HHO Generators – their origin, history and function

  How to save fuel in cars? This question has been asked by people ever since cars have used expensive gas or diesel. The idea behind alternative fuel is therefore not new at all and in present time, when the prices of crude oil products are rapidly increasing, is simply urgent. Among other alternatives (electric cars, solar mobiles or even LPG, CNG and others) it appears that one of the most effective and least expensive options will be using water.

  Electric cars mainly, but other alternative fuel options as well, are not seen on today’s roads as out of Utopia, but are actually manufactured, even though still in much smaller numbers than regular cars running on fossil fuel. Their economic disadvantages as well (very high purchase price, low efficiency – short range, long charging) are causing their present unattainability for the everyday driver.

  But there is a system that makes it possible to lower the consumption of fuel in automobiles for a very low price. Simply use normal fuel with the addition of a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen generated through electrolysis. Gaseous hydrogen produced this way is then redirected into the combustion engine via suction tubing where it will mix with the usual fuel (gasoline, diesel, LPG, CNG) and ignite together. This allows for incomparably higher efficiency of burning of the used fossil fuel causing strikingly lower consumption and the amount of emissions released by the exhaust. This system is called HHO and it has been known around the world for years. It is easy to use, maintain and can be installed without the need for a car mechanic.

  Its first successful use goes back in history. But one of the first recorded tryouts of HHO by everyday drivers goes back to the USA from before the 1950s. At that time only individuals and home mechanics created units which split water by electrolysis into oxygen and 2 hydrogens (first patented hydrogen generators go back to the 1920s). The gas created in these generators is called HHO which is where the name of this system comes from.

  At the beginning these devices were only somewhat effective and the fuel savings were negligible, but during the crude oil crisis people that were using these devices started to communicate with each other via internet and shared improvement tips on how to increase their effectiveness.

  Only during the last years of the 20th century did various firms start to manufacture and test HHO generators on serious and professional basis.

  First big customers of these firms were, of course, big transport companies which did profit the most by saving fuel. Their good experiences led to higher demand, increased production ultimately driving the costs down. Thanks to all of this, the device became more affordable for individual car owners and today, really, for all of us. (Today the prices of these HHO systems are many times lower than conversion into LPG, CNG and so on)

  Today, it is long possible to very cheaply and with one’s own hands, essentially in one’s own garage, convert a car into partial hybrid thanks to these HHO systems.

History of engines powered by HHO gas

Here is the summary of important milestones, studies and achieved successes in the area of hydrogen powered engines, starting with year 1766 continuing all the way to the present.

1766

Everything began when Henry Cavendish, British scientist, discovered something he called “inflammable air”. He defined and described, for the very first time, the density of this inflammable air, created by water during combustion, in a newspaper article.

Antoine Lavoisier later repeated Cavendish’ experiment and gave this element its present name – hydrogen.

1776

Dutch scientist Martinus van Marus (1750‐1837) during one of his experiment with electricity created oxygen and gaseous hydrogen with the help of electrolysis. He discovered, maybe by accident, that this mixture could be inflamed with an electric spark.

1789

Dutch chemists Paets van Troostwijk and Joan Rudolph Deiman were the first to define in their experiments that water consists of two elements, 1 molecule of oxygen O and 2 molecules of hydrogen H2, which can be separated by electric current.

1806

Francois Isaac de Rivaz (1752‐1828), Swiss inventor, was first to successfully create a combustion engine. This engine was fueled by a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen. A year later, he was successful in building one of the first automobiles, which was, of course, powered by his new hydrogen engine. During these times this was monumental technological advance. NOTE: First gasoline powered engine was not used until 1870.

1860

Belgian and French Jean Bienne Lenoir designed and constructed automobile, in which he also used an engine that produced hydrogen with the help of electrolysis. It ran on an electric battery.

