HHO – The Real Story…
Looking for any input re my findings:
Over the last 3 months I have approached the HHO possibilities as seriously as I can.
My first attempt was July when I sent off a chunk of cash to Melvin Lee of Hydroxmobile, Malaysia for one of their complete kits. Melvin took my money and I have heard nothing since, Melvin does not respond to my subsequent enquiries and he appears to have gone out of business.
Okay, so once bitten, twice shy. Rather than be cheated again with another supplier, best I build my own system.
Since the above bad experience have spent approx $5000 on parts: $800 for two power supplies. $350 for two PWM’s, $400 to US Plastics for tanks, fittings, etc. $800 for sheets of 316L SS + Titanium and another $400 to have the plates and gaskets cut out on a waterjet cutter, $500 for Omega flowmeters, $400 for plastic sheets, plastic tube stock, $300 for chemicals, etc, etc. Everytime I bought something it seemed to be another $400…
This is my first test rig:
6x6 inch 316L SS 7 plate Electrolyser. 1/8 inch thick neoprene gaskets with border 3/16 inch wide making the plate surface area approx 30 sq inches. End covers are 8x8 inch ½ inch thick acrylic. Plates were scoured with 60 grit sandpaper then cleaned with Acetone and handled with medical gloves during assembly. Completed Electrolyser was flushed with 10% by wt Acetic Acid at 65C with a small electric pump for 1 hour. Drained and flushed several times with hot distilled water. Wire ring terminations soldered with heat shrink over, 10AWG, and ring terminations bolted to corner of active plates.
Electrolytic is 10% by wt KOH Flakes in distilled water. The KOH flakes were measured with an $80 electronic scale and accuracy of the scale was confirmed with a precision 100g wt that cost me another $22. After running the cell for 8 hrs, no sign of discolouration or contaminants, the electrolytic remains perfectly white cloudy.
Cell output: After an 8 hour break in the cell stabilized 13.8VDC @ 22amps producing 1.13LPM HHO. Both volts and amps were confirmed with two different meters. I tried the PWM but found that for example at 50% duty cycle the LPM dropped to 35%. Hence the PWM actually made the cell LESS efficient by a wide margin. Varying the frequency 0 to 4000hz had no effect positive or negative on cell LPM output. I discontinued the use of the PWM for the following tests and ran the cell direct from the power supply.
Cell flowrate measurements: The $500 spent on the fancy Omega flowmeter set was useless as I mistakenly bought them calibrated for air. Hydrogen is 14.37 times lighter than air. The Omega flowmeters cannot be used except with a fancy correction calculation so I did not use them in favour of simplicity and to avoid possible calculation errors.
To solve this problem, I fabricated a bubble flowmeter from a 2L graduated measure beaker. The bubble flowmeter works great and is so simple and foolproof. I am confident my flow rate measurements are perfect.
Test Engine:
Onan Diesel Gnerator. 7.5KW / 16.5HP / 70 cu inch (1.147 cu Liter) Displ / Comp Ratio 19:1 / RPM 1800 / Combustion air 31 CFM (878 LPM) Natural Aspiration.
Load was at 500w and 4500w. This is almost no load and a little better than 50% load for simulated real world situations. Load was 500 watt electric lights to ensure consistency as for example if I used a heater then the heater would cycle on/off creating inconsistent loads. HHO injected directly into the intake hole. No air cleaner was fitted. I am absolutely certain the HHO was going into the intake.
Onan Generator Fuel consumption Rate method: This was determined by a 1.5 inch diameter graduated beaker with the fuel injector return going back into the beaker. With this method exact fuel consumption was measured to millilitre accuracy. All external forces example wind resistance to the car driving, uphill/downhill, traffic, oxygen sensor, heavy/easy foot on the accelerator, injection timing, etc all this is not relevant to this method of testing.
Results:
Time Hr:Mins With HHO 2:43 Without HHO 2:39 Diesel Consumption Results +2.5%
Time Hr:Mins With HHO 9:11 Without HHO 9:25 Diesel Consumption Results -2.4%
Time Hr:Mins With HHO 2:39 Without HHO 2:39 Diesel Consumption Results 0%
Above shows the greatest variation with an average of 0%. All other results consistent with above, depending on load.
Conclusion: Best I saw after my best efforts was a 2.5% decrease in fuel consumption with HHO. This is far from the 50% or more decrease you all are claiming.
I really want to make this work and I have invested a considerable sum in this endeavour.
Before I debunk the entire HHO industry –
Any suggestions as to what I am doing wrong ? Where is this 50% increase ?
Christopher Chapman
info@marineprojectgroup.com
Junior Member
Originally Posted by lhazleton
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