Hydrogen Generator Forums

My brother Eman pointed out potential issues with a Brown's gas generator for diesel trucks to me: 1: Heat, and 2: Pre-ignition.

Pre-ignition would be very bad. No ECM would catch it before you blew something up. He also pointed out that the engine temp could shoot up faster than the water temp, and damage the engine before the engine-protect function shut you down.

So I've started doing my home-work. Here's one statement from an engineering site:

"Hydrogen has an auto-ignition temp. of 932 oF. As long as the surfaces and air inside the chamber are not higher than this, it won't pre-ignite.The way this is supposed to work is that when the diesel is injected, as soon as the diesel starts to burn, it ignites the hydrogen. In turn, the hot, rapid burn of the hydrogen should cause a more rapid and therefore more complete burn of the diesel fuel before the exhaust valves open. It should be noted that the absence of smoke at the tailpipe is not necessarily an accurate indication of a complete burn. Combustion often continues in the exhaust manifold, after the exhaust valves have opened. Of coarse, any combustion that happens after the valves open is of no use.As we've seen, it does work. Just not very well, for the reasons that have been stated.Remember, I'm not trying mearly to make an engine run only on hydrogen. By it "working" I mean that it works as stated above."

There was a great deal of dispute on this site, much of which involved mathematical formulas and ratios which gave me a headache. It also included gasoline engines, which are quite different. I have to do a lot of sifting.

This was an engineer, so I need to translate "just not very well": Not 100%. Diesel engines work. Just not very well; they're 40% efficient. Get it?

But I'm not cherry-picking. Some of those guys pointed out that the exhaust valves run a lot hotter...well look: I won't try to be an engineer and this guy shouldn't try to be an Intelligence analyst: Diesel ignites at half the temperature of hydrogen, so big deal. The diesel, once you've been running for awhile, is also pre-heated, right?

So the ECM accomodates both the cold and the hot diesel. There's a useful hint.

Pressure is another matter. None of the engineers got specific about that. I'm pretty sure that if hydrogen would self-ignite at a lower psi than diesel, somebody would have said something.

Then I hit a trucker forum. The first thing I read was "you can't produce more energy than it takes to make it". Thanks, Yoda. We're talking about the generation of an explosive gas using spare current from the alternator, ok?

This I haven't fully researched yet. The pre-assembled commercial units I've checked out pull from 40 to 60 amps, and strain on alternators might be an issue. I'm frankly clueless (so far) as to what this means. Some guys said they had their alternator settings changed. One guy said he has a switch he can flip to alternate between a higher and lower output. I don't understand any of this...I will in later posts, but for now that's what I've seen: 40-60 amps--figure it out.

I do know this: If I can get 8-plus mpg's, I'll replace my alternators ever 3-4 months if I have to.

Man, I got to find out just how big a drain that is...

These guys, however, were again mixing in their personal vehicles--talking about 5-15 amps and stuff, and it was hard to sort out the gassers from the diesels. I wish the truckers would stick to trucks, ya know? They were also talking about home-made units, and issues that don't exist with the pre-made generators I talk about.

The current to the generator bank here is controlled. No issue.

I also found out about heat. If you add too much electrolyte (baking soda or sodium hydroxide) the water will get too hot. Invariably, those who mentioned this said that reducing the amount took care of that.

You know what I haven't found so far? Anybody saying "ma engine blowed up!"

But I'll keep looking. Stand by.

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