100 - 200 MPG? YES! Our latest project

[Deleted]

Gassifying .... GASOLINE!

Check it out! We're going to be giving this a try on the old Cherokee Nick just picked up.  SOOoo jazzed!

[fordy]

............Running an engine from vapor is the basis for propane , butane and natural gas powered engines . The systems were fairly simple before the EPA got involved . Now , to convert an engine  over to propane or LNG would probably run 5 to 7 thousand ! , fordy

[Ozarks Tom]

Neat! It makes sense that the vacuum created in the cylinders would draw the vapor in. You'd just need a good seal on the intake tubes, but you still need o2 for combustion, I guess that comes from the "bubbling" he mentioned cause by the fumes being drawn out.  I can see how it would idle, but not how it would accelerate, as to accelerate you need to increase the amount of gas.  Unless you use some kind of adjustable fan to increase the fumes, I don't see how you'd have any control over RPMs.

Back in the 1920's my grandfather invented and patented what he named "The Gas Saver". Back then the carburetors were the drip type, very inefficient. He figured if he could atomize the gasoline it would be more efficient, so he came up with a little fan that bolted under the carburetor the ran off the vacuum from the cylinders. It increased gas mileage and horsepower about 20%. He and my dad sold them in Chicago to companies with fleets of delivery trucks, but didn't have the money to manufacture in big quantities. A lawyer approached grandad with an offer of big money for the manufacturing rights, and he could keep the distribution. Grandad took the money, but it turned out the lawyer was representing some oil company who wanted to keep it off the market, so they never made another one. Grandad was a sharp guy when it came to inventing, but a lousy businessman. When you think about the concept, it was the first turbo-charger.

[tarbe]

Just wondering if there are any updates on this project?

I am getting >1,000 mpg - but I cheat!!

I have 5,900 miles on my Volt, and have used 5.2 gallons of gas. All the other power is from the grid.

[Deleted]

We have not yet gotten to this. So many other issues get in the way...

Maybe when we get to the CJ7 or the CJ5 this Spring.

[joebill]

I'll be the resident skeptic, but still encourage you to experiment to your heart's desire.

There have been a lot of things tried to reduce gasoline comsumption, and some of them actually worked, sort of, but there was always a price to pay.

That little mini turbo, at least the one my dad bought, also had some tiny air holes from the throat to the outside air, allowing it to run leaner. In the end, which did not take long, it started burning valves as leaner mixtures are prone to do. Of course, now we have a LOT better valves in engines and better materials throughout the engines, so every advance is a new opportunity to try older things that did not work well with older materials.

Part of the problem is that the goal in running off of vapors or any other leaning strategy is to use less gasoline, and the factory could easily lean down the mixtures in a bunch of different ways, but they will only run so lean without affecting performance. You can EASILY lean down your idle mixture even on cars that have no idle mixture screw by creating manifold vaccuum leaks, and unless your computer controlls it, your idle speed will often increase when the mixture leans out, but the engine may conk out when you try to accelerate.

Another scheme years ago was to make a 4 banger from an 8 cylinder, and I did 2 of them, which accomplished nothing in terms of MPG, because the engine still had to do an eual amount of work, but it sure did make them sound funny. I had propped the exaust valves wide open on the cylinders I was retiring, and the engine made a whooshing sound going down the road.

Now, the one I like that actually was used during WW2 was running car engines off of wood smoke or coal vapors when the coal was heated like in making coke. Dad told me about seeing public busses running off of coal vapors someplace overseas during the war, and I recall seeing a report in some mag back in the 50' or 60's about some guys running a car from maine to california (or vice versa) on wood smoke from constructions sites scrap they encountered along the way.

Ag department used to have instructions for doing that to tractors they published during ww2.

If I ever decide to experiment with MPG, THAT is the way I will go, but carry on and the best of luck to y'all.......Joe

[joebill]

I also ran a gasoline vehicle off of the grid, indirectly, for a few miles just as an experient.

Made a hydrogenator (actually an electrolysis unit) from an old toilet tank, produced and lightly compressed hydrogen into a tank with a diaphram type compressor, made a truly silly propane adaptor and ran the hydrogen through it.

Lord only knows what the cost of that hydrogen was in grid electricity, but the same could be done with solar or wind generated juice. Back then, folks were routing it into great big plastic bags for use on natural gas appliances, and when the bag was full, putting a small rock on top of it to get the tiny amount of pressure required for the appliance..

I have seen pictures of cars during ww2 with giant bags of different kinds of gas on the roof to run the engines.

Hydrogen is funny stuff to produce and you have to take care, since you are producing pure oxygen at the same time off of the other electrode, and it often burns without light, so you can't tell if a torch is lit or not.

Run a bit of hydrogen into a container like a PB jar, switch ovr to oxygen for a bit, you have a tiny little hydrogen bomb that will blow up when you flick your bic at it and rain glass all over the garage. This is not specualtion speaking, but memory.... ....Joe

[Ozarks Tom]

joebill, For some reason the term "mad scientist" comes to mind.

[joebill]

I was about half sane back then. The MAD ones were the guys who would snag a great big transformer and run it backwards to really increase voltage, which makes hydrogen output faster, but also produce more heat.

One lad leveled his parent's cinder block garage after his plastic until melted down, recombined all of that lovely hydrogen and oxygen....and POOF...down she came. Luckily he was not inside, so he presumably lived long enough to reproduce......BEWARE...his genes are still out there somewhere.

Splitting water into it's components is really easy even if it is a bit hard on the electric bill, and I for one am surprised it has fallen a bit out of fashion. I also used to have a torch setup that did the same thing and used tiny hypodermic needles for the torch nozzle. It was amazing. H&O cuts thin steel like butter, and the machine used the fuel and OXY as it was produced , so the biggest explosion you could get was just a POP in the hose.......Joe