1875

Writer and a visionary Jules Verne wrote the following sentence in his book The Mysterious Island: „Water will decompose into its primitive elements and will be decomposed doubtless by electricity, which will then become a powerful and manageable force. Yes, my friends, I believe that water will one day be employed as fuel.”

1888

Especially in the last years of 19th century a number of experiments were performed concerning the production of hydrogen gas. They were, for example, addition of hydrogen vapour into hydrogen flame to improve its flammability for lighting and heating purposes, or safe burning of hydrogen mixed with oxygen in Bunsen burner and the use of mesh screen for safety. Even during these times, they clearly knew how to use this gas but it was not economical thanks to the high price of electricity (used for creating hydrogen) and its limited accessibility.

1918

Charles H. Frazer patented first hydrogen generating cell (Hydrogen Booster) for combustion engines in the US. (USA Patent.No. 1262034). He cited that his invention increases the effectivity of combustion engines, completely burns hydrocarbons, the engine gets cleaner and even more important, that a lower amount of fuel can be used, along with fuel of lower quality to achieve the same performance. Most likely this is when the history of HHO generators, as we know them today, began to be written.

1935

Henry Garrett, talented American inventor from Dallas, along with his son patented an automobile that ran on water. In reality it was a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen converted from water by electrolysis. Today this mixture is known as HHO.

NOTE: Until 1940 more than 300 patents were registered of various engines burning hydrogen or hydrogen cell working on the basis of water electrolysis.

1943 Thanks to the serious shortage of conventional fuel at the end of the Second World War (WW2) the British army used HHO Oxyhydrogen gas generators in their tanks, boats and other automobiles to increase their range and protect the engines from overheating in Africa. They used generators very similar to those that save fuel thanks to HHO today. Immediately after WW2 the government has ordered the destruction of all of these generators from all of the automobiles and tanks.

These devices and this technology were supposed to be forgotten, but a few of these war generators were preserved and improved by an engineer.

1962

William A. Rhodes (USA) is the first inventor of the well‐known patent on electrolyser which produced easily removable gas, known today as HHO. In the mid 1960s Rhodes along with his partners founded the Henes Corporation which started to sell the electrolysers commercially.

1974

Few years after William Rhodes, the Australian Yull Brown (Bulgarian, born Ilja Velbov 1922‐1998) patents his own construction of gas electrolyser (known today as Brown electrolyser after this inventor). Brown has spent big part of his life trying to commercialise his device. He successfully persuaded investors to invest $30M into further development and marketing of his device and his dream of commercial success began to blossom. His investors lasted almost 30 years. Because of his lifelong quest and work he was honored by the world and we now know this mixture of hydrogen (water H2O split into its individual molecules H‐H‐O in the ration of 66 parts of hydrogen to 34 parts of oxygen) as Brown’s gas.

Many companies were later funded as both collaborators and competition with Yull Brown.

In the second half of 1970s one German company began producing oxyhydrogen generator in large quantities. They have used new materials and parts, but have still kept the Brown’s elements original, made out of massive steal, just as they would be were they used during WW2. As with all military equipment, these generators were created to be tough and have longevity and because of this, they are still functional today.

1977

NASA Lewis research center created a number of tests on typical American 8 cylinder engine (V8 LARGE BLOCK). The results were shocking. They were also developing alternative method of gas production that would be more effective that the basic electrolysis.

199

Juan Carlos Aquero patented system that converted energy for combustion engines using HHO gas and vapor. (European patent: 0 405 919 A1/ 90306988.8 26‐26‐1990)

The same year an inventor from the US and most likely the biggest pioneer of the modern HHO technology, Stanley A. Meyer, was granted a patent for a method of production of oxyhydrogen fuel gas (Oxygen‐Hydrogen Fuel Gas) (USA Patent number : 4936961). What he has achieved and what was really ground breaking was the dielectric resonant circuit. Stanley Meyer created a car which used water as its fuel source.

