Device cuts diesel soot by 55 percent, say Alaska inventors

Hydrogen oxygen generator technology ready to reduce particulate emissions of stationary diesel engines; designed to help older engines meet tier one diesel standards at fraction of engine replacement cost

Steve Sutherlin

PNA Managing Editor

A pair of Alaska inventors has developed a device that they say is ready to use on stationary diesel engines to reduce exhaust pipe particulate emissions by up to 55 percent.

The Hydro-Gen combustion accelerator could help older engines meet tier one diesel standards at a fraction of the cost of engine replacement, said inventors Gregory Monette and Dale Hirsch.

The inventors said the device injects a precisely measured mixture of hydrogen and oxygen into the combustion chamber of the engine. The high flame speed of the hydrogen mixture causes flame to more completely fill the chamber and results in more complete burning of the diesel fuel.

“The flame front of hydrogen is over five times faster than diesel,” said Monette.

“It’s kind of like nitrous oxide in drag racing,” Monette said, adding that the process adds extra oxygen for combustion along with a quick burning fuel.

In the summer of 1996 the pair got involved with a Canadian company that provided seed capital for early research.

“Over the course of two years we went to California with various prototypes,” Monette said.

A vehicle-testing program was conducted at Roush Laboratories in Garden Grove, California and California Environmental Engineering, Inc. in Santa Ana, both EPA and CARB recognized emission testing facilities, the inventors said.

A 123,918-odometer-mile 1984 Mercedes 300 TD 3.0-liter diesel in a test November of 1996 revealed the potential of the device to cut particulate exhaust- reduced 55 percent, according to test results provided by the inventors.

Effect on power, mileage negligible

Previous configurations yielded only five percent reductions in particulate exhaust, the test said.

The device cut overall hydrocarbons 16 percent and carbon monoxide 14 percent in gasoline engine tests.

Unfortunately the Canadian promoter had promised radical improvements in power and mileage from the device, and early investors bailed out, the inventors said.

When funds from Canada dried up, the inventors spent their own money to continue work on the device.

The first prototypes were very expensive welded stainless steel cylinders but now the pair is using recycled battery cases to house the device.

The cases have removable tops to service the units, Hirsch said, adding that elaborate steel cases aren’t needed because the gasses are not stored or highly compressed; they are generated as needed.

Today the device can be manufactured in Anchorage for less than $1000 per unit, the inventors said.

The key proprietary information is the ratio of hydrogen and oxygen that is added to the engine’s fuel and air mixture, and the configuration of intake for optimal exhaust-scrubbing results, Hirsch said.

Immediate commercial prospects

Stationary diesels run at a constant RPM and that makes it easier to achieve consistent results in emission reductions, Hirsch said.

“There’ s niche for it right now because there are all these diesels out there that don’t meet tier one standards,” Hirsch said.

In June 1994 the EPA, acting under the Clean Air Act noted that non-road engine emission of particulate matter and smoke cause or contribute to air pollution that may endanger public health or welfare. In the same rule the EPA also set a first phase of emission standards for non-road engines.

In 1998 a National Toxicology Program’s Board of Scientific Counselors subcommittee recommended diesel fumes be recognized as a likely human carcinogen.

Throughout the 2000s the EPA is phasing in new standards for non-road engine emissions addressing maintenance of emission performance as the engine ages and after an engine is rebuilt.

For more information contact Gregory Monette at Custom Enterprises, (907) 349-6287, or email at [email protected].