Read carefully before you retrofit your car with Hydrogen Fuel Injection
We - and our readers - know quite well that "increase your MPG" claims fly fast and furious in the green car industry. One such claim is that adding hydrogen to your gasoline or diesel fuel line will make your car burn the fuel cleaner and therefore get more miles per gallon. We've tackled the question about whether on-board hydrogen generators can increase your MPG - they don't. No, seriously, they don't - but there have been a lot of people who feel the need to test this system, or at least did back in 2006 (see here and here).Nonetheless, Hydrogen Hybrid Technologies is hoping that people are ready to give on-board electrolysers and Hydrogen Fuel Injection (HFI) a chance in their own vehicles. HHT says that it has completed field trials of the HFI system and would be more than happy to install the system in your car through its network of "over 140 Certified Installation Centres all across Canada, the United States, and a number of international markets." HHT's words are after the break, but we've gotta recommend reading this before you go to the shop.
[Source: Hydrogen Hybrid Technologies Inc.]
PRESS RELEASE:
Hydrogen Hybrid Technologies Prepares For Car & Light Truck Aftermarket
Initial Field Trials Successfully Completed
PICKERING, ON, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hydrogen Hybrid Technologies Inc.(HYHY:otcbb) and Canadian Hydrogen Energy Company are pleased to announce that, in response to unprecedented demand and in line with its marketing plan, initial field trials have been successfully completed on a Hydrogen Fuel Injection (HFI) system specifically for the Car & Light Truck aftermarket.
With the increased concern about increasing fuel prices, consumers are anxious to find solutions. This particularly applies to Light Trucks, including SUVs. Plans are currently under way to extend the scope of these trials with specific emphasis on target customers.
HFI technology is installed as an add-on to diesel and gasoline engines where it significantly reduces a wide variety of emissions (CO, PM, HC, CO2 and NOx) while simultaneously reducing fuel consumption. Currently, HFI units are being used by long-haul transport trucks, ambulances, municipal buses and other heavy equipment, earning HFI the dominant position as the world's most widely-used on-board electrolysers. The technology is based on electrolysis and the units split water, on-board the ambulance, then vent the hydrogen and oxygen directly into the air intake of the engine. Adding hydrogen significantly improves the efficiency of combustion, in the engine, with significant financial and environmental benefits.
HFI is distributed through the world's largest retail distribution network for any hydrogen product, with over 140 Certified Installation Centres all across Canada, the United States, and a number of international markets. The product is the first emission control technology to have received "Environmental Technology Verification" (ETV) by the Canadian government and the first hydrogen technology to receive ETV recognition anywhere in the world.
About Hydrogen Hybrid Technologies Inc: The OEM distributor of the world's most advanced on-board hydrogen generating system, the Hydrogen Fuel Injection system. This technology is patented, or patent-pending, worldwide. The system offers unparalleled benefits for virtually any internal combustion engine, with increased horsepower, decreased emissions and improvement in fuel economy. The HFI system is marketed through a network of certified installation centres in Canada, the U.S. and around the world.
Included in this release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements will prove to have been correct. The company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
allNall 11:32AM (8/29/2008)
The game's up ABG, these planted articles aren't stopping anyone from doing the retrofit and achieving the mpg gains you say don't exist.
Hal Turner was a white supremest radio host, that is until he lost his gig after some hackers posted emails between him and the FBI. Just something to be aware of.
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gorr 11:49AM (8/29/2008)
This system work. Stan mayer and daniel dingel and some others have succeeded in running cars with that. The problem is not injecting hydrogen gas in an intake manifold, the problem is to re-tune the engine because when you inject a new gas in a engine you have to change diesel or gasoline injection and alter the ignition timing. So if a product is sold and installed incomplete then it won't work or will work just a little bit like 5% increase in fuel efficiency, no more then that.
Take the bmw hydrogen 7, it work good on 100% hydrogen and the same car work good too with 100% gasoline. But the bmw was conceived and program to do so and gasoline and\or hydrogen gas is monitored by the engine computer at any given moment. These kits on the other hand are 0% monitored by the engine computer because it's a huge task to study and re-program a car computer. Codes are secrets and each car or truck are different so if someone succeed in re-programming a particular car and fit one of these hydrogen machine then he will have to re-study and re-program differently each different car that he will try to fit one of these machine.
