Originally Posted by
yamahonda41
All the energy is still coming from gasoline but the H and O are causing the combustion to be more complete which increases the efficiency.
Basically I think H and O are much better for combustion than Nitrogen which is what 80% of our air is made up of. I'm still not sure about the amount of energy required to power the hydrogen cell being as much as the improvement in efficiency.
Not even close.
Gasoline and diesel fuel are both classed as "hydrocarbons". They are a mixture of different compounds, all of which are composed almost exclusively of hydrogen and carbon atoms. When combined with the oxygen in the air (about 15%) and ignited, they break apart, forming CO2 (can't do a subscript on the "2"), or carbon dioxide, and H2O, or water, releasing heat in the process. The heat causes an increase in pressure of the combustion products, driving the piston down.
Nitrogen plays no part in the combustion process whatsoever, unless your mixture is too lean. If this is the case, the combustion temperature will be high enough to cause some of the nitrogen to also combine with oxygen, forming NOX compounds (a nitrogen atom combined with 1, 2, or even 3 oxygen atoms). The purpose of EGR is to reduce the combustion temperature, preventing the formation of NOX, as it is considered a pollutant.
If your mixture is too rich, the fuel will not all ignite, resulting in "unburned hydrocarbons". The job of the catalytic converter is to finish combining the unburned fuel with oxygen.
Adding that tiny little bit of hydrogen and oxygen to your intake air in the form of gases would make such a tiny difference as to be absolutely unnoticable.
The amount of hydrogen and carbon contained in fuel is determined by weight..... about 6 lb per gallon. The oxygen is free.... you get it from the air coming through the intake system. A gallon of water weighs about 8 lb, but it's about 89% oxygen by weight.... you don't need oxygen, 'cause you already have enough, and adding more won't help. You get the energy from burning the hydrogen.... about 11% of the water.
In other words, the amount of energy you would get from a gallon of water is nowhere near the energy in a gallon of gasoline or diesel fuel.... and you have to put energy into this thing (from the engine) in order to separate the water.
I have a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, a Master of Science in Engineering Mechanics, have been a member of SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) since 1979, and have spent most of my engineering career in mobile equipment. That's not to toot my own horn, but to convince you that I know what I'm talking about.... if you want to spend the money it's your choice, but like I said earlier, it's a scam.