U. S. DOT Supports Hydrogen Injection – Part 2

Yesterday, I talked about the U. S. Department of Transportation document that says hydrogen injection, as they call it, is a viable source for supplementary fuel. Because this topic is so important I want to continue speaking of the DOT document and providing excerpts that show how seriously our government is taking this new, emerging technology.

Here are the excerpts (once again bold and italics are added for emphasis):

“There are five ways that the hydrogen can be stored on the vehicle:

• As a high-pressure gas,
• As a very low temperature liquid,
• Chemically bound or physically absorbed onto a material such as a solid ‘hydride,’
• As a component of a liquid hydrocarbon fuel (which is reformed), or
• As a component of water (H20) (which is hydrolyzed).”

“The most abundant source of hydrogen on earth is water—every molecule of water contains one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms. It is relatively simple to separate the hydrogen in water from the oxygen using electricity to run an electrolyzer. An electrolyzer is a galvanic cell composed of an anode and a cathode submerged in a water-based electrolyte. In many ways, the operation of an electrolyzer is the opposite of operating a hydrogen fuel cell. In a fuel cell, hydrogen and oxygen are supplied to the anode and the cathode, and they combine to form water while creating an electrical current that can be put to use (see Section 1.2.1 and Appendix A). In an electrolyzer, an electrical current is applied between the anode and the cathode, which causes the water in the electrolyte to break down, releasing oxygen gas at the anode and hydrogen gas at the cathode (see Figure 12).”

“Onboard electrolyzers are used with hydrogen injection systems for diesel engines (see Section 3.5). In this case, only a small amount of hydrogen and oxygen are produced to supplement, not replace, the diesel fuel used in the engine. The electricity to operate the electrolyzer is typically supplied by the engine’s alternator or 12/24-VDC electrical system.”

“A hydrogen injection system for a diesel engine produces and uses significantly less hydrogen than a hydrogen fuel cell or hydrogen ICE, and does not require that compressed or liquid hydrogen be carried on the vehicle. The system is designed to produce hydrogen only when required, in response to driver throttle commands. When the system is shut off, no hydrogen should be present on the vehicle.”

Like I had talked about yesterday, this document should quiet many of the critics who say that hydrogen fuel injection doesn’t work. The criticisms are based upon theory (flawed theory) and not actuality. The critics who say that hydrogen on demand technology cannot work have not actually tried this technology for themselves. They simply pontificate about theory, while thousands of others are doing the dirty work of getting under the hoods of their cars and making it happen.