With the world as we know it in danger of overheating due to ever-increasing carbon emissions and gasoline prices, more and more automakers and consumers themselves are becoming more aware that cars need to be more fuel efficient. fuel consumption.
By having a more efficient car, you can help save the atmosphere and earn money by leaving more money in your pocket, as more efficiency means less fuel consumed.
There are several options that scientists and engineers are studying and hydrogen is one of them. This chemical element may seem like the answer to our fuel problem. The problem with hydrogen is that it requires a very strong car chassis (hydrogen is a very dangerous gas when stored under pressure) and special gas stations, gas stations that are almost impossible to find in the US today.
In Europe they have built several filling stations for hydrogen-powered cars, but only for scientific purposes. The infrastructure for hydrogen, as a stand-alone system, is beyond the horizon and that is why, for now, we should be looking at alternatives to hydrogen as a general-purpose automobile fuel. .
Hydrogen, even in small amounts, increases the efficiency of other fuels. Most automotive hydrogen is produced by separating hydrogen and oxygen from a water source that includes a catalyst. The general profit, when working with various such systems, is 5% to 8%. When compared to the fuel efficiency of cars now, any gain is good, but things are a long way from hydrogen becoming mainstream anytime soon.
The key to fuel economy and energy savings is efficiency. Gasoline used in cars today is rated according to its octane rating. The higher the octane rating, the more efficient the fuels will burn. The slower the burn, up to a point, the higher the octane. If there are small amounts of water vapor entering the gas-air mixture, the result is slower combustion and a higher octane rating.
That is why, for example, on a foggy day there is a higher percentage of water vapor in the air, increasing power. The increased horsepower on a foggy day is due to increased efficiency which is indirectly due to the increased octane rating. When the octane is increased, the timing can be advanced, which contributes to an earlier spark and the opportunity for longer combustion. This doesn’t mean you have to add water to your fuel! It just goes to show that there are several ways to increase a car’s engine efficiency and fuel-burning ability.
Modern cars have on-board computers that take care of the fuel and air mixture going into the engine, and sometimes only minor modifications to the software that powers the car are required to get a better level of engine efficiency. With the proper computer sensors installed in a car, they can monitor the exhaust and lean the mixture if the engine is running cool enough. For example, in today’s engines, 60% to 80% of the fuel is used to cool internal parts. For comparison, water is about 200 times more efficient at cooling than gasoline or diesel.
The air that enters the engine is equally important when it comes to power and fuel efficiency. The engine needs to breathe and if the airways are restricted, the engine will not be able to reach its maximum level of efficiency. That’s why clean, efficient air filters are sometimes the key to getting more power and fuel economy out of your car.