[Healeys] Hydrogen cars

[Richard Ewald]

Fred,
The problem with all of these videos about H2 on youtube is a little thing
called the second law of thermodynamics.  The second law is not only a good
idea, but it is the law, and it is not subject to repeal.
Simply put you cannot get more work out of a machine than you put in.  If
you did, you would have perpetual motion.  It is a commonly accepted fact
that perpetual motion is impossible.*
So you put fuel into your tank.  You burn the fuel in the engine to do
work.  You get X miles per gallon.
OK, now you add a rig in your car somewhere to dissociate water into H2 and
O2.  To do this you need electricity.  Electricity comes from your
alternator.  So now your alternator will have to work harder to generate the
necessary juice, and this puts an extra load on the engine.  This causes you
to burn more fuel so you have the electricity to dissociate the water.  You
fuel mileage is now X MPH - A (the amount of energy needed to run the
alternator flat out)  You have decreased your fuel mileage.
Nice.
But wait we are going to burn the H2, you say.  Yes you are, and H2 has less
energy in it than gasoline. (look it up)
Plus, your engine is nowhere near 100% efficient, and your alternator is not
100% efficient either.  This means that your fuel mileage will go down by
more than you will recover by burning the H2.  To pretend any different
would violate the second law of thermodynamics.
Anyway you look it you lose, or more simply put There ain't no such thing as
a free lunch.
Rick


*Interesting trivia note.  The US Patent office does not require a working
model of a proposed patent, unless it is what they judge to be a perpetual
motion machine.  In that case you have to submit a working model.  No one
has ever gotten a patent on a perpetual motion machine.  This should tell
you something.

On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 8:39 PM, Frederich Ficke <jagwarman at gmail.com>wrote:

> I wasn't trying to start a debate and nor am I any scientist. I just look
> at
> the method of hydrogen gas like propane injection in gasoline or diesel
> engines. I work off of a mechanical mind not a study it to death method.
> I am also not interested in the hydrogen as a green factor in saving the
> earth if I were I wouldn't be driving diesel and gas hog Harley's. I am
> just
> trying to supplement gasoline with hydrogen to to bring down the overall
> cost of pump fuel.
> There are too many people in this world studying everything to death just
> go
> do and have fun with it. If you blow up in a fire ball doing it , what a
> ride it was. Those who can't do teach and those try and do live life to the
> fullest . Now go delete your files ha ha.