Machine on hydrogen. Hydrogen generator for car

Sooner or later, oil reserves around the world will come to an end. Naturally, this is unlikely to happen right tomorrow, but today the prices for fuel based on oil have grown significantly. This fact has become a good incentive for developers who are engaged in the invention of future fuel. In addition, it should be not just fuel, but, preferably, renewable fuel. Many believe that a car on hydrogen is a toy. Let's see if this is so.

Fuel of the future

About such fuel, long ago wrote in his adventure novels, the famous writer Jules Verne. In one of his novels on the topic of an alternative energy source, the writer said that ordinary water would become a product for energy. And so it happened. Yes, this is not fiction.

Water, or rather, one of its components - hydrogen - is not only the first chemical element. It is also the source of the energy of the future. And imagine, this future is very close.

Today Japanese companies produce engines that work only on this type of fuel. The car on hydrogen from Toyota is the world's first production car equipped with this engine.

The car is a sedan with four doors. It has an electric motor with a capacity of 151 liters. from. You ask, what does hydrogen have to do with it, because the motor is electric? Let's figure it out.

Toyota-Mirai Technologies

The electric motor is powered by a special converter. And he already receives energy directly from hydrogen. The gas is contained in the tanks of the car under high pressure. The containers are made of carbon fibers.

But the reaction still needs oxygen. Yes it is. The oxygen machine gets directly from the radiator while driving. One refueling of two tanks with hydrogen will be enough to overcome on the car up to 480 km. Refueling takes only 3 minutes. For this time 170 liters of gas will be poured into the tanks of the car. On average, the hydrogen-powered machine will be about 4.7 liters per 100 km.

How it works?

When hydrogen reacts with oxygen, a violent chemical reaction occurs, during which electrical energy is produced. It is stored in the battery. The car is driven by a synchronous AC motor.

Technical characteristics of the "Japanese"

The maximum speed at which a car on hydrogen is capable is 180 km / h. Up to 100 km the car can accelerate in just 9 seconds.

In addition to the fact that the "Japanese" can ride and not cause damage to the environment, this car can also be used at home as a power plant. Engineers and designers who took part in the development of the novelty, say that with the help of such a system, the current is fed to the whole house. Thus, free electricity can be freely used for 5 days.

Discounts on fuel for buyers

Those residents of Japan and the United States, who will purchase a car on hydrogen, will receive large discounts and free refueling of their cars. The authors of the grandiose project are confident that they will succeed. However, other automakers do not sit idly by. And soon, consumers can get a large selection of machines on alternative fuels.

Great and terrible

The fact that hydrogen can become the number 1 in the issues of alternative fuel, they say a long time. Even before the economic crisis in the distant 2008, the media constantly printed reports about how great it is possible to use the power of hydrogen.

Any car on hydrogen was considered a breakthrough, and its creators were erected almost in the face of saints. Unprepared readers and motorists confidently considered this a real breakthrough, but it must be said that this is not so.

150 years ago

The real state of things is slightly different from what is written in blogs devoted to alternative energy. Hydrogen in this capacity has been used for about 150 years. A car on hydrogen helped win the war.

The very first internal combustion engine on such fuel was built by Lenoir in 1860. Then, in 1942, there was a fairly massive transfer of all automotive equipment to a hydrogen energy source.

This happened in besieged Leningrad. Initially, hydrogen was to be used in air defense systems for balloons. However, the great Russian engineers managed to change the situation.

How it was?

Airbuses were used to protect the city. These, filled to the brim with hydrogen, flying objects made of rubber prevented fascist planes from firing aiming at the city.

However, rubber air defense had one huge minus. Due to the fact that the airbus shell passed this gas, the airbuses were down. Instead of hydrogen, its place was occupied by various water vapor, as well as other gases. Therefore, sometimes the airbuses were lowered to the ground, bleed and refueled.

To refuel the airbuses, winches and gasoline trucks GAZ AA were used. And in conditions of blockade, gasoline was very expensive in Leningrad. The war has exhausted supplies, and Boris Shelitz, who was then a military technician, served just at the gas station of these same airbuses. So that's it. There was no petrol, that is absolutely. He tried to use electric winches to lower the flying bodies. However, electricity soon ended. Many different sources of alternative energy have been tried.

Once a military technician thought that hydrogen can be used differently than simply bleed into the sky. After all, the heat that produces this gas during combustion is 4 times higher than that of coal, 3 times - from gasoline and other petroleum products. Shelitz asked permission for the experiment, and he was signed. Need I say that this is how a car appeared on hydrogen?

Principle of operation

Scheme of the scientist was reduced to connecting the airbus with a hose to the input manifold of the car engine. Hydrogen came directly into the cylinders, bypassing the carburettor. The dosage of hydrogen, as well as the air necessary for the reaction, was carried out with a throttle valve or with the "gas" pedal.

The first experiments Shelits spent in the cold. The engine wound up easily, despite the temperature overboard. The motor worked stably and for a long time. True, the balloons exploded, and Shelitsa concussed. After that, a special protection system was invented. It is based on a water gate, which eliminated the ignition of the mixture during outbreaks in the engine collector. So the car on hydrogen became safer.

