Water Engine
LARRY SULLIVAN ( polymercanada@bc.sympatico.ca )
Sat, 20 Feb 1999 17:22:11 -0800
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> http://eeyore.phy.bris.ac.uk/water_engine/indexUK.html#SPECIFICATIONS
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> I pulled this out from one of my old bookmarks. Since we are on=
about
> water fueled engines, this should provide some interesting discussion.
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> Larry
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> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> Solutions:
> Energy: Your Car can run on water using this device
> Your house may be warmed up the same way!
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> Overview
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> Specifications
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> Letter from BMW to the inventor
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> Complete text of the 1982 patent
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> Aluminium production
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> Email comments or queries to: anon99@hotmail.com
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> http://www.layo.com
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> Invented by a Mr Francois P. Cornish (UK)
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> Tested successfully by BMW in 1981
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> Patented in 1982
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> Inventor last seen in Canada in the summer of 1988
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> Why aren't we all driving cars powered by Hydrogen from this device?
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> Where is the inventor?
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> SPECIFICATIONS:
> Water reacted cleverly with aluminium, producing Hydrogen and
> Aluminium Oxide.
> Hydrogen is collected and sprayed in a standard carburettor like
> with methane-gas.
> A 900 kg car runs 600 km on 20 litres of water and 1 kg of
> aluminium.
> Clean energy apart from the process of refining Bauxite into
> aluminium.
> The only exhaust product of a hydrogen engine is water!
> Why don't we see these cars yet ?
> At the time (1981) only some minor difficulties existed. These may
> be easily overcome.
> To develop a smooth way to get rid of the aluminium oxide powder
> from the bottom of the water-reservoir.
> To find an absolutely sure way to signal if oxygen remains (although
> the BMW-letter does not speak about this).
> Don't experiment if unqualified . . . remember O=B2 and H=B2 is a high=
ly
> dangerous combination.
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> Now trusting enabling engineers to attack this subject before
> this planet runs out of time !.
> At the Geneva Conference, July 1996 for the first time a serious
> warning is made by US scientists, even now by the US Government.
> This is quite a change in attitude since the Rio de Janeiro
> Conference in 1993.
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> -----------------------------------------------------------------
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> Letter from BMW on the subject
> BMW AG
> Muenchen 40 Postfach 40040
> References:
> 3895-5538
> Nov 5, 1981
> Proposal for improvement
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> Dear Mr. Cornish,
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> In reply to your telex of 17th October, our findings to date are
> as follows:
> The unit as present assembled in a 2000cc car produced sufficient
> gas to power the engine continuously.
> The aluminium consumption averaged out at 180 cm per minute over
> a 70 minute test run.
> With the capacitor (as per your specification) connected up, we
> were able to work in our 14v environment.
> The water temperature remained low, and even without the
> radiation system was found to be well between your limits.
> No acid was found on analysis after the test run.
> We however feel that one possible problem area may be the
> disposal of the oxide deposit. Could you please let us know what
> your findings have been on this side.
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> Yours faithfully,
> Return to top of page
> Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
> Service Division
> I.V. Henseler
> V. Krause
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> -----------------------------------------------------------------
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> Here follows a complete text of the 30 June 1982 European patent
> Publication N=B0 0055134A1
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> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
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> This invention relates to hydrogen generation.
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> It has already been proposed to replace conventional fuels with
> hydrogen in the running of internal combustion engines.
> Conventional proposals are to produce hydrogen by the
> electrolysis of water and then to store the hydrogen in some form
> or another. No economically viable storage system for the highly
> explosive hydrogen gas has yet been evolved. Whatever system is
> evolved would involve fairly massive tanks of some kind or
> another and precautions to prevent explosions. The present
> invention is based on the desire of the inventor to be able to
> provide hydrogen on demand from materials which are in themselves
> safe to handle.
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> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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> According to the invention a method of generating hydrogen
> comprises the steps of exposing a fresh metal surface to water
> and heating the interface between the metal surface and the water
> at least to the lowest temperature at which the metal reacts with
> water to form a metal oxide and hydrogen, the metal being chosen
> from metals which are higher in the electromotive series than
> hydrogen and having stable and safe handling characteristics.
> Preferably the metal surface is exposed and the interface heated
> by pressing an electrode of the relevant metal against a second
> electrode under water and applying a high voltage between the
> electrodes while preferably moving the electrode surfaces
> relatively to one another.
