Home Savings Test Results Technical Information Newsletter Order Contact and employment opportunities
April 2002 Newsletter
An email from a prospective customer reads:
From: GREG RAUSCHER
To: h2boost@adelphia.net
This is what I got on a car site after asking a question so please comment:
The following message was posted by Gord on Thursday, March 21st at 11:08:48 AM
The efficiency bottleneck in the internal combustion
engine is not the fuel delivery system. Never has been.
Even antique engines with primitive carburetors would
run well at their design speed, and burn nearly 100% of the fuel supplied. Improved
carburetors and now, fuel injection
have brought us closer to 100% combustion than ever before.
This gadget can't possibly give 40% better mileage
because there is NOWHERE near
40% unburned fuel. If there were, your exhaust would probably peel the paint
off the car behind you, and city dwellers would long since have died off from
lipid pneumonia.
Internal combustion engine have relatively poor
efficiency because even though they do burn their fuel nearly completely, most
of the heat from that combustion is rejected through the engine's cooling
system and exhaust pipe. It's the HEAT that makes power, by expanding the gases
in the cylinder and creating pressure. If we could make an engine that would
run reliably at 500° F, it would get much better mileage. But we don't
presently have materials and lubricants that will hold up at such temperatures.
There are people working on ceramic engines, and other
approaches at high-temperature operation, but there is no magic bullet.
If anyone tells you that their magic bolt-on gadget
will give you 40% better mileage, they are trying to snow you, no buts about
it.
Thx
Greg Rauscher
My response was as follows:
Dear Greg,
I agree. Now go to the top of my Newsletter page and read the first paragraph.
Fran
There, Greg would find the following:
I would like to make sure you understand that the Hydrogen-Boost
System is a system, not just a device. Though the installation of a
hydrogen gas generator will increase the mileage of most vehicles by a
considerable amount, usually 15-25% or more, the system that accounts for 50%
to 100% increases in mileage includes the implementation of the numerous
maintenance and driving recommendations outlined in the operator's
manual. No simple device could give 50% to 100% increases in
mileage. If we had such a device we would sell it for $5000 or more and
it wouldn't be long before the vested interests in the automobile and petroleum
industries would find a way to close us down.
The Complete System
The Hydrogen-Boost system is a culmination of comprehensive
ongoing research that takes the best of all gas mileage enhancement devices and
concepts and brings them together in a unified symbiotic system. The
Hydrogen-Boost system is not a fuel delivery system only, but utilizes
components that reduce inefficiency caused by many other parts of the
automobile. Let’s start off by looking at a schematic that I found a
couple years ago on the web:
Chevron Technical Bulletin
Fuel Economy of Gasoline Vehicles
Fuel economy focuses on the energy in gasoline that's converted to work at the
wheels. But it's also informative to look at the energy that's lost. This
alternative view provides insight into how fuel economy might be improved by
design changes. The gasoline internal combustion engine is relatively
inefficient. In an actual driving cycle, it
converts 62 percent of the chemical energy in gasoline to heat and only 38
percent to mechanical energy. And only about one-third of the mechanical energy
reaches the wheels to do useful work (Figure 2).
The energy losses show that the potential routes to
better fuel economy involve:
Increasing the thermal
efficiency of the engine
Decreasing energy losses
within the vehicle
Decreasing the work
needed to move the vehicle
Figure 2
Simplified Vehicle Energy Balance 2
Passenger Car in EPA Urban Cycle (FTP 75)
It is important to note that this chart is for a “Passenger Car in EPA Urban
Cycle (FTP 75)” which is probably quite typical for our daily driving but not
necessarily applicable to all driving conditions. But for discussion this
is the best place to start.
Waste Engine Heat
In the chart above notice that 62% of the energy in the gasoline is converted
to waste engine heat. This waste can be reduced in a number of ways and
by a number of the components of the Hydrogen-Boost system. One way to
reduce this waste is to shut off the engine when it is not being used to move
the car, like when it is sitting at a traffic light or in stopped
traffic. This technique is considered by some to be extreme but did you
know that the Toyota Prius hybrid automobile does this automatically?
Whether you implement this technique will depend on your personal preferences
and more likely on your need for air conditioning on hot days.
Other ways to minimize the waste engine heat is to improve
the fuel delivery system so that more of the fuel delivered to the engine is
completely vaporized. The Hydrogen-Boost system utilizes a fuel heater
and a vaporization circuit and canister to accomplish this. The fuel
heater does this in two ways on most vehicles. Heating the fuel that is
injected insures that more of what is injected will vaporize, and heating the
fuel that returns to the tank causes more vapors in the tank that are routed to
the intake by the vapor lines already installed on most modern cars (some by
way of a charcoal canister).
Another way to minimize the waste engine heat is to process
the fuel going into the intake so that it will combust quicker and earlier in
the power stroke, thereby getting more work out of the fuel delivered to the
engine. There are a couple devices that are being tested by
Hydrogen-Boost that claim to do this. Both of these devices were obtained
from HIMAC Research in Niagara Falls, Ontario (www.himacresearch.com).
