The makers of the Hydro 4000 claim that their product allows you to use water for gas. The idea behind the Hydro 4000 is that electricity from your car’s battery or alternator is used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.
This hydrogen and oxygen is then supplied to your car’s air intake, mixed with the traditional air/fuel mixture and burned in the engine. The Hydro 4000 claims that by using water for gas you can increase your vehicle’s gas mileage by 20%-60%.
The Hydro 4000 costs $1200 and includes detailed installation instructions. However, since the unit does require connections to your vehicle’s electrical system, it’s best installed by an experienced mechanic. Most proponents of water for gas systems claim that with the high price of gasoline you’ll recoup your investment in a year.
Unfortunately, many people suspend disbelief in the face of rising gasoline prices. The ability to use water for gas is an attractive promise. However, before you invest in the Hydro 4000, you might want to do some more research.
Systems, like the Hydro 4000, that promise to improve gas mileage using water aren’t new. In fact, some of the first systems appeared in the 1970s during the oil embargo.
One device was called a water fuel cell by inventor Stanley Meyer. He claimed that he could run a Volkswagen dune buggy using only water for gas. In 1996, Meyer’s device was found to be a fraud by an Ohio court. A quick search of the US Patent and Trademark Office database will turn up several patents for systems that claim to use water for gas.
A quick Google search will turn up a variety of systems claiming to use water for gas. You can buy complete, ready-to-install systems like the Hydro 4000 or if you’re mechanically inclined for as little as $100 you can get an e-book telling you how to make your own system. These systems have very convincing names like hydrogen assist technology or hydrogen fuel injection.
The claims made by these systems do not hold up to basic science. Splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen takes a great deal of energy. In fact, it takes more energy to split water than can be generated by burning the resulting hydrogen and oxygen. This is one of the reasons that fuel cell technology is being investigated. Fuel cells use a catalyst which reacts with the hydrogen to create electricity, a process that is many times more efficient than using water for gas.
Performing electrolysis under the hood of your car would be highly inefficient. Your alternator would need to work more to produce the electricity needed which would increase the load on your engine. Electrolysis requires more energy than the combustion of hydrogen produces so technically, you’d see a decrease in gas mileage as your car worked to make up that deficit in energy.
Many testimonials exist, however, that show increased gas mileage while using devices like the Hydro 4000. The proponents of these systems often point to these testimonials and claim that the debunking of these devices is a conspiracy by big oil to protect their profits. Actually, the increase in gas mileage in many of these testimonials can be explained.
Testing and benchmarking any device is tricky. Often tests and the resultant data can be manipulated to support any desired outcome. The tests that show increased gas mileage from these systems are often faulty in the beginning. For example, NBC affiliate WPTV tested the Hydro 4000 and found it increased the gas mileage of a truck from 9.4 miles a gallon to 23.2 miles per gallon. This test raises some interesting concerns however. The vehicle used was a Dodge Durango. According to Dodge, a Durango should get 14 miles per gallon in the city and 19 on the highway. We all know vehicles don’t perform exactly to the manufacturer’s specifications but this vehicle was getting significantly lower gas mileage in the test prior to adding the Hydro 4000. It suggests that there may have been some faults with the test itself.
Another factor that figures into the apparent effectiveness of these devices is something called the placebo effect. The placebo effect is a term usually used in medicine. It describes a scenario where a patient’s condition improves because they think they’ve been given something that will improve it. Drivers using a system like the Hydro 4000 for the first time are expecting and watching for improved gas mileage and performance. As a result, they may change their driving habits during the first months of using the device. Changes in driving habits can improve gas mileage. These users see an improvement at first when they’re eagerly looking for them but once their attention wanes, they revert to old driving patterns. The improvement in gas mileage evaporates.
It’s also possible that these devices really are improving gas mileage but not for the reasons they claim. Hydrogen isn’t making the engine burn cleaner or giving more energy than splitting the water is using. There are a couple of reasons that users may actually use less gas.
The small volume of hydrogen and oxygen being drawn into the combustion chamber may displace gasoline. An internal combustion engine only has so much volume. If some of that volume is taken by the hydrogen, less gas will be used. In effect, you’re reducing the volume of your engine. A smaller volume engine uses less gas. It also has less power.
Some of these systems include a modification to the oxygen sensor in your car. They claim that this is necessary to efficiently burn the hydrogen. (The Hydro 4000 does not include or require this modification.) This modification is simply a system to trick your car’s oxygen sensor into thinking that the air/gas mixture contains too much fuel. As a result, your vehicle will use less gas. The oxygen sensor of your car can be tuned to use less fuel without expensive gimmicks. However, the oxygen sensors in today’s cars are carefully programmed by the manufacturer to optimize a variety of variables including emissions, fuel economy and performance.
The promise of using water for gas sounds too good to be true. If you look at the hard science behind systems like the Hydro 4000, you’ll find that it is. Hydrogen may one day play a part in our country’s energy production but probably not in the way promised by the Hydro 4000.
Sources
Hydro 4000, Green Machine Solutions, Inc, http://www.hydro4000.com
Stanley Meyer’s Water Fuel Cell, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Meyer
Device promises to save 60% at the pump, Jamie Holmes, WPTV Newchannel 5, http://www.wptv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=74b15465-2ebb-49e0-acb1-939c4bb13a28
