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![]() "Roger" wrote in message ... On 24 Sep 2005 08:10:59 -0700, wrote: If this thread is true to the subject of H2 boosting, not H2O The subject has drifted, it happens. Or using some method of cracking water to get Hydrogen it's unlikely it can do any thing near what is claimed. To get H2 from water takes a lot of energy. OTOH adding water to hot charcoal will produce a burnable gas and is a regularly used process. Well it was back in the days when we made town gas from coke. The gas produced was of course mainly carbon monoxide which would modern safety officials a fit. Surprisingly H2 does not have the flame temperature for which it is often given credit. Nor does it have a high BTU content per unit volume. What it does have is a small molecular structure which lets you put a lot of it through a small tip on a torch providing a clean, hot, flame with enough BTUs for melting glass and even quartz. Water vapor in the fuel stream serves two purposes. It lowers the combustion chamber temperature and it effectively increases the octane rating of the gas under high compression. Introduced into the inlet stream it can lower the temperature of the incoming fuel/air mixture which will allow more mixture into the chamber for a given pressure. Indeed Alcohol which has a low octane rating although it keeps getting credit for a high one, when added to gas up to 10% by volume will increase the octane rating of the fuel. 10% seems to be the maximum amount for increasing the octane rating. One side effect of water injection is nice clean cylinders and cylinder heads. Water also adds a lot of weight, without adding much else. There really are no magic additives, or fuels that will give tremendous savings on their own. Well there is one, tetraethyl lead boosts the octane rating allowing you to use much higher compression ratios. Of course there certain drawbacks which caused it to be banned. Most cost far more than normal gas. Even those who make the claims of tremendous added mileage by adding battery capacity to a hybrid car are not taking into account all the added costs including the cost of the electricity. Not exactly. Using battery technology allows the IC engine to run only at its max efficiency setting and allows the use of regenerative braking Its easily shown that hybrid cars do give better gas mileage Some where in the $3.00 to $3.50 range per gallon of gas is the point where alternative fuels begin to become economically viable alternatives to non renewable hydrocarbons. They have been well above that level in Europe for at least a decade. The result has been a large scale switch to more efficient diesel engines and the proeuction of relatively small amounts of bio-diesel. Beyond that there have been relatively few such advances. Current gas prices here in the UK are around $6.8 per gallon We see all kinds of claims using byproducts from one place or another, but as soon as enough people use those products they no longer are thrown away they will be right up there with the other alternative fuels. We are most likely going to soon see $3.50 per gallon for a short time here in the states. That will affect world wide prices which should only be for a few months depending on how fast refining capacity can be put back on line. Dont bet on it. World demand is rising faster than supply, specifically the Chinese are rapidly building a massive automotive industry and Chinese demand for oil is rising at around 1 bbpd / year In 2004 China became the worlds second largest importer of petroleum products surpassing Japan. That demand is now at approx 40% that of the USA having risen by 300% since 1990 The scary part is the news tonight was reporting a gas leak out in the gulf where the lines come together before the gas is brought to shore. Wait till you see your LP and natural gas bills this winter. Most commercial electricity is produced by burning natural gas. Only if you include dual fired units, the stats in 2004 were (million kilowatts) Coal 313.3 Oil 36.9 Gas 222.9 Dual Fuel 175.4 Hydro 79 Nuclear 99.6 Electricity production is of course much easier to switch to non fossil fuels than automotive fuel use but the USA hasnt built any commercial nuclear plants since the 1980's unlike France which now generates almost 90% of its electricity from nuclear sources. Keith |
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