DC-Hybrid cranking out hydroxy fuel cells

A company I'm involved with in Holland who is flying me over there to see some other technology I'm introducing them to asked me to check into a hydroxy fuel cell company that they are also considering doing business with. So this report is serving dual purposes of letting them know what I found, as well as letting you, the PESN readership know about DC-Hybrid in Colton, California, USA, who has been selling these fuel efficiency improvement systems internationally for three years now, and are growing during a time that many companies are shrinking.

I spoke with David Gibson, one of the owners and founders of the company. "We've been hiring like crazy lately, so I don't know the exact number,"he said, but estimated the number of people in the company to be around 35. I personally don't know of another hydroxy company that has that many people on payroll, not even close. That alone would seem to attest that they have something that works well, both technology-wise, and business-wise.

On their home page at DC-Hybrids.com (an affiliate link that will give PESN credit for any sales that result), you will see fifteen options to choose from in their product line. In addition to hydroxy systems for gasoline engines or for diesel engines of various sizes, you will see digital PWM (Pulse Width Modulator)s, power supplies, transformers, digital EFIE (Electronic Fuel Injection Enhancer) units, and the ScanGaugeII, which we also sell. They manufacture all of these products themselves except the ScanGaugeII, power supplies, and transformers.

David said that the fuel efficiency improvement on diesel engines is typically around 20 to 25%, but can get as high as 40% in rare cases. Diesel gensets are likely to get around 25% improvement in fuel efficiency because they can be tuned to an optimal output of hydroxy gas to help improve the fuel combustion at a more constant engine speed, in contrast to over-the-road vehicles that include idle time with the all-or-nothing hydroxy system. The optimal setting is found by running the generator for x amount of time, using y amount of fuel, then adjusting it until the best rate is found.

Gasoline engines can do even better than that (up to 50% in some cases, according to the DC-Hybrid home page), but they include the complexity of an O2 sensor that needs to be made happy lest the computer work against the gains otherwise possible. That is where the digital EFIE unit that DC-Hybrid design comes into play. And that is why a more experienced person is recommended for installing these kits, whereas the diesel kits are easy enough for most guys to handle.

Emissions can be reduced up to 80% when hydroxy systems are installed.

I asked David how many systems they have sold. He guessed that they have sold around 2,000 units to be installed on Semi tractor trailers, and around 15,000 units to be installed on gasoline vehicles.

The electrolysis unit for semi truck applications has 70 plates in it, and the 12-volt charge is bumped up to 150 volts so that the amperage can be reduced, to prevent overheating. A typical cell will produce around twelve liters of hydroxy gas per minute with ten amps. That makes the total load of the electrolyzer 1500 watts. But the improvement in the efficiency of the burn of the diesel fuel makes up for it, and then some -- enough to make the return on investment sufficient to warrant purchasing the system, which retails at $3800.

In addition to running at high voltage and low amperage, another thing that David said sets their product line apart is their digital PWM, which enables the user to easily adjust and set the amperage to a constant level. He explained that as the water is used up in the cell, the concentration of the electrolyte increases, which tends to increase the current. That is where the PWM comes in to adjust the duty cycle so that the current remains the same. When the concentration of electrolyte reaches a set peak, an alarm sounds to tell the operator that it is time to add more water to the reservoir. Typically, the reservoir should be filled with each fill-up of the fuel tank. A semi will use around a gallon of water over thirteen hours of continuous running.

Speaking of water, the question arises about cold climates. DC-Hybrid sells a heater and circulation system that prevents the water from freezing, kicking on when the temperature goes down to 35 degrees F; but this is only feasible in semi trailer truck scenarios that have a large battery capacity, and is not recommended where the truck is not running for more than 24 hours, which could run the battery down.

They are working on a plug-in heater system.

I also asked David about build-up of crud on the plates of the electrolyzers, which is often a problem in hydroxy systems. He said that this hasn't been a problem for them. They recommend to their customers that every three months or so that they empty their cell switch the clip leads on the cell so the polarity is reversed from what it was. "This tends to reverse any build-up that might have happened."

They recommend distilled water and using KOH or NaOH (100% lye available from Ace Hardware) for electrolyte.

The company began selling product around three years, beginning with a simple hydroxy cell. As they grew, they increased the number of components and range of vehicles they could support. They began selling the semi trailer truck system around two years ago.

They invite new distributors, and have an affiliate arrangement for online services and newsletters such as ours to be able to make commission on sales generated from referrals made. I was impressed enough that I signed PES Network, Inc. up to be an affiliate.

Source: Sterling D. Allan, Pure Energy Systems News