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> In other words in the preferred form of the invention hydrogen is
> formed by creating an underwater electrical discharge between two
> electrodes at least one of which is made of a metal as defined
> above.
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> The electrical discharge and the relative movement between the
> electrode surfaces ensure that fresh metal surfaces are exposed
> to the water while at the same time the discharge heats the
> interface between the electrodes and the water to the required
> temperature at which the metal reacts with water to form its
> oxide and to liberate hydrogen.
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> Also in the preferred form of the invention the metal is
> aluminium which has the advantage that it is in relatively
> abundant supply, relatively cheap, is formed with a protective
> oxide layer on its exposed surfaces and reacts with water at a
> relatively low temperature. Aluminium wire fed against a rotating
> aluminium drum has been found to give excellent results to
> provide hydrogen for powering small internal combustion engines.
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> A convenient way of securing the high voltage required is to
> employ the conventional distributor and coil arrangement which
> provides the sparking for an internal combustion engine. Two
> coils in parallel fed from a common distributor has been found to
> give excellent results. Other methods of generating high voltages
> from the battery or the drive shaft of an internal combustion
> engine may also be used. The method of the invention lends itself
> in an excellent manner to supply hydrogen on demand. In this case
> hydrogen is fed to a small buffer store and as the pressure in
> the store exceeds a predetermined level, the electrodes are
> separated so that hydrogen generation is interrupted. As the
> pressure drops to a certain level the electrodes are again fed
> towards one another.
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> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
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> The invention will now be further described, by way of example,
> with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Figure 1 is
> a schematic representation of apparatus for generating hydrogen,
> and suitable for powering a motor vehicle; and Figure 2 shows a
> portion of an appropriate electrical circuit.
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> *** Actual diagrams unavailable - please see diagram below ***
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> DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
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> In the illustrated embodiment there is a generating tank 10 fed
> with water from a reservoir tank 11 through a float valve 12 to
> keep the water level in the tank 10 substantially constant. When
> the apparatus is used in a motor vehicle, the tank 11 can take
> the place of the conventional fuel tank of the vehicle with a
> pump 14 in the line 15 to pump more water into the tank 10 when
> the position of the float 12 indicates that this is required.
> Water is consumed as hydrogen is generated, and so the tank 11
> has to be periodically refilled. The generating tank 10 is in
> communication with an air cooled heat exchanger 16, which may
> take the same form as a conventional motor car radiator.
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> The generating tank 10 is surmounted by a collecting vessel 17
> from which hydrogen is drawn through a restricted orifice 18 of
> an internal combustion engine. Inside the tank 10 there is a drum
> 19 driven by any suitable means to rotate at a constant speed.
> The drum 19 is made of aluminium. A depending flange 20 provides
> a water seal to the top left hand corner of the tank 10, so that
> that corner is not in gas communication with the vessel 17.
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> A coil 21 of aluminium wire 22 is fed through a push-pull unit 23
> of the kind used to feed welding wire to argon arc welding
> devices. The unit 23 is arranged to feed the wire against the
> surface of the drum 19 and to traverse the wire along the length
> of the drum on a bar 24. The wire passes along an insulating
> sleeve 25 which enters the tank 10 through a suitable wiper seal.
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> In the vessel 17 there is a pressure sensor 26 connected to a
> control unit 27. When the pressure sensor senses a pressure above
> a predetermined value, it signals the control unit 27 which in
> turn stops the unit 23 so that wire is no longer fed towards the
> drum 19. When the pressure drops again, feeding is resumed.
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> In use, the coil 21 is connected to the high tension side of two
> ignition coils or transformers 30 and 33. These transformers have
> primary windings 31 and 34 and secondary, high tension windings
> 32 and 35. A capacitor 36 is connected across the high tension
> connections. The terminals 28 and 29 are connected to a
> conventional vehicle battery.
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> At the point of contact between the end of the wire 22 and the
> drum 19 an electrical discharge takes place. As a result the
> adjacent metal surfaces are heated to high temperature, the
> protective oxide film which naturally forms on exposed aluminium
> surfaces is disrupted, and the exposed aluminium surfaces react
> with the water. In fact the electrochemical situation at the
> interface is such that the wire 22 is consumed with the following
> reaction taking place.
