HHO cell: how does it work?
It is based on a simple electrolysis that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen molecules. It produces buoyant hydrogen and oxygen molecules that come out as gas.
HHO Fuel Cell is very similar to a conventional battery; It has an anode and a cathode separated by a membrane. Hydrogen flows over the anode of the cells which converts the hydrogen into electrons and charged ions. The negatively charged electrons leaving the cell can be used as electrical energy. Positively charged hydrogen ions pass through the membrane to the cathode and combine with oxygen to produce water.
HHO Fuel Cell differs from a conventional battery in that they require a type of fuel from an external source that needs to be constantly replenished. This is known as a thermodynamically open system. Conventional batteries store electrical energy through chemical reactions and represent a Thermodynamically Closed system.
History of the HHO cell
Hard to believe, the HHO cell was invented in the 19th century! In 1766, a British scientist, Henry Cavendish, discovered hydrogen, or what he called “flammable air.” The same year, a Dutch scientist, Martinus van Marum, was conducting various experiments with electricity and created oxygen and hydrogen gas through electrolysis. He also discovered that the mixture could be ignited by an electrical spark.
In 1789 Paets van Troostwijk and Joan Rudolph Deiman discovered that the elements of water are exactly 1 part oxygen and 2 parts hydrogen. They used electricity to split the water and used a spark to combine the elements back into the water.
Fifty years later, Thomas Drummond discovered that illumination is created when an oxygen flame is directed at a cylinder of calcium oxide.
In 1860, Mr. Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir built the first car that used electrolysis to produce hydrogen fuel. He was an Ohio inventor working with HHO since the 1970’s. Meyer created a very efficient, high performance electrolyzer cell to create large amounts of HHO on demand. He applied that to a Volkswagen-powered dune crawler and ran the engine on nothing but HHO.
Then, in 1918, Mr. Charles H. Frazer filed a patent for the first “Hydrogen Booster” system for internal combustion engines. He stated that his invention increases efficiency, complete combustion of hydrocarbons, the engine will stay cleaner and lower quality fuel can be used with the same performance. Then, in 1935, inventor Henry Garrett patented an electrolytic carburetor and configured it to run on tap water alone.
During the last years of World War II, due to a shortage of conventional fuel, the British Army used oxyhydrogen gas generators to improve mileage and prevent engine overheating in vehicles used in Africa. Immediately after the war ended, the government ordered all vehicle generators to be removed and destroyed.
Many years later. in 1962. William A. Rhodes was the first known inventor to patent an electrolyser that produced the simple “single-pipe” gas we now call Brown’s gas. In the mid-1970s, a German company produced oxygen generators. Ten years after the William Rhodes patents, Yull Brown filed a patent on his design for Brown’s gas electrolyzer.
In 1977, the NASA Research Center conducted a series of tests. They were interested in what effects hydrogen had on engine operation. The results were impressive. They also proposed an alternative method of producing the gas, which is more efficient than usual electrolysis.
Today, people often think that there are several different designs of HHO cells.
Although there are a few variations on the original design, they all still work on the same basic principle. Today, the HHO cell consists of a water reservoir, electrolysis parts, tubing, and wiring. Besides that, there isn’t much else to it when it comes to building your own HHO cell. You can also set it to run anytime the motor is running, but you can also wire it with an on/off switch.