Check out this link.
http://www.unitednuclear.com/h2.htm

Scroll down toward the bottom and check it out.



No more Dino Fuel???

 

neat find. that's pretty slick. it's been a while since i've seen a conversion that doesn't involve fuel cells and ripping out the engine for an electric motor.

ahhh, imagine a world where bogus and Nathan do not have to duke it out in catalytic converter threads!

i would love to see more technologies replace the IC engine from an engineering standpoint, but IMO having an infrastructure and industry to support hydrogen powered passenger vehicles is still way way off.

my personal prediction is we will see hybrid powertrains (running on gas or diesel) in performance vehicles (imagine full torque at 0 RPM) before fuel-celled electric vehicles. the only thing hybrids need today are better battery technology, while hydrogen-power has many more technical, political, and economic issues to resolve. (the latter 2 issues will stop any great idea in its tracks.)

 

I really hate the thought of hybirds. Hydrogen has an octane rating of 130. YOu can buy (right now) Hydrogen collectors. The tech is out there to convert cars into hydro burners. Imagine free fuel at home. YOu can run your Vette and electric gen to power the home. It is possible.

What do you think? Anyone?

 

I still don't get why that in the last 100 years, no one has come up with anything better that the IC engine. I guess hybrids are a good start. At least they've finally started making them that look like normal cars and not something for the Birkenstock wearing set.

 

This is the coolest thing I've seen in a while.

Everyone complains about the oil companies. But do you know what they have which is valuable. Not oil....DISTRIBUTION.. The nature of the fuel is irrelivent when you have an outlet to sell it on every corner already in place.

I like this concept and hope it's more than just smoke.

 

i was acutally watching a show and those are a good idea but the only thing is you get in a bad accident and BOOM!!! you blow up whit your car

 

http://www.fuelmaker.com/
It's a home refueling pump for compressing natural gas. Runs off your existing gas supply to your house. Gas is equivalent $1.20/gal.
They say it's actually safer to have the CNG in the tanks than it is to carry around dino gas in your standard tank.....
The CNG is rated over 100 octane. Almost no pollution. Motors last a lot longer. oil stays a lot cleaner, longer.

 

Hmmm, fuel containers inside the passenger compartment...what's wrong with this pic!

How long ago was it that gas tanks were no longer permitted behind the driver's seat but needed to be outside of the vehicle.

Now if they had replaced the fuel tank or spare carrier with those (or some kind of) containers it would be a real innovation.

Natural gas may now be cheaper than gasoline but if we really start to use it in our cars the Gov. will be all over it for tax revenues and the price will shoot up too. The same is true of any energy form that we come with.

 

nothing. it's a prototype.

...but i too would not want to drive in rush hour traffic on the interstate with a bomb behind my head.

flylowguy, i also think CNG is a great low-range alternative. Crown Vics have a factory option for CNG, so i imagine the mods to get it to run on the stuff is not too extensive. taxis and buses all over the world have been using it for years.

 

I seem to remember that GMC had it as an option for some of their trucks as well back mid 80s

 

This reminds me of the CNG system that the State of Texas was implimenting a few years back. They converted like 1/5 of the Texas A&M University campus with CNG hybrids....none of them ever ran very well, and they ended up scrapping the idea. Even though some of the vehciles still equiped with CNG, they're slowly auctioning them off. I guess they couldnt get enough tax and subsides benefits, im not quite sure on that. Of course, the only reason I know anything about these hybrids was that one of the Maintence guys left a CNG vehicle next to my lab, and we decided to take the intake apart to see how it worked

Im all for hybrids, the technology is there...but oh how we are stuck on our fossil fuels ....SIGH !!

snoopdan

 

Hydrogen cars are over rated. Energy is neither created nor destroyed. It takes energy (usually Electrolysis) to split the hydrogen and oxygen atoms of water. If fossil fuels are used to produce the electricity needed then there are no real advantages to not using the fossil fuels in the first place. If you calculate the price of how much electricity it uses to get the hydrogen, hydrogen is actually more expensive then gasoline (not to mention the cost of the equipment). Even in the best tanks hydrogen evaporates at 1.7% per day. Hydrogen is combustible, odorless and colorless and in its liquid form is cold enough to freeze air. That’s not something I want with me in my car.

