hydro assist fuel cell 50% increase in mpg

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hey has anyone heard of this hydro assist fuel cell? they guarantee a 50% increase in gas mileage. imagine a cruiser that consistently got 20+ mpg:eek:.

PICC

scroll down to the HAFC.
would something like this shorten the life of your engine? or would it give you a cleaner/hotter burn increasing engine life and performance? a buddy is getting ready to try one on his cruiser tell me what ya'll think so i can talk him out of a bad purchase if i need to.
 
Let him do it, then maybe this can be put to rest.... Is it Burt Ward? He should go back to selling pens.
 
Hmmmm... I see right under it they have a magnetic fuel ionizer. I've always wanted to magnetically ionize non-polar, non-ferrous molecules. :rolleyes:
 
Aren't all molecules polarized? Can you enlighten a not so intellectual?
 
Well, it's been a few years since I've been in Chem, but basically, polar molecules come about because the bonds between atoms in a molecule don't have a symmetrical distribution.

So for water, the 2 hydrogen atoms aren't spread 180 degrees apart (which would be symmetric and "balance" the charge distribution of the molecule), but rather are something like 120 degrees apart (that number is straight out of my butt, so don't quote me on it, but it is somewhere between 90 and 180). As the atoms in the molecule have a charge to them (O +ve, H -ve, I believe) there is a polarity to the molecule.

Most hydrocarbons (but not all by any means) have a symmetrical distribution of mainly hydrogen and carbon. A chain of carbons (e.g. 5 for pentane, 8 for octane) with hydrogen atoms lined up 2 by 2 running down the chain like legs on a centipede, with an extra at each end of the chain. Since any charge partitioning between the carbon and hydrogen is balanced by symmetry across the molecule, there is no net polarity to the molecule.

Then there is the fact that they say they are using magnets to ionize the fuel. Well Ionization implies imparting a charge on the molecules by adding or removing electrons. Since your fuel is neither a ferrous metal, nor a conductor that will pass a flow of electrons, the magnets should have negligible effect on the fuel. Further, if the fuel passes through a steel fuel line within the active field of the magnets, the magnetic field will be channeled by the fuel line, and greatly weakened within it (the reason magnets on the oil filter or outside of the oil pan don't help trap iron particles).

blah, blah, blah. I'm sure there are one or two technicalities I am wrong or unclear on, but generally, putting magnets on your fuel line will do dick-all, and a hydrogen generator will net no gains in economy from combustion of the hydrogen (I could be convinced though that it might net a few percent increase in economy if it helps the gasoline burn more completely.... but that would require a good explanation and testing from an independent lab). If you want to save fuel, look at proper tuning, gearing, and maybe something to help the aerodynamics at the back of the truck (this I have thought about many times, but haven't done any experimenting yet).

Hope this helps a bit. And to anyone with a better chem/physics knowledge, flame away.
 
Let me try the hydrogen part. . .

The basic concept is to use electricty to turn water (H2O) into hydrogen gas (H2) and oxygen (O2) - which is called electrolysis. The hydrogen is then used to aid the combustion. Another way of saying that is the hydrogen is burned (i.e. combines back with oxygen) making water as a byproduct of the reaction.

I think we all can agree that it takes energy to split water. We can also agree burning hydrogen creates energy. But here's the problem:

Energy is conserved and you cannot create energy out of nothing. The electrolysis process is not 100% efficient. Lets say, for the sake of argument it is 70% efficient. So if it takes 10hp (or 10 gallons of gas or 10Kw from your alternator) to produce a given quantity of hydrogen, at best, you will only get 7hp (or 7 gallons of gas) back from the reverse reaction (burning the hydrogen and returning it into water). And that assumes buring the hydrogen is 100% efficient.

So the problem is not that hydrogen may help your engine get more mpg - it's that MAKING the hydrogen with that same engine CANNOT make your car more efficient. If it could, you could build a perpetual energy machine and the worlds energy problems would be solved.
 
WOW:eek:. that was intense!!! Im gonna need a few days to run that thru my processor.:D
 
Before your buddy buys this Rube Goldburg device have him contact the manufacturer and ask for someone in his area that has one on there car/truck. If there product is so great they should have no problem sending you to one of there HAPPY customers. If not it's bullsh%$ Well it is that anyway.
 
Another note. The proponents of hydrogen assist technology seem to concede the whole conservation of energy, aka The First Law of Thermodynamics. But they say it isn't so much the combustion of hydrogen as it is that the hydrogen helps the combustion of gasoline (as RocDoc brings up). But if hydrogen is so great an aid to gasoline combustion, why not just add a hydrogen tank and get your hydrogen from a more efficient factory than use such an inefficient way to make hydrogen as your alternator?

Another thing is that although the internal combustion engine is not very efficient, the gasoline is burned efficiently - i.e. we don't have much gas spewing out our tailpipes. I've heard the figure is greater than 99%, which makes sense considering hydrocarbons are measured in PPM for emissions purposes. So if you are buring 99% of your gas already, how does adding hydrogen allow you to burn more than the last 1%?
 
I'm just a simple caveman. Your "electricity" and "gasoline" confuse and frighten me. I mean hey, are there demons in there, making it all work? I don't know, I'm just a simple caveman.
 
http://adequatulence.com/hartman/vault/sounds/just-a-caveman.wav
Unfrozen_Caveman_Lawyer.webp
 
I've got a fever!


And there's only one cure...........










:popcorn:
 
I've got a fever!


And there's only one cure...........

That's Christopher Walken as 'Bruce Dickinson', not Phil Hartman as 'Caveman Lawyer'. :D
 
sounds like the acetone thing,high claims and no proof.
 
Not this again... Read that link that RockDoc sent....
 
I find that wearing a copper bracelet on the wrist of my shifting arm
increases my fuel efficiency on my 87 FJ60 by 20%.

New plugs, aircleaner, valve adjustment and timing helped also...
 
Ha,
I installed in my FJ60 a variable infinite improbability drive...
What can I tell you! I do lightyears on a gallon of waste...

:bounce:
 
If this company can make any vehicle get at least 50% better fuel economy, it would be on the cover of every newspaper in the world, shieks would be looking for day jobs, mass histeria, cats and dogs living together...you get my point.

yeah and my improbibility drive gets similar economy but turns the Landy into a couch. Don't Panic
 

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