Friday, July 25, 2008

Water burning engine???

http://www.convertunits.com/carwater/

What a piece of bullshit.

›› How a WATER-Burning Car Works

The engine in your car is the same, but instead of pumping liquid gasoline you use regular tap water. The electricity from your alternator converts the water into a gas called HHO. That gas can be mixed with regular gasoline and sent through the internal combustion engine.

The result is that you get more energy from the expanding gas, which results in higher gas mileage, and the byproducts are mostly H2O, so you also get cleaner emissions.

Of course, you can't just pour water into your tank and expect it to work. You have to know what you're doing and you have to buy the right materials and install it correctly.

That's the main benefit of this guide -- it shows you step by step how to modify your car and what parts you need. The cost for parts will be less than $60 at a hardware store, and you should be able to make your car into a hybrid for less than $150 total.

The 90-page guide gives you detailed instructions. This is the best way to make sure you're installing everything correctly and optimizing your gas savings.


Some obvious issues:

1. HHO is like so H2O. Any simple chemistry student can tell you this. Water + petrol... = HHO? If you can make something out of nothing, why not invent cold fusion while you're at it.

2. While it is true that expanding gas does push the engine piston, THERE IS NO EXTRA ENERGY GENERATED. The fuel, gasoline, is actually present in an even smaller proportion, due to the addition of water in the fuel mix. Hence, going by the first law of thermodynamics, the net energy generated is actually less per volume of "mixed fuel".

3. Do you get more energy? As per point 2, not possible due to the limitations of the first law of thermodynamics.

4. Are emissions cleaner? Technically yes. If you use less petrol of course it doesn't create as much pollutants. Byproducts mostly H2O? If you put water in, you get water out. Duuuuuuuuh.

5. Furthermore, car engines are DESIGNED to run with petroleum/diesel fuel. These are mostly (if not completely) non-polar solvents. Adding water (a polar solvent) into the mixture, we will observe a two-layered solution, as water and petroleum are immiscible. What are the effects? First, the car engine may not function as it should. The spark plug is designed to ignite an atmosphere rich in petroleum fumes (which is what normally happens in a car engine.) Having water in the engine may reduce the partial pressure of petroleum fumes in the engine atmosphere, reducing it below the spark point. Hence engine may not function at all. Second, given the design of the engine, addition of water may actually cause faster wear and tear of the parts, as they are not designed to work in a moisture rich atmosphere. And I'm sure everyone knows what hot H2O is.

What the hell man.

(disclaimer - I am not a mechanical engineer, nor am I an expert on car engines. I just happened to chance upon this article, which screamed to my mind "scientific inaccuracy".)

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