The first device is called the power cube, which is a high voltage high
frequency generator that sends a signal to an antennae system installed on the
spark plug wires. The claim is that the electromagnetic energy is
transferred to the spark plug center electrode which acts as an antennae, which
transfers the energy to the fuel molecules, which prepares the molecules for
ignition by giving them part of the activation energy needed to react with the
oxygen in the combustion chamber. This device is currently being tested
and we may or may not have results to report before this newsletter goes out.
The second device is called the Condensator or PCV
jar. This container is placed in the hose between the PCV valve and the
intake manifold and claims to have a catalyst inside that can break down the
blow-by gases that pass through into more volatile fuel. Whether the
catalyst actually does what is claimed is being tested, but one obvious
function of the Condensator is separation of the oily hydrocarbons from the
blow-by gasses. When these dirty hydrocarbons (oil mixed with partially
burned hydrocarbons) are prevented from going back into the intake manifold, the
result is a cleaner fuel/air mix and a cleaner combustion chamber. The
Condensator is especially needed when your engine’s compression rings are worn
and when the PCV valve is not operating properly.
The hydrogen gas generator of the Hydrogen-Boost system
enhances the fuel/air mixture by adding hydrogen gas and activated oxygen gas
to the mix. The hydrogen will help spread the flame faster during the
initial part of the combustion process and the activated oxygen is more active
in attacking the fuel molecules for combustion. The result is a quicker
burn of the fuel/air mix and more work produced because more of the burn is
accomplished at the top of the power stroke where the combustion is actually
pushing on the piston. By the time the piston gets more than half way
down the power stroke it is no longer being pushed by the expanding
gases. Fuel being combusted during the bottom half of the power stroke is
only producing waste engine heat. This is one reason that most internal
combustion engines are more efficient at doing work when they are operated at
lower RPM’s (1000 to 3000).
A driving technique that will help you get better fuel mileage is to operate
your vehicle in the highest comfortable gear where the engine will run smoothly
without shuddering or bucking, usually between 1000 and 2000 RPM unless you
need quick acceleration or more power for going up hill. Check out the
Hydrogen-Boost operator’s manual to learn how to do this with an automatic
transmission. Read the December 2001 Newsletter for a report on results
of experimentation with this technique.
Engine Mechanical
A quick look at the chart above will give you ideas on how
to reduce waste due to engine mechanicals. Many customers have mentioned
to me the use of K&N Air Filters which are effective at reducing the
resistance of air flow through the normal air filter. When I was young
and stupid (wise as a teenager) I used to remove my air filter for this
reason. After all, I drove mostly on paved roads and figured that I
didn’t get a lot of dirt into my air intake, so why make that engine suck that
air in through a piece of paper. Have you ever tried to run a mile race
with a surgical mask on? Well the use of K&N Air filters will
accomplish the same thing as removing the air filter except not quite as much
or as fast. You can reduce the drag of the air filter but you can wear
out your engine much quicker.
There is a good solution to this dilemma. Find a
filter that is a low flow resistance filter that still filters the air as good
as, or better than, the normal paper filter. There is one on the market
and it is offered by AMSOIL. Please visit their site by going through
www.hydrogen-boost.com/tech-info.html so I can get credit for your visit or
purchase through their affiliate program. Better yet, go through my site
and become an AMSOIL dealer and get 30% off your purchases.
While we’re talking about AMSOIL, let’s discuss how to
reduce the engine friction. I recommend AMSOIL Series 2000 0w30 synthetic
oil. This unique formula has a drain interval of 35,000 miles which will
make up for its high cost (unless your engine burns a lot of oil). But to
keep your oil clean for more than 1000 miles you will also want to install a
“by-pass” oil filter. AMSOIL sell these for about $250 and others sell
for as low as $120. They all require external plumbing, which I don’t
particularly like. My choice is an $80 quasi “by-pass” filter put out by
TRASKO that screws on where your regular filter screws on. The TRASKO is
not quite as big as the others but is a lot simpler and cheaper to use. I
am testing my first one on my Saturn. Even if you decide to use regular
petroleum motor oil, I recommend the “by-pass” filter option to reduce wear and
friction in your engine.
Also effective in reducing the friction inside the engine is
the use of some of the engine treatments on the market. Let me tell you
about my first test on engine treatments.
Back in the early 1980’s I flew a twin engine ultralight
aircraft. I went to an air show/fly-in upstate New York and saw Slick-50
being demonstrated in a four-stroke engine without any oil. That was
great except I had two-stroke engines on my ultralight. The salesman had
an engine treatment for two stroke engines that was squirted into the intake
during operation of the two-stroke engine. He suggested that I purchase
two bottles but only treat one engine, saving the second bottle for after I was
convinced of the effectiveness of the treatment. I did indeed treat one
engine but never did the other because I misplaced the second bottle. By
the time I flew home the treated engine had to be throttled back to about ¾
throttle to match the RPM’s of the untreated engine.
