How Does HHO Work?

I get asked this question a lot. And yet, this is the most important point to understand if you want to make your car more fuel efficient using this technology. The underlying physics and chemistry of this subject can be very complicated. But fortunately the basic concepts are very few and extremely simple.

Misconception

Many people think that we are generating HHO so we can burn it, and that burning this HHO adds so much power, that we get better fuel mileage. In actual fact, this is not the case. To prove this point, lets this a step further. There are 3 energy conversions at work here:

• Mechanical to electrical (the alternator makes electrical energy)
• Electrical to chemical (the cell makes HHO from electrical energy)
• Chemical to mechanical (the HHO burns in the engine to make mechanical energy)

The problem is that there are 3 energy conversions occurring here, and each one loses some energy. It is a basic fundamental of physics that in any conversion of energy from one form to another, there is going to be some loss. There is no such thing as 100% efficiency. In some of these conversions there is quite a bit of loss. So if this is all there was to the picture, then the system would actually lose mileage. I've seen this mistaken idea expressed in magazines and on television news coverage to prove that hho doesn't work.

What Really Is Going On?

Well, if we aren't trying to burn the HHO to get our fuel economy, then how does it work? In actual fact, HHO, when added to the air/fuel mixture going into the engine, causes that petroleum fuel to burn more completely and thereby releasing more of the energy of the fuel that would otherwise be wasted. The way this is done is by speeding up the burning process in the cylinder. Scientists say that it considerably increases the flame speed of the petroleum mixture. And it is this fact that sums up the primary way that HHO improves fuel mileage.

When the flame speed of the fuel mixture is increased, more of the fuel is burned during the power stroke. Less fuel is being burned after the power stroke, which is the the exhaust stroke, and which actually works against the turning of the engine. Further, less unburned fuel is being expelled from the engine as waste and pollutants. A relatively small amount of HHO will have a dramatic impact on the amount of power a given amount of gasoline will produce. It will also cut out a large fraction of the amount of harmful emissions the engine produces.

A Problem, And Its Solution

Back in the good old days, before there were computers in cars, experimenters were able to add HHO to their engines and get remarkable mileage gains and dramatic decreases in emissions. No other handling was needed to get excellent results. Similarly, many older diesel engines get excellent results with HHO and need no other handling.

However, with the advent of the engine computer, fuel injection, oxygen sensors, and other sensors used to control the air/fuel ratio, a problem is introduced into this simple technology. When hydrogen is introduced, and the engine is turning more times with less gas, one of the results is that there is a higher oxygen concentration coming through the exhaust. This is reported to the computer by the oxygen sensor(s) that are installed in the exhaust pipe(s). The computer reads this additional oxygen as a "lean" air/fuel mix. It then promptly adds more gas, until it "sees" the same exhaust conditions it was programmed to expect. However, it is now incorrectly adding gas when it shouldn't.

People with modern, fuel-injected cars, who put in HHO, often report that their vehicle runs smoother, and has a dramatic increase in horsepower. But they also often report no increase in fuel mileage. This is because the computer, that was designed for inefficient combustion, is adding much more gas than is actually needed. What is needed to get all the gains available to this technology is to compensate for this additional oxygen in the exhaust.

A device was created that does just that. It's called an EFIE, which is short for Electronic Fuel Injection Enhancer. You can find out more about this device, and how it works in the article EFIE Described. But basically this device compensates for the additional oxygen appearing in the exhaust, and allows the computer to do it's job correctly when an HHO system is installed.

Note: For diesel engines, we use a MAP/MAF Enhancer. MAP = Manifold Absolute Pressure and MAF = Mass Air Flow. These devices are used in diesel engines which usually don't have oxygen sensors.

Summary

There is a remarkable simplicity to this technology. If you add HHO to your engine, you will get an increase in combustion efficiency. That is just science, and it works as certainly as turning on a light switch. But to get the mileage gains you are looking for, you have to compensate for the additional oxygen that will now appear in the exhaust. And that is done by handling the electronics or the computer. If you can do these 2 things, you will get a dramatic increase in fuel mileage and a corresponding decrease in fuel emissions.

For passenger vehicles, we ordinarily expect people to get a minimum of 25% increase in MPG, and 30-35% is our expected average. Some people have gotten 50% or more mileage increases. For large scale, long haul diesel tractors of "Semis", we expect 10%-15% improvement, although we've seen up to 25%. By proper application of this simple technology, you can get these increases for your vehicle too.