When the promoters of the HH2 Hydrogen Generator Clean Air Combustion System made an appearance at last year’s LA Auto Show they attracted their fair share of skepticism. Hardly surprising given their claims of boosting the horsepower, performance, and mileage of existing vehicles through the addition of an aftermarket device that mixes hydrogen and oxygen extracted from water with existing fuel. But the naysayers haven’t discouraged the system’s developers as they are fronting up to the LA Auto Show again this year with even loftier claims thanks to improvements to their system.
California based company, HydroLectricPower, claims its HH2 system can turn just about any fossil fuel (petrol, diesel or compressed natural gas) powered vehicle into an eco-friendly hybrid with the installation of a book-sized device. This device apparently uses excess energy from the vehicle’s 12 Volt battery to extract hydrogen and oxygen from distilled water, which are then blended with the existing fuel source to enhance fuel combustion inside the engine combustion chambers.
The company says that due to the high instant burn temperature of the Hydrogen (Octane 130), the system is able to completely incinerate most fuel toxins, poisons and particulate matter, resulting in a clean, warm, moist air exhaust discharge. And because the fuel is completely burned, the system allows the vehicle to achieve improved fuel economy and performance.
HydroLectricPower are at pains to point out that its system is not an HHO system, which some (including HydroLectricPower) liken to carrying a bomb around in your trunk. HydroLectricPower claim its HH2 system is safer because the hydrogen and oxygen gases go into the vehicle air intake system separately from each other, and never can combine to become water or unstable HHO.
HHO systems have also been exposed as a scam with that pesky first law of thermodynamics getting in the way. The law states that the energy generated by recombining hydrogen and oxygen through combustion can never exceed the amount of energy it took to separate them. Add to that the various losses involved in the generation of electricity and HHO systems that produce hydrogen and oxygen gases from water using electrolysis will actually result in less energy being recovered from burning the hydrogen than it took to create it.
With the dodgy record of HHO systems it’s not surprising that most are a little wary of HydroLectricPower’s claims. After all, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is – and the HH2 system definitely sounds too good to be true. The lack of independent test results also doesn’t help matters any, but the company has posted the results of a number of dyno tests, emissions slips, and mileage records on its website.
HH2 Systems are available for a range of vehicles, with prices starting at US$1,399 for a 4-cylinder unit. Installation will generally cost an extra $500 on top of that. And, if you’re in LA, you can drop by the HydroLectricPower stand at the LA Auto Show running until December 13 and get the spiel straight from the horse’s mouth.
and will the HH2 split enough hydrogen and oxygen gas fast enough to supply the engine all on its own?
by the way, how much hydrogen and oxygen gas are in 1 liter of distilled water?
1 liter=2.11...pints(US)=0.26...gallons(US)
Comparing the resultant energy of the gas alongside the required energy to produce the gas fundamentally misses the point. The power gain is from the accelerant effect on the overall fuel usage.
Thus would you agree the statement \"HHO systems have also been exposed as a scam with that pesky first law of thermodynamics getting in the way.\" may be a little short-sighted or even mis-leading?
Further from what I understand HHO / HOH gas is a combustion aid and works with all fossil based fuels, so again the comparative claim of HH2 over other HHO / HOH systems could be considered more marketing than unique feature.
http://www.hohcells.com has a LOT of information on this if anyone wants to see more
A 12 volt battery cannot crack H2O that quickly so the volume of water needed is low. I suppose it could always capture water from the exhaust and re-crack it, although that would be a bigger, more expensive solution and would require regular cleaning of the other junk it would collect.
But I am sceptical if they do not have independent lab verification of their claims, still a nice idea in theory.
The real questions are whether there is enough unburnt fuel in modern cars to make the added hydrogen and oxygen useful? Can modern cars and their computers handle in essence a vacuum leak? Would unintended acceleration be a problem?
1. Validation of the claims 2. Equipment and installation costs 3. Effect on car or motor warrentees 4. Possible effects of temperature change on the equipment (very hot vs icy weather) and the overall efficiency of the system as compared to its functioning on liquid fuel alone. 5. Can one system do all? Will the improvement in efficiency be the same for motors requiring different amounts of fuel if the amount of gas introduced is the same? Varying amounts of fuel for the same amount of introduced gas may result in varying levels of efficiency. There should be a graphic representation presented that shows increased efficiency/power of the motor vs the amounts of gas introduced. The system being sold may only work well with relatively small motors but not with larger ones. More systematic studies should be presented.
If the method of more complete combustion of fuels is enhanced by the introduction of hydrogen, then a more careful analysis should be presented. What specific volumes of hydrogen at varying temperatures would work best with different types of fuel to promote the most efficient combustion.
adrianakau2aol.com
The hypermiling community has repeatedly asked these people to submit a system for scientific testing. For some reason they just don\'t want an unbiased person to do a public test.
go to http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums and search on snake oil.
Perhaps we should be focused on flywheels or hydraulics as stores of energy to suppliment our vehicles instead of hydrogen or chemical batteries? http://economicefficiency.blogspot.com/2009/10/more-efficient-hybrid.html