Improve mileage 50 percent by heating up gas
Put on your tin foil hats everyone, it's conspiracy story time. One upon a time, a Washington Post reporter took a ride in a car that gets 50 percent better fuel economy by heating gas to 350 degrees. The system improves mileage by turning gas into a vapor which leads to better combustion. The reporter almost didn't go for the test drive because he reasoned if this were true why wouldn't car companies do this now?
We have written about systems like this before. Experimental versions even appears in the Saab Biopower concept. There is a car in the X-Prize that has this technology. Heck, anyone that ever warmed up a car in the morning or used ethanol in the cold probably re-invented this. It's not a new idea. So why don't car companies use this technology? The Post says it might be safety concerns of vaporizing gasoline.
I don't know. How is vaporizing gasoline any less safe than igniting it? The Post also says there are lesser versions of this technology in cars already. Maybe this is proof that there is a vast conspiracy of oil and car companies working together to keep fuel saving technologies off the market? I guess this conspiracy story ends with the oil companies living happily ever after in profit land :D
[Source: Washington Post]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
rrep 6:07PM (1/26/2008)
Thomas Edison developed a system to vaporize gasoline. The engine used, I believe it was a ford flat head V-8, ran 100 mile per gallon! I wonder who bought and covered up this invention?
Reply
johnandrews52 8:33AM (7/17/2008)
Can we run our car with water and gas?
Can anybody tell me is the HHO Gas is real working or is another scam?
Reply
dell 12:45PM (3/14/2009)
I can tell you for sure h.h.o. works, as I am, and have been running a home made unit on my van, G.M.C. 4.3 liter, for a year, more or less. I learned how to build it from the websites, cost under $30.00 ! I went from 15 to 21 mpgs . This is no lie.
ronaldcollins 2:26AM (7/18/2008)
hi there, I use water to fuel a car as a supplement to gasoline. In fact, very little water is needed, only one quart of water provides over 1800 gallons of HHO gas which can literally last for months and significantly increase your car fuel efficiently, improve emissions quality, and save money. I found the way through this site http://www.runcarsonwater.us i really recommend it to everybody, it's a nice eBook where you can find the instructions on how to do it! take a look.
Reply
Phil 3:56PM (11/17/2008)
What if you take a small shell tube heat exchange and utilized the heat from your radiater??? You would give the computer time to adjust air to fuel mixture when warming up. Also the computer alone should be able to adjust on the fly.
Reply
jack 11:19PM (2/02/2009)
If 1 gallon of gas can pickup the Empire state bldg 1 foot off the ground when mixed properly with O2, then (that is a lot of power) why are we buying fuel by the gallon? It you think your answer is right contact Boeing Phantom Works! They have thousands of expert thermally educated engineers,most never did any work on their own, meaning working for nothing and risking their family's welfare. I'm an inventor keeping your hard earned dollars where it counts the most "your brief life". Call 1-800-707-1232 Free in North America. It's My Buck! What is your Idea! America Needs Problem Solvers!
My email is intellingentenergysolutions@juno.com or jackphelps@phantomenergyworks.com
Stop. Look, Feel and Listen!
Reply
Mike 3:25PM (8/29/2007)
I wonder if anyone has ever used a Coleman gas stove? sheesh Anyway, this has been done before. In mid 70s (78 IIRC) in San Antonio a guy actually had it working. I read the article in the San Antonio paper. He got well north of 100 mpg measured by weight of the car before and after the test drive. Problem was that to work in a standard ICE you had to create a reservoir with tightly controlled tempratures. Tough with 70s technology. Consider using this in a constant RPM engine for use in a serial hybrid though. Perfect solution. High milage, very low emissions (like NG), high energy fuel, and, for a constant RPM engine, very easy to do.
Reply
brandon 3:29PM (8/29/2007)
It's a question of how to heat it and how to contain the heated gas. Vapors are much more difficult to control than liquids are!
Reply
detroit9000 4:07PM (8/29/2007)
Sounds like a good way to crack a piston ring or worse. Cars have to last for at least around 100k miles, or people won't buy them.
