilled water by itself is not a very good electrolyte. The lid was screwed on using teflon tape on the threads to make a good seal. Twelve (12) volts from a car battery was attached to the terminals, when I used only four coils it did not matter which terminal was positive or negative but with five coils I hooked up the negative wire to the terminal with three coils and the positive wire to the terminal with only two coils. Bubbles began to accumulate on the coils and after a few seconds, the bubbles dislodged and floated to the surface of the water and a brown haze developed. The electric voltage was disconnected. The tube from the inlet was positioned below the electrodes, so that the incoming bubbles dislodge the hydrogen/oxygen gas bubbles from the electrodes.
ELECTROLYSER AND BUBBLER
WORKING DRAWING
A frame was constructed using one inch strip aluminum and pop rivets to hold the two jars, and secured to a fire wall in the RV's engine compartment. The output tubing was routed to a "T" placed in a vacuum line going to the carburetor. A positive wire running to the windshield wiper motor was located and a thick wire attached with a crimp piece. The wire comes directly from the fuse box and was activated when the ignition key was turned on, then the wiring was completed with a 10 amp "In line" fuse installed. A suitable ground screw was located and the negative wire attached.
The system was now ready for final testing.
The engine was started, which also activated the positive wire to the windshield wiper. The electrical current passing through the electrolyte from the electrodes caused the water to be split into hydrogen and oxygen which was sucked into the bubbler jar where fine bubbles from the aquarium stone created a mist of water droplets which were then sucked into the engine along with the Brown's gas. The water mist slows the explosion down a little and produces more pressure due to the rapid switch from water to steam, helps clean the carbon deposits and the engine runs a little cooler. The hydrogen increases the octane of the mix and produces more power to add to the gasoline as it explodes.
Having determined that the system works, then a further modification was performed.
As my Chevrolet RV 454 cc engine has two "Smog pumps"; a "T" junction was made in one of the hoses to tap off a positive pressure line which was routed to the inlet side of the electrolyser, thus providing variable pressure depending on engine speed. A switch was added to the positive wire and positioned near the jars so that the unit can be turned off if necessary. Future modifications will include adding a relay in the positive wire.
No statistics have been collected so far, but claims in the literature have been as high as 45% increase in MPG, certainly the engine pulls better and hopefully cleaner, water vapor being one of the emissions, with less pollutants.
The unit was installed on an engine using a carburetor intake but a similar unit was installed on a fuel injected engine. The oxygen sensor was modified as the additional oxygen present in the exhaust provokes the on board computer to add more fuel on the assumption that the mixture is lean. More Information on oxygen sensors can be found on the Internet.
Protium Fuel Systems (Oxyisolator)
Prospective maintenance includes adding distilled water to the electrolyser at a period of 300-500 miles, and an occasional pinch of baking soda. The bubbler needs water more often depending on temperature and humidity. I am planning to install a water reservoir with automatic level switches to take care of the replenishing situation. The electrodes need careful cleaning with a small soft brush or pipe cleaner when they get too contaminated, and will need replacing after several years. Either ware rubber gloves when winding the coils or wash well in detergent to remove oil from finger prints otherwise gas bubbles stick to the electrodes and hinder further gas production.
According to the current literature, the system is perfectly safe but the electrolyser should NOT be allowed to run when the engine is not actually running, as when just the ignition key is on, otherwise the accumulation of Brown's gas may become a fire hazzard. The glass jar does get warm and should be allowed to cool down before adding cold water. (A breakage results in only water being spilled) The literature does warn that adding this system may void warrantees on newer vehicles and possibly some State rules need to be checked.
It has been reported that China is producing a car that runs on water but that U.S. will not allow it to be imported to this country! They are also producing parts and supplies commercially for home builders, as is Canada.
References:-
Myla Madson's Hydrogen generator
Eagle research's Kits and parts
Water for Gas (Hydrogen booster, kit)
Electrolysis, Wikipedia encyclopedia (General electrolysis info)
Author, Ken Crompton
July 2008
Additional Information can be found at the following web sites.
Hydrogen Garage (Kits, parts, oxygen sensor info)
Water powered car ( booster plans)
Better mileage (Water/steam injection)
Halfwaterhalfgas (Hydrogen Booster)
Jars - Glass Walmart Cracker jar #7644085812 USA Anchor Hocking Co 85812
$2.50 one and a half quarts
Jars - Glass Walmart two quarts (Needs a plastic lid which can be found on plastic jars same shelf.)
Jars - Strong, Plastic Clear Med Canister Jar #078634819009 China MP507634819009
$6.97 (Has a double, plastic, hinged lid, which ,by squeezing the wire hinge, can be unhitched, or terminals can be installed in the side wall if air tight)
FUTURE PROJECT
I have a small gas generator with output of 110 volts AC and also 12 volts DC. It is not being used at the moment as the gas tank is broken so I will use it to experiment with, and try running it on hydroxy gas. So this fall, I plan to design an addition to the throttle that will control a gas valve by being linked to the throttle and also a trip cam to activate a spring-loaded plunger much like an accelerator pump. The electrolyser will supply a storage tank that will have a pressure switch (10lbs/sq in) to control the current to the electrolyser electrodes. There will be a separate spring -loaded piston to supply extra gas for acceleration. I also plan to obtain a pulse DC unit for the electrolyser, and will look into an electronic magnet to improve hydrogen quality. Some of the above are available on the network. Should this project be successful, it will provide a nice demonstration unit for the next stage.
Readers Corner
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If you send me comments, ideas, updates and suggestions, I will post them in the following section to help with these projects unless you state otherwise.
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