The Hydrogen-Boosted Gasoline Engine
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That is the biggest crop of crap I have ever read. If you were to somehow crack gasoline to hydrogen then the nitrogen compounds are still present. These nitrogen compounds produce NOx upon combustion. Anyway, this adds yet another step in the cycle thus decreasing the overall efficiency. I just hate it when non-scientific authors write these articles. Sorry for the rant.
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Hmm, the article says it was developed at MIT, I wonder if they're talking about the MIT Plasmatron?
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2003/plasmatron.html
Ah ha! It IS the Plasmatron. Funny they don't mention it by name.
http://freeenergynews.com/Directory/...cy/Plasmatron/
Here is the basic theory...if I understand it correctly. Which I may not. 
Gasoline is not the greatest fuel you could hope for. It's a mixture of many (hundreds?) of different compounds, some with low boiling points, some with higher boiling points. So when your sparkplug fires, you get an explosion...but a good bit of fuel isn't burned until your piston/rotor is already reaching bottom dead center. Some isn't burned until it leaves the engine, which is why we have catalytic converters. Plus it's a liquid, not a vapor. Good for storage, not as good for even, thorough combustion.
So how do you make sure all the gasoline is burned? Higher compression, a small/dense quench area around the spark plug (this is a problem with rotaries, right?), etc. Or in the case of MIT, they are using plasma to crack some of the gasoline into something which burns faster. It's basically using electrical power to run a sort of spark plug, which the fuel travels through. Then once you've got some hydrogen mixed in, the flame travels much faster and ensures a more complete burn. Other companies are marketing bottled hydrogen systems to truckers to achieve the same effect. It's also one reason why rotaries would run well on hydrogen (and low octane fuel)--it burns faster and spreads through the elongated combustion chamber faster.
Of course if this is all wrong, someone step in and correct me.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/plas15.shtml
Speaking of the mini-onboard-refinery concept, that's the same general idea that Paul Pantone (mentioned above) had, except his home-brewed system was attempting to do the same thing with exhaust heat. I actually saw one of his engines running in person. It was made of plumbing parts from a hardware store, and seemed to burn anything you fed it (or suck it through the engine with no ill effects, at least). The strangest thing was seeing a little briggs and stratton sitting on the ground, running like a champ, and producing absolutely no smell whatsoever. I'm not sure it was doing absolutely everything he said it was; and I'm not sure it was working for the reasons he thought it was. But it was interesting nonetheless. Of course, he's in jail now for shady business practices or something.
http://freeenergynews.com/Directory/Geet/
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2003/plasmatron.html
The plasmatron reformer also cut in half the amount of fuel needed for the removal process. "The absorption catalyst approach under consideration for diesel exhaust NOx removal requires additional fuel to work," explained Daniel R. Cohn, one of the leaders of the team and head of the Plasma Technology Division at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC).
"If widespread use of plasmatron hydrogen-enhanced gasoline engines could eventually increase the average efficiency of cars and other light-duty vehicles by 20 percent, the amount of gasoline that could be saved would be around 25 billion gallons a year," Cohn said. "That corresponds to around 70 percent of the oil that is currently imported by the United States from the Middle East."
"If widespread use of plasmatron hydrogen-enhanced gasoline engines could eventually increase the average efficiency of cars and other light-duty vehicles by 20 percent, the amount of gasoline that could be saved would be around 25 billion gallons a year," Cohn said. "That corresponds to around 70 percent of the oil that is currently imported by the United States from the Middle East."
http://freeenergynews.com/Directory/...cy/Plasmatron/
Creates hydrogen on the go from fuel, using plasma technology. Three MIT professors, with DOT funding, have come up with a device that resembles Paul Pantone's Geet. Patents predate Pantone's work. Have licensed to automobile supplier, Arvin-Meritor.
Gasoline is not the greatest fuel you could hope for. It's a mixture of many (hundreds?) of different compounds, some with low boiling points, some with higher boiling points. So when your sparkplug fires, you get an explosion...but a good bit of fuel isn't burned until your piston/rotor is already reaching bottom dead center. Some isn't burned until it leaves the engine, which is why we have catalytic converters. Plus it's a liquid, not a vapor. Good for storage, not as good for even, thorough combustion.
So how do you make sure all the gasoline is burned? Higher compression, a small/dense quench area around the spark plug (this is a problem with rotaries, right?), etc. Or in the case of MIT, they are using plasma to crack some of the gasoline into something which burns faster. It's basically using electrical power to run a sort of spark plug, which the fuel travels through. Then once you've got some hydrogen mixed in, the flame travels much faster and ensures a more complete burn. Other companies are marketing bottled hydrogen systems to truckers to achieve the same effect. It's also one reason why rotaries would run well on hydrogen (and low octane fuel)--it burns faster and spreads through the elongated combustion chamber faster.
Of course if this is all wrong, someone step in and correct me.
If that hurdle can be overcome, Cohn noted, plasmatrons might reduce the need for oil refineries by essentially making the car a "mini-refinery."
Speaking of the mini-onboard-refinery concept, that's the same general idea that Paul Pantone (mentioned above) had, except his home-brewed system was attempting to do the same thing with exhaust heat. I actually saw one of his engines running in person. It was made of plumbing parts from a hardware store, and seemed to burn anything you fed it (or suck it through the engine with no ill effects, at least). The strangest thing was seeing a little briggs and stratton sitting on the ground, running like a champ, and producing absolutely no smell whatsoever. I'm not sure it was doing absolutely everything he said it was; and I'm not sure it was working for the reasons he thought it was. But it was interesting nonetheless. Of course, he's in jail now for shady business practices or something.
http://freeenergynews.com/Directory/Geet/
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The hydrogen-boost system is effectively a bolt-on technology that can be added to an existing vehicle's engine compartment.
Just think, stick this Plasma "filter" lol on your rotary and you now get 22-29mpg. In time, as always...the truth of this product will come out but it sure does sound interesting.
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