Detailed article about this HHO pioneer, his life and to this day his unexplained death (most likely eliminated by crude oil companies as he became uncomfortable for multi‐billion fossil fuel business, this theory is also supported by the fact that his patent mysteriously disappeared after his death) can be read here.

1991

Kim Sang Nam from Korea visited the laboratory of Yull Brown in Sidney, Australia. This was the beginning of Brown’s collaboration with big Korean corporation focused on HHO technologies. They were successful in developing innovative technology involving Brown’s gas. Today, thanks to this corporation, Korea is a major manufacturer of the original Brown’s gas generators. In this country, the HHO technologies are becoming more and more popular in recent years.

During the next few years many other influential companies in many countries around the world started to research HHO and Brown’s gas, including USA, Germany, Great Britain, France and others. In Canada, where these alternative fuel options are quite popular and also in recent years on the upswing, some companies have abandoned the traditional technology and construction of electrolysers and began with completely new concepts while keeping the ideas from the past research. They have improved on William Rhode’s construction effectively and in an interesting way. Today there are many companies around the world selling generators of the Brown’s type, HHO and others.

2000

Many companies around the world are beginning to patent their HHO generators. Korea has gone the furthest, where even the multinational Samsung is showing interest in this area. This technology is more and more popular in Asia and the rest of the world is quick to follow and catch up. In Europe and Great Britain first CE safety certificates were awarded to HHO devices used in combustion engines. In western and central Europe more and more companies are popping up, slowly entering the world market of alternative energies and HHO systems.

During these years a company named SSpower is founded and is quickly flooding the European market, increasing its operations in the area of HHO and conservation of fuel in combustion engines along with other HHO technologies, such as HHO welders, heating elements or gas burners. It is also increasing its activity into the quickly expanding field of cleaning of combustion engines with the help of HHO gas, so called decarbonisation.

2010

Many up and running companies in USA, Canada and Europe are developing master units for combustion engines necessary for achieving even better results for lowering consumption. For cars with fuel injectors these are a necessity. Thanks to these devices the documented fuel savings are reaching up to 60%.

The future

Since more and more automotive companies along with its engineers are starting to understand how to solve the world energetic crisis as one of the main problems caused by their products, more and more manufacturers are aiming toward slow separation from our dependency on fossil fuels, even more automotive companies are offering more solutions with hybrid fuels every year. This trend is year from year clearer, more palpable on the world automotive market, the future is beginning to be clear.

Automobiles running on electricity and other alternative fuels are already gaining popularity today and the option to drive on water, be it with the combination with fossil fuels (just as today with the help of HHO systems as we know them), or even completely without them, will be completely normal within few years.

From year to year the number of cars running on different types of hybrid fuels is steadily increasing on world's roads, be it already mentioned electric cars which are more popular every year (but from many angles still quite ineffective) or other combinations with solar, electric or gaseous fuels.

The idea of a car running on water was even few years back, even though the technologies existed (even older than the technology behind combustion engine burning gasoline), viewed by ordinary people as science fiction. Apart from that, there are automotive manufacturers aware today, thanks to their own development of alternative fuels, that vehicles powered by hydrogen produced from water are the future.

Many automobiles today, for example buses, taxi cabs, delivery vehicles, or many transport companies are efficiently using HHO systems, either classic HHO generators or other alternatives, based on the positive findings from many cities and countries around the world. This trend is still advancing and many everyday people are starting to use these systems in their automobiles. HHO technology is progressing,  the results are better and better and their popularity is growing and considering research and trends will grow even more in the future.

What will the future bring in this area and which alternative to normal fuel will the time show as most efficient is difficult to guess thanks to the unbelievably fast technological progress, but it appears that at least in the near future those alternative hybrid fuels such as HHO based fuel will be even more popular.

Water is an unlimited source of energy, it is free, its potential is unbelievably large and from the research and facts from the history of HHO technology its clear that the possibility to slowly stop being dependent on fossil fuel will be possible thanks to water and the unbelievable energy hidden within.