How to Read Your Gas Output on Hydrogen Fuel Cells
The technology behind hydrogen HHO fuel cells was discovered close to a century ago. Today, HHO fuel cells have been reengineered to deliver hydrogen and oxygen gas into an existing internal combustion engine to increase efficiency. When planning an HHO conversion, the most important variable is matching the amount of HHO gas produced to the vehicle's engine fate of fuel consumptions. Flow meters can be purchased, or constructed with a few household items.
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Things You'll Need
- HHO fuel cell kit, including tank bubbler, relay and mounting hardware
- HHO fuel cell electrolyte
- Clean, empty ½ gallon glass jar/bottle with lid
- ½ inch OD plastic tubing
- Household adhesive caulk, such as "Household Goop"
- Clean household measuring cup
- 12-volt battery or regulated DC power source
- Stopwatch
Instructions
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Constructing the Fuel-cell Gas Output Measuring Device
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1
Fill the jar to within ½ inch of the brim with water.
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2
Tighten the lid onto the jar. Apply adhesive caulk around the lid's lip to ensure a 100 percent airtight seal between the lid and the jar.
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3
Drill two ½ inch holes in the jar lid. Insert two lengths of ½ inch plastic tubing into the jar. Insert one length of tubing all the way to the bottom of the jar. Insert the second length of tubing ¼ inch into the jar.
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4
Seal the two pieces of plastic tubing to the jar lid with the adhesive caulk in order to ensure a 100 percent airtight seal.
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5
Connect the tubing which extends to the jars at the bottom to the HHO gas output of the hydrogen fuel cell.
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6
Direct the free end of the tubing which extends ¼ inch into the jar into the household measuring cup. Place the quart jar and the household measuring cup on the same flat and level surface, next to each other.
Measuring the Gas Output
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7
Connect the HHO fuel cell to a 12-volt regulated power source. Connect the electrolyte tank to the HHO fuel cell and fill the tank and fuel cell with electrolyte.
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8
Power on the HHO fuel cell for a few seconds, providing a regulated 15 to 18 amps. As the bubbler creates HHO gas, the gas will fill the half gallon glass jar and displace fluid into the measuring cup.
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9
Turn off the fuel cell, and empty any fluid displaced into the household measuring cup. Do not empty any fluid which fills the tubing leading from the sealed jar into the measuring cup. The fluid present in the rubber tubing serves to "prime the pump" for the fuel cell output measuring experiment.
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10
Power on the HHO fuel cell for exactly 30 seconds, providing a regulated 15 to 18 amps. As the bubbler creates HHO gas, the gas will fill the half gallon glass jar and displace fluid into the measuring cup.
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11
After the fuel cell is powered off, read the amount of fluid displaced into the household measuring cup. HHO fuel cells are rated in terms of liters of gas produced per minute. Since the experiment was operated for 30 seconds, double the measurement of the amount of fluid in the measuring cup. This figure equals the number of liters per minute of HHO gas produced.
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Tips & Warnings
Another method to read the HHO output on a fuel cell is with a gas flowmeter. This device can be purchased through many retailers. When attached to the gas output of the fuel cell, the gas will flow through the flowmeter and directly display how many liters of gas are being produced per minute.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit chemical experiences image by Sergey Galushko from Fotolia.com