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> 2Al + 3H2O ---> Al2O3 + 3H2
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> As a result, hydrogen bubbles from the contact point while the
> aluminium oxide collects as a white powder in the base of the
> tank 10. A grid 37 in the bottom of the tank allows the powder to
> pass through, and then keeps the powder substantially free from
> currents in the tank 10. The hydrogen passes through the vessel
> 17 and the orifice 18 to the carburettor of an internal
> combustion engine.
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> There may be a tendency for bubbles of hydrogen to adhere to the
> surface of the drum 19 which rotates in the direction indicated
> by the arrow 38. To prevent this happening a wiper blade 39 can
> be located in the position shown in Figure 1, so as to separate
> any adhering bubbles from the drum surface.
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> Alternatively, a wiper blade 40 may be arranged on the opposite
> side of the drum. In this case a small volume of hydrogen gas may
> collect beneath this blade, and it may be possible to pivot the
> blade 40, thus releasing this pocket of hydrogen in order to
> facilitate start-up of an engine fuelled by the hydrogen.
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> It may be possible to use salt water in the tank 10, rather than
> fresh water.
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> The drum 19 preferably rotates at a speed between 400 and 700
> rpm, but the rotation may be as slow as 50 rpm.
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> During operations the temperature of the water in the tank 10 may
> rise as high as 95=B0C, although it is likely that a unit mounted
> in a moving vehicle, for example, will be able to maintain the
> water at a lower temperature.
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> A unit substantially as shown in the drawings has been used to
> drive a 500cc motor cycle engine. The wire 22 had a diameter of
> 1.6 mm and was of commercial purity (98%~Al). The unit produced
> over 1000 cc of hydrogen a minute, with an aluminium wire
> consumption rate of 140 to 180 cm per minute. The rate of
> deposition of aluminium oxide was about 4 kilograms per 500
> kilometres travelled.
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> Conventional modifications were made to the carburettor to enable
> the engine to run on a mixture of hydrogen and air.
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> The wire 22 carries a voltage of about 18000 volts with a current
> of about 1 amp.
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> The invention may equally be used to power stationary industrial
> engines, as well as motor vehicle engines.
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> CLAIMS
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> 1. Apparatus for generating hydrogen comprising a tank (10) for
> containing water, a metal surface (22) arranged in the tank,
> means for heating the surface at least to the lowest temperature
> at which the metal reacts with water to form a metal oxide and
> hydrogen, and a chamber (17) for collecting the generated
> hydrogen.
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> 2. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the metal surface
> (22) is aluminium.
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> 3. Apparatus as Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the means for heating
> the surface is an electrical discharge between the surface (22)
> and another electrode (14).
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> 4. Apparatus as claimed, wherein a second metal surface (19) is
> arranged in the tank, and means are provided to move one surface
> (19) relative to the other, the two surfaces being connected in
> an electric circuit (Figure 2) so that they form electrodes
> between which an electrical discharge can take place.
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> 5. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 4, wherein the second metal
> surface is aluminium (19).
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> 6. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 4 or Claim 5, wherein the first
> metal surface (22) is a wire and the second metal surface (19) is
> a drum, the drum being mounted for rotation and the wire being
> supported so that it approaches the cylindrical surface of the
> drum at an angle to a tangent to the drum surface.
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> 7. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the wire (22) is
> supported by a device (23) which continuously feeds the wire, as
> it is consumed, towards the drum surface (19).
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> 8. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 7, wherein means (26,27) are
> provided for sensing the pressure of hydrogen gas in the chamber
> (17) and for regulating the feed rate of the wire feeding device
> (23) in accordance with the sensed pressure, to control the
> hydrogen output.
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> 9. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the tank
> (10) is connected to a heat exchanger (16), so that water can
> circulate from the tank, through the heat exchanger, and back to
> the tank.
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> 10. A method of generating hydrogen comprising the steps of
> exposing a fresh metal surface (22) to water and heating the
> interface between the metal surface and the water at least to the
> lowest temperature at which the metal reacts with water to form a
> metal oxide and hydrogen, the metal being chosen from metals
> which are higher in the electromotive series than hydrogen and
> which have stable and safe handling characteristics.
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> 11. A method as claimed in Claim 10, wherein the metal (22) is
> aluminium, and a fresh metal surface is exposed and the interface
> heated by pressing an aluminium electrode (22) against a second
> electrode (19) under water and applying a high voltage between
> the electrodes.
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