By the time I needed to rebuild the engines (three years later) the untreated
engine needed rebuilding six month before the treated engine. I was
convinced of the effectiveness of the Slick-50 treatment and have used engine
treatments ever since. Just last year, however, I found out that the
Slick-50 of the early 1980’s was not the same as the Slick-50 after 1985.
The company apparently split up and one partner kept the Slick-50 name and
subsequently sold a mixture of Teflon and oil, while the other partner kept the
original formula which is now sold under the label of XCEL Plus, and a couple
other minor labels.
I am still convinced of the effectiveness of the XCEL Plus formula and use it
today in all my vehicles. It is available at the Hydrogen-Boost web site
for the same retail price as from XCEL Plus directly. If you are going to
purchase some, I encourage you to at least come through
www.hydrogen-boost.com/tech-info.html so I can get my commission.
The last way to reduce engine mechanical energy waste is to
reduce the use of accessories. Electrical radiator fans or thermostatic
mechanical radiator fans are better than a solid mechanical fan. Fresh
air venting is better than air conditioning. Lights off, except when
needed, is better than lights on. Vented fresh air is better than forced
(fan blown) circulated air.
Drive Train Mechanical
Any reduction of friction and drag in this category will
cause a corresponding reduction in the fuel needed to produce the mechanical
energy needed to overcome that friction and drag. When this mechanical
energy is produced by an engine that is 20% efficient, it becomes very evident
that any reduction in energy losses in these last two categories is most
important. Many drivers are very critical about their choices of motor
oils to reduce the friction in their engines, and then ignore the friction and
drag in their drive trains. I have researched the topic and have found
that many imported new cars use a light weight motor oil in their tranaxles
instead of 75w90 gear oil. Also most drag racers use light weight synthetic
oils in their transmissions and rear ends. I have replace my transaxle
lubricants with the same AMSOIL Series 2000 0w30 synthetic oil with no adverse
affects. Your choice of lubricants is up to you but I would at least
recommend that you replace your drive train lubricants with an equivalent
synthetic lubricant.
Another cause of drive train mechanical friction and drag is
brakes. If your brakes are “hanging up” like a large percentage of them
are, you should get them working properly. To test them, jack up your car
and spin each wheel by hand while in neutral gear. If your wheel only
revolves once before coming to a stop you have hanging brakes or some other
serious problem. If you spin your tire by hand and get 5 revolutions
before stopping, you have a good situation. If you have hanging brakes,
get a competent mechanic to free them up so they work properly.
Of course driving techniques explained in the Hydrogen-Boost
operator’s manual will help reduce the drive train mechanical energy losses.
Some of these techniques include energy management with the proper use of
coasting and potential energy-vs-kinetic energy exchange. When using
these techniques you will not use the brakes as much, thereby maintaining the
energy of the moving vehicle and using it to bring you down the road instead of
using excess fuel to do so.
Energy at the Wheels
Even in this section of the chart there are ways to reduce
the energy needed to move your vehicle down the road. The most important
is also the most controversial, and that is proper tire inflation
pressure. A comprehensive article was written in our newsletter a couple
months ago and should be referenced if you want to argue with the following
statement. I recommend that drivers, when checking their tire pressure at
a station on a relatively warm day, inflate their tires to a pressure of 50
PSI. Most drivers operate their vehicles on dangerously under-inflated
tires and don’t understand the label on the side of the tire. A driver
can check his tire pressure at certain times and read 35 PSI on the gauge and
have dangerously under-inflated tires, even though the tire’s sidewall label
says “maximum 35 PSI.” Read the February 2002 Newsletter article to find
out why.
Other ways to reduce the energy losses in this category are
to get rid of excess weight carried in the vehicle and clean up the outside by
not carrying extra bike or roof racks and ornamental drag inducing devices
(some spoilers). To see how much this matters, read the May 2001 Newsletter.
The Hydrogen-Boost system includes components and
maintenance techniques that reduce the wasted energy in all categories of the
chart above. Together with the driving tips in the operator’s manual the
use of the Hydrogen-Boost system can easily improve highway mileage by over 50%
and city mileage by as much as 100%. Ongoing research is being done to
further improve the mileage capabilities of your vehicle. Keep in touch
by reading future newsletters and visit www.hydrogen-boost.com for updates on
our technology.
By the way, Gord was not entirely correct about efficiency
of the internal combustion engine. The efficiency is not directly
proportional to the completeness of the burn before exiting the tail
pipe. An engine that burns the fuel early in the power stroke will be
much more efficient than an engine that burns most of the fuel in the latter
half of the power stroke and in the catalytic converted, even when both have
the same tail pipe temperature.
Previous newsletter issues can be viewed at
www.hydrogen-boost.com/newsletter.html
Hydrogen-Boost web
pages and all information contained therein are hereby copyrighted.
Reproduction,
alteration, or any other use of the information (in part or in entirety)
contained on these pages
is strictly forbidden without express written permission of the author.