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Are you one of the people who laughed at those late night commercials and spammy emails about adding a bottle of water to your car's engine and tripling your gas milage?

If so, you are in good company. Who could really believe that you can use water for gas? If cars could actually run on water, why would we use expensive gasoline?

But now a company in Texas is producing a high end sports car based on the hydrogen fuel injection technology and they are taking orders at US$150,000 each. A fleet of cars is touring the USA running on hydrogen cell technology and government officials are beginning to talk about the technology as a real alternative solution to the dependence on petroleum products.

What's the story on water for gas technology? Does using water as a source of fuel for your car's engine work or is it the scam most people say it is? Even if it does work — is it safe?

Hydrogen Fuel Injection - It's Chemistry...

This will have to be a simple explanation, since there are no chemists on staff here.

We all know that water is H2O, right? That means every molecule of water is made up of one oxygen atom with two hydrogen atoms stuck to it. Every hydrogen (H) atom has a positive charge (+1) and every oxygen (O) atom has a negative charge (-2).

Like magnets, these opposite charges draw the atoms together. It takes two positive hydrogen atoms to balance the more negative oxygen atom... so these two elements like to get together in the form of water... H2O or if you break the chemical bonds H-H-O. That's the bottom line in this system. Break the bonds and release the hydrogen atoms as a gas for your car to use for fuel.

Water (H2O) To Hydrogen (HHO) means fuel for your engine

What the water for fuel systems do is break down the water by electrolysis. That releases hydrogen which is then fed into the engine of your car. It mixes with the gas and reduces the time it takes for the gas to reach the temperature it needs to be at to spark your engine into moving. That means improved efficiency and means less gas used. The process is simple and it does work. It won't triple your mpg but it will reduce the amount of gas you need to run your car. Expert estimates average around 10% improvement... which is not a small thing if gas prices keep climbing. So why doesn't every car have one of these?

So, is it safe?

We'll start out by saying that water4gas systems that use a glass bottle are probably not a good idea. There are a lot of moving parts and engines tend to get jostled around as cars move down bumpy roads. Take a look at how your battery and engine are solidly bolted onto your car and you'll get the idea. Adding a less securely mounted jar of water to the mix seems about as safe as handing a two year old a glass jar and letting them run around. It's an accident waiting to happen.

Compressed hydrogen gas is dangerous to store and very flammable. You would not want to have a tank of hydrogen gas mounted on your car's engine. From our research, it seems that the theory behind the water for gas gadgets is that you are not storing hydrogen under pressure ... you are storing water and water is not combustible.

You already store plenty of water in the radiator of your car or truck with no worry that it will explode. The water is converted to hydrogen in small amounts with this process, not enough to make it dangerous. The hydrogen generator used in most of these systems creates hydrogen only on demand, so there is only water — no free hydrogen gas stored in the device when the engine is turned off. The small amount of hydrogen produced while the 'hydrogen from water' system is working is not stored under significant pressure which eliminates those safety concerns.

Leaky seals mean a gunked up engine

There are issues with adding this to your car that you should be aware of. If your engine's seals are leaky, the tiny amount of oil seeping in will work fine if it mixes with gas alone. Adding hydrogen to the gas and motor oil mix creates a white, sort of putty like gunk. After a while this gunk fills your engine and the money you saved on gas will go to buying a new engine. If you are thinking about adding a hydrogen injection fuel system to your car, check under the hood to make sure that the seals on your engine are not cracked or leaking and invest in new ones if they're needed... before you add any sort of water for gas hydrogen system.

ECU and catalytic converters

You'll also need to make adjustments to your ECU. The amount of fuel your engine gets fed is carefully determined by your fuel injection system. You're adding a component that this system was not designed to handle and you will create chaos in your engine if you don't make the correct adjustments. On the exhaust end, your catalytic converter was designed to reduce the emissions coming from a gas burning engine. The exhaust gases, when you add hydrogen to the fuel mix, are very different and can cause your catalytic converter to wear out.

You may have a hard time meeting the EPA emission standards if you do not make adjustments to the system. This is not due to the hydrogen as fuel, but because of the gas feed being mismanaged by the ECU and the catalytic converter getting confused by the strange gases coming through the exhaust. Your car may not pass inspection unless you disable the hydrogen injection system long enough to have your car return to normal gas emissions.

All of these problems can be overcome by having a trained professional install a hydrogen fuel injection system that comes with the necessary parts to work around the way your car was designed to run... with gas. It isn't cheap and it isn't simple. It does work, but it takes more than mounting a jar of water to your engine block.

Hydrogen Powered cars are on the road already

In a press release from the US Department of Transportation, Administrator Paul Brubaker of the U.S. DOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) stated, “The technology necessary to put these cars on the road, and keep them moving, exists today,” said . “The question is not if hydrogen powered vehicles will be available commercially, but when.”

Brubaker pointed out that in the USA, six transit agencies already operate hydrogen-powered buses. In Southern California, where hydrogen "gas stations" are available, auto dealers are leasing hydrogen vehicles. Hundreds of hydrogen-powered vehicles are being driven in demonstration programs in countries around the world. He also included the information that hydrogen is viable as a fuel for both a fuel cell vehicle or in a modified internal combustion engine.

As gas keeps getting scarcer and the price keeps getting higher, hydrogen injected fuel systems and cars that run on other alternative fuels are going to be a lot more common. For now, if you're thinking about adding a jar of water to your engine, do a little more research. It might be a good investment, but it isn't as simple as the infomercials make it sound.

More about Hydrogen Injected Fuel cars and Water for Gas Systems around the Web:

Fuel Efficiency Hydrogen Injection - A good analysis of what it means to add a hydrogen injection system to an average car. Warnings about residue clogging the engine if seals are leaky and necessary adjustments to exhaust system and engine computer components are clearly outlined.

Modifying the Vehicle's ECU to Accommodate a New Mixture from Hydrogen Boosting - This blog reports on US and Canadian positive government research into hydrogen as a "supplement to gasoline or diesel fuel used in an internal combustion engine.”

Government Says Hydrogen Fuel Injection Is Viable Technology - This blog reports on US and Canadian positive government research into hydrogen as a "supplement to gasoline or diesel fuel used in an internal combustion engine.”

Ronn Motors Scorpion - First year production of this hydrogen powered car is limited to 200 automobiles and scheduled to begin in the last quarter of 2008. Price: US$150,000.

Company Unveils Hydrogen Hybrid Supercar: Available Fall 2008 - Wary of the promises to produce better milage by adding processed water (HHO) to gas, this blogger is taking a second look at the possibilities of the technology behind hydrogen fuel injection devices.

Hydrogen Fuel cell powered cars - Daimler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen all have working models of hydrogen powered cars...

Hydrogen Road Tour - Hydrogen powered cars are making a tour of the USA during the summer of 2008.

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