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HHO gas, or Aquygen, is a gas byproduct of water electrolysis, claimed by its proponents to be a new, unique form of water which defies explanation by conventional science. It is claimed to have a number of unusual properties that differentiate it from normal electrolysis products.
Businessman Denny Klein of Clearwater, Florida runs a company called Hydrogen Technology Applications to promote the gas, which is claimed to be useful as an "alternative to and enhancer of fossil fuels", and to sell welding equipment. The welders electrolyze water and then burn the byproducts to create a hot flame, in the same fashion as other oxyhydrogen welders, though the company claims that the HHO gas is unique and provides special benefits.
The gas and company have been publicized extensively by the company on the Internet and through promotional coverage in local news programs, such as CNN and Fox news.
Popular skeptic James Randi says the process is little more than a combination of pseudoscience and conventional electrolysis, which has been known about for well over a century.
Electrolysis
According to Klein, the electrolyzer is "common ducted", which he claims produces a hydrogen and oxygen mixture that is molecularly different from the oxyhydrogen mixture produced in typical independently ducted electrolyzers; according to the promotional website oxyhydrogen contains a 2:1 ratio of diatomic hydrogen and oxygen, whereas the result of common ducting produces additional molecular configurations other than purely H2 and O2.
This gas is given a variety of names, such as HHO gas (Hybrid Hydrogen Oxygen), Brown's Gas (for Yull Brown), Rhodes Gas, or Green Gas. It is claimed to contain a variety of hydrogen and oxygen allotropes in accordance with the "magnecule" theory proposed by controversial physicist Ruggero Santilli; for example, according to chromatography there are large quantities of 5 atom hydrogen allotropes, and large quantities of monatomic oxygen.
According to a paper published by controversial physicist Ruggero Santilli in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis found unusual "clusters of individual atoms" in the mixture, which Santilli claims are held together by the "magnecular bonds" of his theories. He reports finding Template:Hydrogen and Template:Oxygen in the mixture's chromatography results, as expected, but also claims significant peaks at the following atomic weights: 2, 5, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 24, 25, 26, 27, 33, 34, and 40, formed during the electrolysis process.
Claimed practical applications
Welding
The technique was originally claimed to be useful for welding/soldering torches, able to weld glass, copper, aluminum, and carbon steel. During the demonstration on CNN this was the only process seen. Though, a welding torch utilizing electrolysis is certainly a valid idea, what was seen on air did not necessarily match the claims of the broadcast. For instance, a ball made of steel which was heated and seen to turn bright red was not seen to melt, yet the journalist stated it had turned to liquid steel when it was still clearly solid and structurally resilient. The type of torch used would not have a hot tip under ordinary circumstances of use even though the flame a short distance from the tip would be extremely hot, yet Klein states only a torch using his unique form of gas would behave this way, which is not an accurate statement to say the least. The fact that the gas is ignited a distance away from the tip is why many forms of blow torches do not melt themselves.
As a fuel or fuel additive
Klein's website claimed that the gas was useful as a "primary fuel source or a fuel additive" for water-fueled cars, and proclaims, "Imagine cutting steel or running a car with ordinary water." Klein has been featured in local news programs, videos of which are shown on the company website and have been passed around the Internet. The videos claim that the gas can be used by itself to fuel cars and electrical generators. They are far from explicit.
The only demonstration of the technology in a car, however, is a hybrid vehicle that allegedly uses the electrolyzed gas as a fuel additive in combination with gasoline. News reports claim that this improves engine efficiency by 50%, but no substantiation has been offered by Klein beyond that. Klein says, "On a hundred mile trip, we use about 4 ounces of water". These designs and claims were not subjected to any sort of rigorous scientific scrutiny. Aside from the outrageous fuel efficiency Klein claims, the performance and design of his vehicle could be explained by battery powered design that utilizes, possibly ostensibly, some conventional form of electrolysis.
Criticism
The radical claims of Klein's alleged technology remain unscrutinized by any sort of peer reviewed scientific literature. James Randi has censured this alleged technology as fraud. Though such novel molecular arrangements have been hypothesized by physicists in peer reviewed literature dating back to the seventies, and electrolysis is certainly a valid process, neither Klein's claim to produce a novel molecular arrangement nor the outrageous claims of his alleged invention's applications have been subject to such scrutiny.
See also
References
- http://hytechapps.com/company/press
- "Fire water". Swift: Online Newsletter of the JREF. May 26, 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-01.
- Aquygen website
- "That HHO iddea isn't new". Swift: Online Newsletter of the JREF. June 9, 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-01.
- Santilli, Ruggero Maria (2006-02-17). "The Novel 'Controlled Intermediate Nuclear Fusion' and its Possible Industrial Realization as Predicted by Hadronic Mechanics and Chemistry". arXiv:physics/0602125.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite journal requires|journal=(help)DEFINITION: Santilli’s magnecules are stable clusters consisting of individual atoms (H, C, O, etc.), dimers (OH, CH, etc.) and ordinary molecules (CO, H2O, etc.) bonded together by opposing magnetic polarities originating from toroidal polarizations of the orbitals of atomic electrons. Numerous new substances with magnecular structures have been identified experimentally to date, among which we indicate MagneGas, MagneHydrogen, HHO, and others under industrial development.
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Santilli, Ruggero Maria (2006). "A new gaseous and combustible form of water". International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. 31 (9): pp. 1113-1128. doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2005.11.006.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help);|pages=has extra text (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) (Excerpt) - YouTube search for "Denny Klein"