Have you heard about the latest gas saving – fuel economy craze circulating around the internet?  It’s DIY H2O water, gas car kit conversions.  Yes, the idea is to split the hydrogen and oxygen atoms normally bound together in water (hence H2O – which is two hydrogen atoms per oxygen atom) into just hydrogen and oxygen which are both in a gaseous state.  If this could be done in sufficient volume, inexpensively and safely (remember hydrogen and oxygen gas are highly combustible – just think Hindenberg) then one may have found the ultimate fuel economy solution as water compromises more than 70% of the planet and unlike oil is cheap and in endless supply.

So how does one go about this process of electrolysis (splitting the water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen)?  For the sake of this article we will try and keep this simple, but there are variants like heavy water (H3O and others that do result but in such limited amounts that they are basically non material for the sake of discussion).  Basically, the chemical reaction for hydrolysis is quite simple.  An electrical charge is drawn through the water source by the use of positive and negative electrodes.  This electrical charge will create both hydrogen and oxygen gas.  The amounts would be two-times as much hydrogen as oxygen due to the 2:1 original composition of H2O – where there are 2 hydrogens for every 1 oxygen. 

Another interesting tidbit and possible result of the reaction depending on the metals used for the electrodes and purity of the water used could  be transference of metals from one electrode to the other and the splitting of salts to their pure metals.  Salts like NaCl (sodium chloride) and KCl (potassium chloride) will split and form their gas of chloride and the pure metal of sodium or potassium.  This will happen if there is any material amount of these salts in the water used for the electrolysis.  These metals do not normally exist in this state and are rather explosive in this pure form.  Ever hear of high school chemistry teachers using pure sodium as an experiment where they throw in a tiny chunk (smaller then a pencil eraser) into a glass of water and it fizzes and burns on top of it.  Well, pure potassium is much more explosive and can actually blow up.  This is why for this reaction to occur and in your engine compartment steps would have to be taken to seriously determine and ensure the purity of the water used. 

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Now that we understand how the hydrogen gas and oxygen gas are made we would have to have silicone tubing to take it from the reaction or electrolysis chamber to the intake where it would then be mixed in the engine with gasoline.  This would have to be a 100% sealed system as even the slightest leak in a hot engine compartment could easily lead to detonation and serious injury or death of the vehicles occupants.  Some people refer to this HHO as browns gas, but it is still hydrogen and oxygen gas and they are very flammable hence the required warning and danger placards on trucks and storage facilities that contain these gasses.  The possibility of a 100% leak proof water gas injection system in a cars engine is very low as cars do have many components that break down over time and what if the car were involved in an accident or hit a seriously jarring bump?  This alone would render the system as currently unsafe and unfeasible for the current automobile.

Now, if you could skip all the complexities of this DIY H2O water, gas car kit conversion, how feasible would it be?  Could you really get massive fuel economy gains as is claimed by various venders of water technology throughout the internet?  Well, this one has already been solved for us by the science gurus of Myth Busters on Discovery Channel.  They took this idea along with several other fuel economy boosting products and technologies like the Tornado and others and tested them to see if they could actually increase fuel economy and reduce gas consumption.  If they could this would be great as it would help reduce our dependence on foreign oil and save at the pump.

The problem was that none of the products worked except for the idea of water electrolysis as we discussed here, but even then the amounts created by following plans purchased from several websites and companies only created a very small trickle (tiny bubbles of hydrogen and oxygen) and no where near the amount required to see even the slightest difference in gas mileage.  According to the Myth Busters staff it would have required apparatus far too large to fit in the typical car, SUV or even 18 wheeler truck to get reasonable fuel economy savings and to make it worthwhile.  So this also renders this idea of DIY H2O water, gas car kit conversion, or Brown’s gas, as some may refer to it, as utterly useless and not feasible with todays technology.  Maybe in the future there will be a new chemical reaction found, new elements, etc… that will make the water electrolysis feasible and maybe even possible to run a car 100% on water.  But for now, the hype is all that – just hype and nothing more.

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I hope this has enlightened you and made you want to think more critically about advertisers and company’s claims on product effectiveness.  Currently the best ways to save on gas and fuel economy are to downsize your vehicle, reduce weight, don’t speed, get a tune up and perform regular maintenance on your vehicles, and plan out your shopping and trips to better buy in bulk and reduce the number of trips you make.  Another great idea is to shop at discount stores like Walmart and BJ’s.  For $300 you will get twice as much groceries, on average then if you went to a more expensive supermarket like Harris Teeter, Wegmans, etc…  And that is including the few extra discounts like buy one get one frees that the supermarket chains like Harris Teeter or Wegmans may advertise to get you in the door and then hopefully you will buy more of their overpriced items so they more than make back the discount.  Stick with Walmart, BJ’s and Costco as they will save you the most and the savings between these discount stores and your local overpriced supermarkets like Harris Teeter will actually pay for your gas bill and maybe more!