re-engineer an ICE to run on hydrogen

[mrgalleria]

Aloha,

It seems to me that since hydrogen is a fast burning gas, simply changing timing is a very impractical modification.

I believe that to get the most from hydrogen, a realitively moderate change might bring real results. What do you think of this?

The goal is to change a 4 cycle to 2 cycle- eliminating the compression stroke and combining the power stroke with the intake stroke.

All that would be required would be to change the cam drive from 2-1 ratio to 1-1 ratio, grind the trailing side of the cam lobe of the intake valve to allow the valve to close about 115-120 degrees after TDC, and change timing to fire at 117-125 degrees after TDC. On a three or six cylinder engine, just setting the timing at TDC and moving the wires to different plugs would get timing very close.

The advantages should be huge. The compression stroke robs a lot of power, and running 2 strokes will also make more power. Even if the initial power stroke does not have as much power as before, the combined benefits of this mod. should easily outweigh any disadvantages.

I think heat and wear will also decrease. Piston lateral stress will be nearly eliminated. An engine like this will probably be able to be turned by hand, the starter won't need nearly the power as before.
The engine should make more low end torque, allowing lower rpm use. I think injecting metered hydrogen just before the valve would be best, and air flow might just be regulated by a spring loaded butterfly valve.
This engine should also be very quiet. Normally running on gas, you ignite the fuel before the piston even reachs the top to start it burning, and it continues burning even after the exhaust valve starts to open. This action makes a lot of exhaust noise and heat on the valve and exhaust.

I am looking to try this on a small engine, maybe a briggs 5hp.
Any suggestions?
Bill

[glenn_aircooled]

[mrgalleria]

Aloha,
I am working on a low voltage (5 volt-2 amp) original style Meyer unit using an modified alternator driven by an electric motor (see Meyers videos, especially the first one with VW buggy in back yard). Hydrogen should be available from start-up. A dedicated battery should run the electric motor.

Having done more research on the cam mod, I have found the following. On most small motors the cam is gear drive off of the crank. For those applications, it would be easiest to add a second lobe for the valves. For engines with chain or belt driven cams, a gear change may be more practical.

I am re-thinking the intake stroke duration, maybe close valve at 90 degrees.
Bill

[gregted]

[mrgalleria]

[readyakira]

[mrgalleria]

[readyakira]

[mrgalleria]

[glenn_aircooled]

[zipster]

Just a thought, if waterboils at 212 degrees F, dont you thing it would all evaporate in the combustion chamber in an engine? After all exhaust temp is around 500 degrees or so.

[Racer426]

[Racer426]

[mrgalleria]

Aloha,
Thanks for sending the link to that great video. It looks like you can still see the fuel burning as the exhaust valve starts to open. I can still see a fair amount of fuel coming in as the intake valve opens. I was thinking that we were not wanting the quantity of air-fuel mixture typical using gas. Maybe timing the shot of hydrogen like a fuel injector. One could use a crank trigger on a small engine. In the video it is also clear how much before TDC the plug fires.
I like the info about using power at near 90 degrees rotation. So it may be possible to realize quite a power increase from using the proposed engine alteration.
As far as high vacuum in the intake, I agree that a lot of vacuum is probably not needed. But I had suggested using a spring loaded butterfly valve at the air opening of the intake. This spring could be adjusted for best performance. The reason one might want a slight vacuum is to insure that excess hydrogen is not consumed, but I could be wrong.
I hope we don't need to pressurize the intake, but at least it is feasible with a turbo or blower. A small engine might use a little motor driven fan or the fan from a vacuum cleaner.
What we need is a video like the one you posted with the engine burning hydrogen.
Bill

[mrgalleria]