Rather than damage (I've been asked this question a few times), it actually cleans the engine because the byproduct of the combustion of Brown's Gas is actually water vapor! So by the end of the day you have managed to steam clean your engine. If you stop using the device, you will notice that the increase in MPG actually stays for a while. And that's due to a cleaner engine. At least this is what is being reported by some folks that are playing with this.
The device can also be removed within a minute or less. The engine will then pass inspection and all kinds of test it can be submitted to and you will find that it will not void your warranty.
Here is a long discussion that I've compiled that will help you to understand how it all works, but you (and anyone reading this post) must read the whole thing (don't stop mid-way as wrong assumptions are being changed along the way).
Here goes:
HHO, how it really works, from Mr. Smith
I found this in one of the forums on HHO (or is it 2H 2O?):
Forget about the electrical system for a minute. Think about what really gives the car it's power. Oxygen and Gasoline. The Oxygen is a pretty consistent factor of Engine RPMs so we won't worry about that. The faster the engine runs the more Oxygen is sucked in through the air filter.
Gasoline, on the other hand has the specific job of igniting the oxygen to create horsepower. Most people on this forum would tell you that gasoline burns at 20% efficiency. I disagree with that. I believe it burns at approximately 30% efficiency based on what I've read. That leaves us with an unused gasoline potential of 70%.
The Hydrogen that is created from the devices we build does not power the engine. FUGGEDDABOUTIT. That's the lamest excuse from skeptics. Conservation of energy, Bullcrap. Nobody says we are not wasting electrical energy. We know we are doing it. It takes more energy to break the water apart than we are getting from the Hydrogen.
That's not the point......................................
The point of generating the hydrogen is this... The hydrogen, when introduced to the gasoline in the combustion chamber, changes the efficiency of the gasoline burn. It allows gasoline's efficiency to change from 30% to a higher number. That number will be different on each car. It's dependent on the engine's compression ratio, the number of cylinders, the car's fuel air ratio and the amount of Hydrogen produced.
Cars that are older and do not have emmissions sensors and computers to deal with are easier to get bigger gains from. Adding 2H 2O to the engine will do nothing but cut back the need for extra gasoline without affecting much. Some owners are able to lean out their carburetors or change the ignition timing to even get better results.
Cars that are newer (Like Mine) have sensors that monitor air flow and adjust the gasoline accordingly. They have another sensor that monitors the emissions levels. If the emissions levels change significantly in either direction the computer will change the fuel level to compensate. That's the reason why on a normal car when the O2 sensor goes out you get worse fuel mileage.
When we introduce 2H 2O to the engine the sensor (Goes Out) for all practical purposes. Even though we may be getting a benefit from the 2H 2O the engine counteracts the benefit by adding more gasoline to the fuel air mixture. The engines are running rich which can damage things after a while.
The challenge for owners of new cars is to fake out the computer's programming to lower the fuel ratio back down to normal levels or lower (Like a Carburated engine).
I hope you understand now that the goal is not to release energy from Hydrogen to power our cars. The purpose (Which seems to allude skeptics) is to change the burn efficiency of gasoline. THAT'S ALL.
__________________
Mr. Smith
2003 VW Jetta, 2.0 liter, 5 speed
2004 VW Touareg V6, 6 speed automatic
js: So in conclusion, these devices/kits simply raise the burn efficiency of gasoline from around 30% to something higher. And it is easier to do that in older cars that do not have computers. And in newer cars that do have computers? You'll have to adjust those.
But but but but........
Dino Wrote:
From what I can understand from all of this is that the hydrogen makes the gas burn better and cleaner because you have less unburned gas. This is also why you can run leaner because you are burning a higher percentage of your gas thanks to the HHO so you can get away with using less without damaging your engine.
Thanks but I'm not sure if I believe this because my standard textbook on internal combustion engines (Pulkrabek, Engineering Fundamentals of the Internal Combustion Engine) says that IC engines already have a combustion efficiency of 98%. So the HHO must be affecting combustion in some way other than increasing efficiency.
Are there any combustion chemists on this board who can comment?
js: Dang!
Ah... here we may have an answer (BG=Brown's Gas)
" RE: chemistry of Brown's Gas in cars
The technical answer is that Brown's Gas (BG) reduces the endothermic energy required for combustion. What this means is that a gasoline charge in your vehicles cylinder with BG mixed in will take less energy to burn the fuel charge. It takes some energy to begin the chemical reaction of combustion - spark. Once the spark is present it begins the chemical reaction of a few molecules, these give off heat starting more molecules burning and so on. The presence of BG allows less heat to be needed to begin the process. This means less fuel will produce the same amount of power.