Reply
MikeW 3:55PM (8/29/2007)
Gasoline already turns into vapor inside the engine.
Higher injection pressure leads to greater atomization.
If heating the fuel is good, mercedes must be screwing you with a fuel cooler.
http://www.emercedesbenz.com/Images/Feb06/24MercedesCLS350CGI/100024306a682.jpg
http://www.emercedesbenz.com/Images/Feb06/24MercedesCLS350CGI/100029606c1211_002.jpg
http://www.emercedesbenz.com/Images/Feb06/24MercedesCLS350CGI/100032906c1211_005.jpg
Reply
Kevin 5:06PM (8/29/2007)
you have to heat it
then keep it hot
then control it
And all of this needs to be done the entire time form the first crank to the last spark. Other wise you would need two injection systems one for the cold liquid and one for the cold gas. Then there is the safety or perceived safety of a hot gasoline vapor under pressure.
Reply
Chris M 5:09PM (8/29/2007)
The most it can do is get more complete fuel combustion, reducing the unburned hydrocarbons emitted from the engine. Unburned HC emissions are low even in regular engines, so the potential fuel milage improvement is limited. No way could it get a "50% improvement", though folks trying to sell such gadgets are prone to exaggerate a bit.
Of course, a badly tuned (or piston ring leaking) engine will emit lots of unburned hydrocarbons, but repair and tuning is what's needed, not a fuel vaporizer.
Reply
steven 4:52PM (8/29/2007)
Maybe we can get Kipkay http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/08/29/video-dont-overcharge-your-lithium-batteries/ or Ianbruce http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/08/13/video-nail-drilled-through-a123-battery/ to create a video on what can happen if you heat up gasoline?
Reply
Joseph 6:56PM (8/29/2007)
The reason why this isn't true is very simple.
If it was, Hypermilers would've already done it!
Unless...maybe that is their conspiracy secret!
Reply
Mike Z 5:52PM (8/29/2007)
I think a 50% improvement would be beyond the theoretical efficiency of the OTTO cycle.
Reply
Sree 9:43PM (8/29/2007)
We can use the heat coming out of the engine smoke to reheat the fuel pumped into the car...
Reply
philmcneal 2:58AM (8/30/2007)
its called a freaking block heater, gosh...
Reply
motorman 12:11PM (8/30/2007)
smokey yunick did this 30 years ago
Reply
Yggdrasilly 1:43PM (8/31/2007)
The problem with this system is that you'd absolutely have to prevent any air from getting into the stream of superheated gasoline vapors until they're already inside the cylinder, waiting to be burned. Otherwise you'd get preignition somewhere in the fuel flow.
Bad Ju-Ju.
Reply
Clint LeRoy 7:04AM (9/02/2007)
Actually the reality here is that in 1995 AL Gore endorsed a law that restricted gas mixtures above a 14.7 to 1 ratio. This was to allow environmental testing equipment back in the day to analyze emission testing in all 50 states. The Federal Government figured that this ratio would allow test equipment to adequately analyze the emissions of a running automobile. Where today's technology actually is able to diagnose emission testing beyond the 30 to 1 ratio. Thus limitations exist by the law that governs vaporization of fuel mixtures to nothing above 14.7 to 1.
The EPA-OBD II Law mandates that all Gasoline Powered Vehicles in the USA from 1996 to the Present must operate at 14.7 Parts of Air to 1
Part of Fuel. Any change whatsoever, even if Fuel Economy is improved, and Emissions are lowered, will result in a failed Vehicle Inspection.
Exemptions are granted for Natural Gas, Propane, and Hydrogen Powered Vehicles that are registered as Operating on Alternative Energy, but not Gasoline.
http://www.epa.gov/EPA-AIR/1998/December/Day-22/a32570.htm
[Federal Register: December 22, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 245)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 70681-70697]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22de98-18]
That should end the discussion of why we can't get this type of fuel mileage it is our own government who is restricting our capabilities. Try contacting your local government representative and tell them we need this ACT over turned and soon.
Reply