I said some months ago to Gm and Ford to fit these machine to theirs money losing s.u.v's but they are too conservatives to do it and they prefer to stay with the 'finite' natural ressources psychosis philosophy that can be proven wrong in one minute with a good working prototype of this machine if well implemented in a real car like mayer or dingel and some others did.
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JamesWB 8:56AM (8/30/2008)
''Take the bmw hydrogen 7, it work good on 100% hydrogen and the same car work good too with 100% gasoline.''
Are you for real? It makes way less power and torque on hydrogen and gets less than 5mpg.
Matt 12:03PM (8/29/2008)
The BMW hydrogen 7 uses a tank which you fill with hydrogen, not on-board electrolyzed hydrogen. It also uses hydrogen or gasoline as it's main fuel, not small amounts of hydrogen added to the gasoline to magically make it get higher mpg.
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Stan 1:21PM (8/29/2008)
As the Democratic Convention wraps up and the hoopla of the Republican Convention heats up Americans are still left with a sense of a lot of hot air of any concrete plans to end the energy crisis in America. Northerners dread the upcoming onset of fall and colder weather wondering how they will be able to afford how to keep their homes and families warm. Southerners have been sweating the high cost of energy raising the thermostat to save on their electric bills. Families everywhere are wondering where else they can cut back to cover the cost of fueling up the family vehicle to get back and forth to work and take care of the necessities of life. There is no money left for relaxation and family fun. The stress level continues to rise. The average electric bill has risen 16% to cover the power companies additional production costs. A gallon of milk is almost as precious as a gallon of gas. The cost of every consumer product has risen sharply. American's are stretched to the limit. Jobs are being lost, foreclosures are increasing at an alarming rate. Seems even the family pets are suffering the high cost of fuel as almost daily a new story is on TV about shelters being forced to euthanize record number of surrendered pets from those forced out of their homes or no longer able to care for them. The energy crisis in our country is far reaching and needs immediate attention. I am hoping whoever gets elected will get their act together and make this their #1 priority.
An interesting site to share...
www.themanhattanprojectof2009.com
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CNCMike 1:42PM (8/29/2008)
In the first place the test mentioned did not take place on the street which is the only way to test real world fuel economy. The Hydrogen actually burns at a much lower temp than gasoline and does reduce NOX. All the hydrogen really does is add power to every power stroke of the engine due to it's fast flamefront and complete combustion. Since only a given amount of power is required to maintain, say, 55mph and every power stroke is making more power, you need less throttle opening to maintain the same speed and less throttle opening at the same speed gives you higher MPG. It's the same effect as improving the drag coefficient. A properly designed and built system (not one that was cobbled together on a saw horse and old door table in the back of Big Bubba's Bar, Grill, GYN clinic and auto repair shop) will use less than 15 amps. There are a lot of stereo systems that use more than that and 15 amps of load on the alternator will not even create a measureable decrease in MPG.
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James Sonne 5:44PM (8/29/2008)
That doesn't make any sense. The power from a cylinder stroke comes from the compression within the cylinder. Pressure is a function of heat. The stroke is caused by a difference of heat-pressure between the non-power and the power stroke. The power of the stroke COMES from heat, so if you're making more power, it's because of an increase in explosive heat. Increased heat means nitrogen gas breaking its bonds and being oxidized, resulting in nitric oxide (NOx).
Flame fronts, or speed of combustion, just create a problem with the engine timing, meaning the fuel-air mixture in the cylinder will explode too quickly, before the cylinder hits 180*, before the power-stroke even begins, thus _reducing_ efficiency. An engine's timing if finely tuned to begin the power stroke right when the heat from the explosion reaches the cylinder head. Adding a substance that burns faster means you're prematurely burning the fuel, reducing efficiency and adding a downward strain on an upwardly moving engine component, increasing wear and tear on your rods and your valves at the same time (valves being far more fragile).
You know a lot of key words, but you're not putting it together with an understanding of engine mechanics nor thermodynamics.
