I saw one of those funky news filler bits a couple of weeks ago that got me thinking. The guy had put one of those gizmos for separating the hydrogen and oxygen from water in his car and, voila! Increased his fuel mileage by 30%.
Of course the first reaction to such a scheme is that it wont work because it takes more energy to crack the water than you get back when you burn the hydrogen and oxygen to turn it back into water again.
But, are there other forces at work? Certainly, if one were to "enrich" gasoline by infusing it with additional hydrogen and oxygen, you'd get more energy from it. So, the question is: Does enriching the gasoline this way change it's characteristics such that you can get a net increase in the efficiency of the fuel?
I'm just not enough of a chemist or chemical engineer to know. But, it doesn't sound unreasonable that there might be some combination in which the enrichment might allow a net improvement in the efficiency of the fuel.
Does anyone here have any experience or expertise in this area?
Of course the first reaction to such a scheme is that it wont work because it takes more energy to crack the water than you get back when you burn the hydrogen and oxygen to turn it back into water again.
But, are there other forces at work? Certainly, if one were to "enrich" gasoline by infusing it with additional hydrogen and oxygen, you'd get more energy from it. So, the question is: Does enriching the gasoline this way change it's characteristics such that you can get a net increase in the efficiency of the fuel?
I'm just not enough of a chemist or chemical engineer to know. But, it doesn't sound unreasonable that there might be some combination in which the enrichment might allow a net improvement in the efficiency of the fuel.
Does anyone here have any experience or expertise in this area?