September 29, 2006

At Your Request: Water Powered Vehicle Runs Out Of Gas

By Stan Dyer

Anyone who knows me knows I get excited about inexpensive, renewable, and clean sources of energy. You can imagine my excitement when a reader emailed me with a video stream of a television news article about a car that "burned water" for fuel. When I discover this vehicle would go 100 miles on eight ounces of water, I had to know more. Unfortunately, after further research, the water-powered vehicle ran out of gas.

Everyone knows water doesn't burn, right? Well, that's not exactly true. Hydrogen and Oxygen combined to form water will not burn, but Hydrogen and Oxygen separated will burn. The trick is to separate the Hydrogen and the Oxygen. That is part of the idea behind the Hydrogen Fuel Cell. In this instance, however, a special device uses electrolysis to createan entirely new molecule instead of just separate the elements.

Welders may be familiar with Rhode's Gas named for William Rhodes, Brown's Gas named for Yull Brown, or the similar form of this gas made popular by George Wiseman. Other names for the gas are Green Gas, Hydroxyl, Di-Hydroxyl, and Water Gas. These are all similar forms of the gas known for years, and used by welders and others in some interesting applications, but never before in a motorized vehicle. In fact, I uncovered a list of 16 different and important uses including: 1) It neutralizes radioactive waste, 2) Helps heal wounds, 3) Helps plants germinate, 4) Works as a muscle relaxant, and, of course, 5) Welding applications. In Welding, it burns like acetylene but doesn't have the same problems with fumes. It burns under water, doesn't boil water, and still is able to cut or melt metal. At this point, I was still excited about my new discovery, but further research led to my disappointment.

I discovered that the molecule doesn't occur naturally in nature. Therefore, it doesn't last long after creation and cannot be stored. That means a vehicle powered by the gas needs to have an onboard electrolysis device instead of a tank filled with the wonder gas. Even that isn't too much of a problem, since the devices aren't too large, but there is a problem trying to power the device. The device needs electricity. At this point, it becomes apparent that we are now talking about form of hybrid-electric vehicle instead of a wonder car. I already own and drive a fully electric car, so I know that is possible, but would it be possible to carry enough batteries to power the electrolysis? The answer is "no", at least in theory. If you believe the geniuses who power the blogs, the Laws of Thermal Dynamics dictate that the conversion of water to wonder gas through electrolysis uses more energy than it produces. Accordingly, it would thus take more energy to power the batteries than would be recovered from the water. That blows holes all through the water gas idea, and all the air escapes.

If Myth Busters got there first, they would come to the same conclusion; the myth is busted. Now, I saw the clip and I have no reason to believe that somewhere, someone has solved the problem. If anyone can give me more proof, more information, or tell me where to find the facts I need to uncover something I missed, I will reopen my investigation, but, for now, I must conclude that this case is closed. In my eyes, the case of the water-powered vehicle ran out of gas.