Most of these kits that can be purchased come with resisters and crap you're supposed to attach to your exhaust's oxygen sensor. These are probably where the majority of the differences come into play, as you're basically stunting the engine by fooling the computer into thinking it should be fed less gasoline than normal. Also, the placebo effect is extremely large in automobiles. If you put some crazy thing on your car to save gasoline, you're going to drive more carefully because you don't want your car to explode, and you subconsciously want it to work.
People claim they get anywhere from 30 to 70% improvement from these things, but people are getting the same range of improvement from modifying driving behavior. I can get 30 mpg on the interstate or I can get 43mpg on the interstate, it all depends on how quickly I drive. That's a 30% improvement. If I want to be crazy, I can get 20 mpg around town, or I can take it slow and easy and make 35 mpg, that's a 50% improvement. Obviously the same improvements in fuel economy can be had simply from behavior modification, without buying crap to add to your car that just increases wear and tear. Why not simply modify your driving behavior! There is no quick fix, discipline is what it takes. These devices just fool you into it for a little while.
Whopper 2:21PM (8/29/2008)
"In the first place the test mentioned did not take place on the street which is the only way to test real world fuel economy."
Wrong Mike. There are too many variables in driving on the street - everything from the outside ambient temperature to traffic, state of engine tune etc. The only REAL way to test this once and for all is on an engine dyno. There all of the variables that can be controlled will be. A complete fuel map could be plotted for an engine with or without hydrogen and the engine tuned to take advantage, if one exists, of hydrogen. Until that is done everything else is conjecture.
A "reputable" company would test the product in that manner prior to putting it on the market. They would offer BSFC (Brake Specific Fuel Consumption) maps showing what their product can do. I have yet to see hard, verifiable data.
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CNCMike 12:48PM (8/31/2008)
It is exactly the variables in the real world that make the street the only way to test real world fuel economy. You have obviously never tuned an engine on the dyno and then taken it to the strip and tuned it again. The combintion that makes the most power on the dyno will not always make the fastest time on the strip. Why? Too many vaiables in the real world to accurately reproduce on a dyno. I saw a test of a Fitch fuel catalyst on the dyno that showed a 17% increase in fuel economy but in the real world the same engine showed no difference with or without the catalyst.
CNCMike 1:05PM (8/31/2008)
There is lots of proof available but you refuse to believe it. Watch the real world videos. Oh, I know, the videos are faked, the fuel economy gage is rigged, etc, etc...
http://www.hydrorunner.com/video-gallery.html
Dave 2:20PM (8/29/2008)
This is a very interesting article. I looked at their website and didn't see any testimonials, mpg statistics or location of their dealers / installers that they mention. So unless I missed something I have no idea what the projected improvement is or where I could go to get the conversion done.
The second thing that comes to mind is if this is a scam then they would be sued and go to jail big time, so which is it???
Game changer at some level if this is real and works.
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Bill 11:24AM (8/30/2008)
As the other poster noted, the modifications the kit sellers want you to do to your downstream sensors indicates any improvement comes from "leaning out" combustion.
It also means your modified vehicle will NOT pass an emissions inspection if required in your area.
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CNCMike 1:00PM (8/31/2008)
Pressure is a function of heat.
I don't think I have ever read a more innaccurate statement in my life. Pressure is a function of a lot of variables. If you run dry nitrogen in your tires there is no measurable increase in pressure as the tire heats up. If you shock a container of carbonated liquid there is a substantial increase in pressure with no increase in temp. You obviuosly have no concept of how litle Hydrogen it takes to make a difference in the combustion of gasoline. It is the speed on the resulting pressure wave that creates power in an engine. An engine running Nitrous runs a lot cooler(exhaust temps can drop 500 to 700 degrees) and makes a lot more power. Why? The increase in the pressure wave.
The production of NOX has as much to do with the fuel being used than the temperature it is being burned at.
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Joeviocoe 3:21PM (9/03/2008)
CNCmike, you are obviously a race mechanic and NOT an automotive engineer.
All your terminology and analogies point to race mechanics. Do racers even care about fuel consumption or emissions? NO! Only power. Adding nitrous requires more fuel because "Nitrous oxide is an oxidizing agent used to increase an engine's power output by allowing more fuel to be burned than would normally be the case."
And cooler exhaust temps do NOT show you what is happening in the thermodynamic cycle in the engine.
