GERMAN INVENTION

Hokitika Guardian, 28 November 1932, Page 8

GERMAN INVENTION

USE OF WATER AS CAR FUEL

That tjie motor industry within a few years may become, almost independent of supplies of petrol and fuel oil, that the costs of motoring may be reduced astounding!/ is a prediction which at first sight might, be re garded as the dream of a p .•.Sessional inventor. Yet, states an overseas paper, such a development is, it appears, not beyond the limits of reasonable possibility, and the work of a German scientist which has received favourable notice, ini the Bijtish technical Press may lead to general arid revolutionary changes in the design of internal combustion engines. The authenticated details of his invention are still incomplete,, but theie are grounds for believing that a most notable advance in engineering practice has been made. The inventor of the new system of fuel supply described below ’s Herr Rudolph Erron, who has -app.-rertly succeeded in devising a commercially practicable method of emph y.ng ordinary water as a sole or principal fuel for /internal combustion engines. It is, of course, weji-known that by means of electrolysis water, may be split up into its constituent proportions of hydrogen and oxygen, ?nd it ‘s cm that principle that the Erren engine’s fuel ■supply depends inasmuch as the genevgted gases are then fed to the.cylinders and exploded by means of oonvenIjUmal. electric ignition. A mixture of hydrogen and oxygen is highly combustible, and by making use of a combination of those gases, ,in substitution of the ordinary mixture of air and petrol, a powerful and progressive explosion may be secured in the cylinders of an internal combustion, engine. The method hv which the water is decomposed and the supply of gases obtained is that known as pressure electrolysis, in which the .current is oas&ed through the water (which has been,.made slightly acid . in order , to ensure good conductivity) in a sealed pressure cell,, the result being, that the gases which are set free maintain a .high pressure in the special • cell 'or ejectrplyser, .ns it is called, and so can be easily fed by suitable means to. the cylinders or stored at great pressure in metal containers.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION. A British, report points out that in the el'ectrolyser there is a special diaphragm which provided for t..e separation. 'of the two gases as they are formed. It is also stated that the' consumption of electricity necessary for the generation 1 of a . given ■volume of .gas is about half of that required with ..n ordinary electrolytic cell. The practical application of this innovation; dittos either he fitted, with an electrolyzer, which is supplied with current from a dynanib driven by the engine, in which case an auxiliarysupply of petrol or alcohol fuel is required; or ic can operate on compressed-hydrogen and oxygen carried in high-pressure containers; or, thirdly, the explosive mixture may be obtained from a,compressed supply of hydrogen a nd. oxygen taken from the atmosphere. Where only oxygen and hydrogen are used it is stated that the emission from,: the exhaust is simoL,\ superheated steam, hut when atmospheric air. is employed in, conjunction wjth hydr.ogen the..exhaust is a mixture of water vapour and nitrogen. In regard to the more practical facts concerning.its economic efficiency, it is claimed that, no matter which of the three mixtures, referred to above is used, the combustion of the. charge is quite free from detonation and imparts a. smooth, , progressive power impulse like that of the steam engine, while there is, too, it is said, an entire absence of carbon deposits in ,the cylinders, and, the engine will operate evenly under the heaviest load. It is also asserted that where, a proportion of liquid fuel 'is used it is completely vaporised and maximum powe* is obtained from it thanks to the high temperature and quick combustion of the hydrogen.

results of tests

Vacuus claims have also been nif.de in respect of the betto r menl < f pouer output and fuel economy obtained. It is : said that . under test a fo|ir-oyttnder petrol e/ngine, which had been adapted to the new system of fuel supply, when driven on a petrol gas mixture developed 30 per cent less petrol, and (presumably based on relative cost ;n Germany) shoved a saving of 42 per cent in fuel costs as compared with the same unit operated on petrol alone. Another interesting experiment was that carried out with a 40-h.p. lorry, which was driven ut an average speed of 25 miles per hour over a read course of 250 miles. On one trip perol fuel alone was used, and on the other compressed hydrbgen and atmospheric air. It was estimated that the fuel cost m respect of the 250-mile trip on petro was about five guineas, while that cl the run made with compressed hydrogen was only about 24 shillings. It is understood that this new system of fuel supply has already been subjected to severe tests, winch have proved its usefulness, anc/ that some P'erlin motor buses are being altere so that they may run on a com P hydrogen-air mixture. So far the f details of this new invention have not been made public, but it reported that many patents have been taken out in respect of various engine parts and that a company is being forme to exploit them in Great Britain and throughout the Empire. For the present this new development may be looked upon ns a novelty -which;, has excited the interest and gamed the ap-