***Do this at your own risk! im not resonsible if you blow up your self, your property, your dog, or anything***
I remember doing this experiment in school. If you all want to do the experiment: take a non-metal bucket filled with water. put salt in it. completely submerge 2 shot glass upside-down under the water. Make sure water completely fills them and there is no air in them. Take some wire and put one under each glass. Connect the other end to a battery. The one that fills with air twice as fast is oxygen and the other will be hydrogen (H2O one H to every 2 O). In one motion lift and move the glass (still upside-down) over a candle. That nice size flame you’ll see and pop you'll hear is a very small amount of uncompressed hydrogen. Now imagine what those tanks would do with an ignition source.

 

But something for nothing? Toyota says Hydro electric cars are 25 years off.

Distribution is the key and the oil companies have it.
Most likely hydro electric cars will be spliting hydro carbons. The oil companies will still have the edge.

 

It looks like you'll need a PhD to repair a hydro electric car.
I see a diesel TDI in just about everyones future.

The Germans starved of oil during WW2 built diesels that ran on coal dust. Imagine the impact of engines running on coal dust?

Hydrogen is a long shot, but who knows?

 

yup. in fact the page tpi1986 introduced states exactly that. United Nuclear got around this by creating their own solar-powered electrolysis machine. they did say it was SLOWWWWW. takes about 2 days to fill a short-range tank.

as for the durability of the tanks, some have been developed by industry and academia that withstand quite a beating. probably more than Crown Vic fuel tanks. but they are expensive - today.

same goes for the latest slew of hybrids too. not only is diagnosing them difficult, but the electric currents going through the system are enough to scare away but the bravest of technicians.

Toyota, Ford, and Honda have their hands full trying to build up enough technicians to service these things.

i echo redwing's comments on distribution. unless the oil companies see that they can make gobs of money selling hydrogen, they are not going to do this. in other semi-socialist countries around the world (i.e. pretty much every other country in the world) if cost is the only issue, the government tries to figure out some subsidized way to make it happen if the overall impact on the country is positive. companies won't make out like thieves but they will not go broke (at the citizen's expense, though). we'll see what happens here, but i will not hold my breath.

diesel TDI - i'm all for that too. i think it would be slick to get full torque at 1500 RPM. but in this case the EPA and CARB has to get their head out of their **** cavity to make compromises in emissions laws to allow this. the oil companies too have to shell out the extra bucks (and pass them onto us) to offer better refined low-sulfur diesel and have it available at evey corner. as for the low demand for diesels here, if we can get the marketing companies making the viagra commercials to do the sell job, that should not be a problem.

 

A glimpse of things to come.

The nice sound of a V8 with just H20 coming out the pipes.

 

It takes two days to fill a canister that will take you 350 miles. I don't do 175 miles a day, so it would work for me. I'm going to have to take a look at that natural gas solution when I have some time. Looks interesting.

 

I remember in college one of the guys in the dorm introduced us to the amazing spectacle of lighting "noxious body emmissions". You would turn off the lights, fire up your Zippo near the "exhaust" area and let er rip! Results: A good-sized ball of blue flame!
What does that gas consist of? Is there a way to bottle and compress it? I'll bet most military barracks and locker rooms could supply a goodly amount!
(And some say the Corvette C4 Forum is NOT educational! )

 

forget nitrous i want hydrogen

 

heh heh. it's basically methane. at work we constantly joke about developing the next generation engines being propelled by the stuff. imagine, get in the car, have a big burrito, stick a tube up your a$$, turn the key, and let it RIP! (then start the car.)