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Originally Posted by Driving91LX
I agree about unconciously adjusting driving habits. There would have to be a before and after test, such as driving 200 miles at 60 mph in both cases.
What happens to fuel economy at night when you have 2 headlights, 2 tail lights, fogs, and dash lights drawing extra energy from the alternator? Am I losing 10 mpg just because it's night time? I don't think so.
Not sure how long a car battery would run the HHO generator but if the alternator draw did turn out to be a big deal then you could have a second battery in the trunk that's charged at home dedicated to it. I know, added weight and paying for household electric  |
No, your fuel economy doesn't drop 10mpg just because your lights are on, but it does drop 0.5-1.0mpg (from data on DRL impact on fuel economy). I'd be interested in the wattage of the standard hydrolysis reaction these systems operate on. And yes you could have a separate battery. Depending on the weight of the system and the actual fuel economy change, you could theoretically increase fuel economy. Overall, though, you'd probably be in the red when it comes to operating costs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Driving91LX
That's why I mentioned household current for charging over night and the "unknown" of how long the battery would last.
What if the potential energy in the jar exceeds the extra energy that it takes to turn the pully that extra little bit? We can make assumptions all day. I just need to complete the project.
And remember, pullies drive superchargers too but does that extra work the engine does take away from hp? Not in the end result.
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What your forgetting about the "potential energy inside the jar" is that the amount of energy it takes to liberate H2 and O2 gas is greater than the energy released by the combustion of H2 and O2 gas. It doesn't matter how much energy is stored in the chemical bonds of the water. You're going to have put in more energy to get it out than you'll recover from its combustion.
As for superchargers, you have to remember that the more air you put in the more fuel you can put in. That's all you're doing. You have to keep the air to fuel ratio in a certain range to operate an internal combustion engine. You can put in more fuel if you match it with the correct amount of air, the same as you can put in less fuel so long as you decrease the amount of air. The energy that shows up as increased horsepower comes from the chemical energy of the increased amount of fuel you're putting into the engine. As it pertains to this conversation, fuel economy goes down with the addition of a supercharger.