A Canadian company said it has found a way to make older trucks burn less fuel and cut emission levels: a two-liter bottle of water.
“Our system makes hydrogen on demand from specially distilled water, then adds it to the intake air of a truck's diesel engine to improve fuel economy and reduce emissions,” said Glenn Davis, vice-president of Pickering, Ontario-based Dynamic Fuel Systems.
Davis said the company's special “reactor,” which fits neatly behind the cab of the truck, breaks the water up into a gas mixture of hydrogen and oxygen, then injects that gas into the intake air stream after the turbocharger — but before it enters the combustion chamber.
He said the hydrogen/oxygen gas then mixes with diesel so it burns completely at the top of the engine's piston stroke, providing more horsepower and torque, improving fuel economy, and reducing emissions generated by incomplete combustion.
“This process also cools the engine down, since the fuel is burned all at once and not all the way down the engine cylinder,” Davis said. “With cooler operating temperatures, you can then extend engine oil life.”
He said Dynamic's hydrogen fuel system — marketed under the name JetStar — can increase fuel economy anywhere between 10% to 30% on a Class 8 truck and reduce emissions of particulates and nitrogen oxides to state and federally mandated levels.
The JetStar system takes two hours to retrofit onto a Class 8 truck and can be leased by a truck owner for $350 a month. Davis also said that just one two liter bottle of water provides enough hydrogen to power the system for 5,000 miles.