By the way, after one of the engines was dismantled, it almost did not have any signs of wear. In the cylinders there was no deposit, and the exhaust gases were only water vapor.

Hydrogen saves lives

Invented in this way a hydrogen machine during the war helped save a lot of lives, survive the blockade, and he received a reward for this development, and even patented it. The developer was awarded the Red Star.

Hydrogen taxi

After the war, when there was nowhere to get hydrogen, this was forgotten. However, some people still remember how in Ukraine, in Kharkov, there was a taxi, but not a simple one, but a hydrogen taxi.

Save with Brown gas

In most even the most modern automobile ICE fuel burns far from optimal. About 60% of the mixture of air and fuel is simply lost in the bowels of the exhaust manifold. In the collector the mixture burns incompletely, but at the same time it also generates sufficiently toxic exhaust gases.

You can use a hydrogen generator. This is a fundamentally new equipment that will significantly save on fuel in the car. Most of these devices have a standard circuit diagram. However, directly the hydrogen generator for cars of different manufacturers can have certain differences.

Hydrogen was used as a fuel additive for a long time. But then there were no systems to optimize the mixture of fuel and the so-called Brown gas, which was fed into the cylinders.

The hydrogen generator for the car in its work applies the principle of electrolysis. Water here is used as a catalyst. But it does not decompose into two components - oxygen and hydrogen. In modern generators use nothing more than Brown's gas. It is a brown or green hydrogene. Sometimes it is called a water gas or an oxyhydrogen. The formula is his HHO. Its difference is that it is completely safe and does not explode. In addition, all the gas that is produced will be completely supplied to the cylinders.

Such generators consist of a device that produces electrolysis, and capacitances. Electrolysis processes are controlled by a special modulator. In the injector motors, the design also provides an optimizer. It allows in automatic mode to adjust the ratio of sweep fuel and air with Brown gas.

Types of catalysts

Devices that are used in electrolyzers are simple, with separated cells and a dry type.

In the first case, the cell has the simplest and rather primitive construction. Management is also very simple. The device is capable of delivering up to 0.7 liters of gas per minute. It is intended for cars with engine capacity up to 1.4 liters.

A catalyst with a separate type of cells is already something more effective. Here, complete with the equipment is all the necessary software. The device can give out about 2 liters per minute. This unit has the maximum efficiency.

The device of dry type is used mainly on machines with sufficiently long operating cycles. The performance is average. It depends on how many plates in this design. Since the plates have an open arrangement, it is obtained to provide good cooling.

How to make a fuel cell for cars?

A fuel cell or a device that will produce hydrogen from water and be placed on board the vehicle can be made independently. The generated gas must then be fed to the intake manifold. So you can achieve a significant reduction in fuel consumption, and in some cases, you can increase the car's power.

In the United States, a hydrogen generator for a car is produced in factories, and it can be purchased for $ 300. However, we will try to do the same, but with our own hands.

What do you need to build?

To create this device we need a can of polyethylene, plates and metal electrodes, connection wires, clamps, hoses, as well as sealant and sealing tape. Also you need silicone rubber.

Assembly Instructions

In order to make a car on hydrogen with your own hands, you need to find a suitable capacity by volume. It will be ordinary water. Inside the container, and in this case a plastic canister, metal plates can be installed. It will be better if they are stainless steel. Electrodes must be brought to the plates.

The lid should be very easy to remove or seal and easily fill with water. The top of the homemade generator should have a tube to drain hydrogen straight to the intake manifold of your car. It is necessary to securely seal the lid. Hydrogen and oxygen are very dangerous gases. Then you need to insulate the space between the plates. This can improve the production of gases and reduce possible losses.

When operating this generator, you must carefully monitor that the leads from the electrodes and our plates do not loosen up. This entails a risk of fire. The case of our generator should also be as reliable as possible. Insulate the cover with silicone rubber.

Upgrade the generator

In order to improve the hydrogen production system, add one more capacity to this system. It should be slightly higher than the first. You can connect them with the help of tubes. So you can use the system more efficiently.

The electronic unit

This part of the generator can also be assembled by yourself, especially if there is knowledge in the field of electronics. If such knowledge and skills are not available, it is better to contact specialists in these areas. The control unit should automatically change the current, which is fed to the plates, based on the speed of the motor.

The power can only be set up experimentally at idle speed of the motor, and also under load. The electronic unit must receive information from the sensors of the automotive control system.

After installing this generator, you need to verify once again the tightness and reliability of all connections of this design. The leakage is dangerous not only for the probability of an explosion, such a machine will lead to an increased fuel consumption. As a result, the effect will be extremely negative. But in general, such a hydrogen-powered machine, made with your own hands, allows you to save from 25% to 40% of fuel.

Such equipment and such methods of fuel economy have long and successfully been used throughout the world. The well-known actor Arnold Schwarzenegger has long been driving a combined car that runs on gasoline with hydrogen. The car cost the movie star $ 150,000. The fuel consumption for this combined engine is 5.8 liters per 100 kilometers.

Today such a hydrogen-powered car in Russia can also be very relevant.

So, we have found out all the features and principle of the cars on this ecological type of fuel. As you can see, this is a very real alternative to today's gasoline. And there are hopes that in the coming decades humanity will move to a new stage of development, where cars that work on hydrogen will drive through the streets.