Alex"
And this from Zortag:
"One would think that scientific journals would have some papers on what happens (in combustion chemistry terms) when you inject some amount of monatomic H into gasoline during combustion. Anyone know of any specific references?
UPDATE: Just found this in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_Fuel_Injection
In this article, they reference this technical paper:
G. Fontana, E. Galloni, E. Jannelli and M. Minutillo (January, 2002). "Performance and Fuel Consumption Estimation of a Hydrogen Enriched Gasoline Engine at Part-Load Operation". SAE Technical Paper Series (2002-01-2196): p. 4–5
I ordered this paper, and these university researchers do indeed state that hydrogen injection in gasoline combustion improved overall gas mileage, although they were using a hydrogen generation process that generated hydrogen by using some of the gasoline itself rather than through electrolysis. But the basic principle does indeed seem to work and have scientific basis from peer reviewed research.
On the other hand, this paper discussed experimental results - it really didn't go into WHY (in a combustion chemistry sense) this seems to work."
And finally from Baracuda:
"'m no chemist but my uncle is and my aunt has a PHD in physics. Really that's true.
Anyway, From what I've researched and gathered I would say that AlexR's answer is spot on to the original question.
Gasoline has many many additives in it. Each with it's own molecular structure. Each of these individual molecular structures boil/vaporize/combust at different temperatures. When gasoline enters the combustion chamber it is ignited by the spark plug. This initial ignition only starts burning the fuels lightest molecules,( it does not all explode at once ). The heat generated from the initial ignition starts a chain reaction which heats and ignites the medium molecules. In turn they heat and ignite the heavier remaining molecules. The fuel only has the time it takes for the next cycle of exhaust valves opening to burn. But guess what.....Some of those molecules are still burning as they exit the combustion chamber through the exhuast valves( some haven't burnt at all ).
Hence; hydrocarbon pollution. Big oil and car manufactuers solution....Catylitic converters ( burn the unburnt fuel before it hits the atmosphere ) Or in simple terms...... Gasoline burns slowly.
HHO does not burn slowly it explodes rapidly. When you introduce HHO into the combustion chamber with gasoline. The lighter molecular structure of the HHO explodes providing the heat needed to ignite the heavier molecules in the gasoline, in a quicker fashion. Thereby assisting the gasoline in a more rapid burn or combustion. Basically; more of the gasoline burns in the combustion chamber and less leaves through the exhuast valves still burning or unburnt.......A more complete burn. Which means more power, less pollution and better mileage !
If you burn HHO in an internal combustion engine. It does not create energy, it simply allows you to extract and use more of the energy that is already there.
Have you ever used an oxy/acetolyne torch? If you have you'll know that when you light it with just the acetolyne on the flame is yellow and makes a lot of soot. But when you start adding oxygen the flame turns blue, burns hotter, cleaner, more fierce and there's no soot. It's the same principle. You don't create energy when you add the oxegyn you just extract the energy that's already there.
On another note: Hydrogen is used in the oil refining process. The oil is passed over a heated catylist bed made of zeolytes (s) tungsten, copper, steel, magnesium or other things. Anyway, while it's passing over the catylist HYDROGEN is introduced. A chemical reaction occurs which cracks the oil into lighter molecules. I don't know the whole process but the length of time, temperature, and type of catylist used determines just how cracked the oil becomes. Each of these processes, along with certain additives provide the different fuels we use everyday; Naptha, Propane, Butane, Diesel, Gasoline etc, etc.
If you're interested do a search on wikipedia for oil refining or catylist cracking.
Maybe this is why you hear people say that HHO acts as a catylist to crack the gasoline in the combustion chamber. I don't know if it really does or not.
Hope that made some sense"
js: Oh and forget that stunning 98% Efficiency that is always being quoted or misquoted. Dino provides the answer here:
"Ratings of Efficiency
There are many different ways to find the efficiency of an engine, and many different parts of an engine that you can rate the efficiency.
Thermal efficiency is the percentage of energy taken from the combustion which is actually converted to mechanical work. In a typical low compression engine, the thermal efficiency is only about 26%. In a highly modified engine, such as a race engine, the thermal efficiency is about 34%.
Mechanical efficiency is the percentage of energy that the engine puts out after subtracting mechanical losses such as friction, compared to what the engine would put out with no power loss. Most engines are about 94% mechanically efficient.
This means that for a stock engine, only 20% of the power in fuel combustion is effective."
So again the best Guide out there (to implement) is this one:
CENTEMAX for complete novices and newbies.
And for the more technical amongst you:
Water4Gas. Have fun with your car or truck!