Put down the wrench for a second and open a book to learn how an engine really works "fundamentally". 1/3rd of the energy is lost out the exhaust as heat, and 1/3rd is lost through the cylinder walls as heat, and 1/3rd is made to do work by taking a given volume of fuel/air and applying the heat of combustion to increase pressure and deliver a power stroke to the piston.
So you are right about pressure. But the pressure is caused by the heat of combustion.
The hydrogen produced by "on the fly" electrolysis cannot significantly add any heat. Remember, one liter of gasoline equals the same energy content as 3200 liters of uncompressed hydrogen (which is what these kits produce).
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Joeviocoe 3:27PM (9/03/2008)
"Pressure is a function of heat"
Correct but incomplete.
Thermodynamics says that "Pressure is a function of heat and Volume". But since volume is a constant depending on the size of your engine (displacement), James is absolutely correct.
Sorry mike, your knowledge of race mechanics is less useful on this topic.
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Joeviocoe 3:38PM (9/03/2008)
"In the first place the test mentioned did not take place on the street which is the only way to test real world fuel economy."
True and also false!
The street is the only way to test "YOUR" fuel economy. Meaning that you can't believe the EPA sticker is what you will get based on your driving style. For many years, most Americans found out that they drive much more aggressively than the EPA estimated. Now the EPA tests have been redone to get a better average of typical driving.
However, to have consistent results on a test, YOU NEED TO HAVE AS FEW VARIABLES AS POSSIBLE. Only a dyno running a set drive cycle map can show the comparison between driving with hydrogen injection and without it. This is how the EPA gets its figures.
Driving style influences MPG more than ANY other factor.
It is funny how all the hydrogen believers out there only have the "butt dyno" as proof.
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thomas d 2:52AM (9/29/2008)
hi i have a unit fitted to honda accord singleohead vtec and prelude h22a vtec,i have map sensors and spaced the co sensor,what else can i do to get more out of my units,can i fit the unit directly to fuel line somehow?/if youve got more advise please reply.thanks thomas,newzealand.
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Joeviocoe 8:15PM (9/29/2008)
Its a trade off between better gas miles and safety of your engine.
The only way to get better MPG, is to lean out the fuel mixture more. Adding hydrogen is not really doing anything other than displacing some of the air and fooling your engine computer into thinking it is running too rich. Then the computer leans the fuel mixture.
This will do two things:
Increase your cylinder temperature to VERY high, DANGEROUS levels that will eventually melt your pistons. This is why automotive engines keep their air/fuel ratio at stoichiometric (14.7:1).
Increase the production of NOx, which is a harmful emission that causes health problems.
So calculate your gas (petrol) savings in comparison to probably replacing that lovely VTEC engine.
Rosko Hodokso 5:40PM (10/17/2008)
Is Hydrogen injection better thagt SVO on, emission, engine life, cost?
You see i want to either get a diesel and do wvo or go with the gasser I already have and do something like HFI.
Thanx
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Research1 10:54AM (2/28/2009)
I've wondered one could how do use energy wasted in the engine (e.g. by the alternator via the voltage regulator) in order to improve fuel mileage performance of existing vehicles. So I read this conversation. It appears reasonable that additional power can be created through electrolysis, however in order to retrofit a vehicle reprogramming the computer will be necessary in order to ensure optimal efficiency, maintain engine temperatures within spec, and reduction of NOX gasses .
This can be done, but the issue is, as noted, that it would have to be researched for each engine out there that needed to be retrofitted. The car companies certainly know there engine designs the best and have access to research that’s already been done. It appears to be a great business opportunity for them and their network of dealers. Of course, it is also been noted that it would make more sense to incorporate this technology into the system from the beginning rather than after fact.
So given the somewhat obvious nature of these test hydrogen-electrolysis systems (this is not advanced technology) and the many ‘smart’ engineers who do work in the industry. Do we think that they just missed this idea due to narrow-mindedness, groupthink, or that the technology lacked competitive advantage? Or perhaps is there something that detract significantly from their advantages that we are missing? I have to laugh at these companies ineptitude if the former is true. Are they really that bad at what they do? I hope that these systems work for the world’s sake. But if they do I really pity these organizations which seem to be in need of dismemberment and reconstruction from the ground up.
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