THE CAR THAT MAKES ITS OWN FUEL

Posted Friday, Feb. 03, 2006 on IsraCast.com

A unique system that can produce Hydrogen inside a car using common
metals such as Magnesium and Aluminum was developed by an Israeli
company. The system solves all of the obstacles associated with the
manufacturing, transporting and storing of hydrogen to be used in cars.
When it becomes commercial in a few years time, the system will be
incorporated into cars that will cost about the same as existing
conventional cars to run, and will be completely emission free.

[Illustration photo - Actual pictures of Engineuity's system are
classified at this stage. (Image credit: Ford)]

As President Bush urges Americans to cut back on the use of oil in wake
of the recent surge in prices, more and more people are looking for
more viable alternatives to the use of petroleum as the main fuel for
the automotive industry. IsraCast recently covered the idea developed
at the Weizmann Institute to use pure Zinc to produce Hydrogen using
solar power. Now, a different solution has been developed by an Israeli
company called Engineuity. Amnon Yogev, one of the two founders of
Engineuity, and a retired Professor of the Weizmann Institute,
suggested a method for producing a continuous flow of Hydrogen and
steam under full pressure inside a car. This method could also be used
for producing hydrogen for fuel cells and other applications requiring
hydrogen and/or steam.

The Hydrogen car Engineuity is working on will use metals such as
Magnesium or Aluminum which will come in the form of a long coil. The
gas tank in conventional vehicles will be replaced by a device called a
Metal-Steam combustor that will separate Hydrogen out of heated water.
The basic idea behind the technology is relatively simple: the tip of
the metal coil is inserted into the Metal-Steam combustor together with
water where it will be heated to very high temperatures. The metal
atoms will bond to the Oxygen from the water, creating metal oxide. As
a result, the Hydrogen molecules are free, and will be sent into the
engine alongside the steam. The solid waste product of the process, in
the form of metal oxide, will later be collected in the fuel station
and recycled for further use by the metal industry.

Refuelling the car based on this technology will also be remarkably
simple. The vehicle will contain a mechanism for rolling the metal wire
into a coil during the process of fuelling and the spent metal oxide,
which was produced in the previous phase, will be collected from the
car by vacuum suction.

Beside the obvious advantages of the system, such as the inexpensive
and abundant fuel, the production of Hydrogen on-the-go and the zero
emission engine, the system is also more efficient than other Hydrogen
solutions. The main reason for this is the improved usage of heat
(steam) inside the system that brings that overall performance level of
the vehicle to that of a conventional car. In an interview, Professor
Yogev told IsraCast that a car based on Engineuity's system will be
able to travel about the same distance between refueling as an
equivalent conventional car. The only minor drawback, which also limits
the choice of possible metal fuel sources, is the weight of the coil.
In order for the Hydrogen car to be able to travel as far as a
conventional car it needs a metal coil three-times heavier than an
equivalent petrol tank. Although this sound like a lot in most cars
this will add up to about 100kg (220 pounds) and should not affect the
performance of the car.

Engineuity is currently in the advanced stages of the incubator program
of the Chief Scientist in Israel, and is seeking investors that will
allow it to develop a full scale prototype. Given the proper investment
the company should be able to develop the prototype in about three
years. The move to Hydrogen based cars using Engineuity's technology
will require only relatively minor changes from the car manufacturer's
point of view. Since the modified engine can be produced using existing
production lines, removing the need for investment in new
infrastructures (the cost of which is estimated at billions of
dollars), the new Hydrogen cars would not be more expensive. Although
Engineuity's Hydrogen car will not be very different from existing
conventional cars, the company is not currently planning an upgrade kit
for existing cars but is concentrating on building a system that will
be incorporated into new car models.

Possibly the most appealing aspect of the system is the running cost.
According to Yogev, the overall running cost of the system should be
equal to that of conventional cars today. Given the expected surge in
oil prices in the near future Engineuity's Hydrogen car could not come
too soon.

Iddo Genuth, Tomer Yaffe - IsraCast

For comments about this article

Project Identity
Name of Company Engineuity R&D Ltd
Profile Advanced on board Hydrogen production system for cars
Established August, 2002
Main Focus areas Technology and method for producing hydrogen on-board
cars that will overcome obstacles associated with manufacturing,
transporting and storing of hydrogen.
Seeking investments Yes
Isracast Category Company, Renewable energy

Related links:

* Engineuity website

Scientific Editor: Tomer Yaffe | Copy Editor: Talia Adar =A9 2006
IsraCast Jerusalem. All rights reserved. IsraCast allow all media
sources full use of the content published on IsraCast, without the need
to receive authorization, under the following guidelines

THE CAR THAT MAKES ITS OWN FUEL

Posted Friday, Feb. 03, 2006 on IsraCast.com

A unique system that can produce Hydrogen inside a car using common
metals such as Magnesium and Aluminum was developed by an Israeli
company. The system solves all of the obstacles associated with the
manufacturing, transporting and storing of hydrogen to be used in cars.
When it becomes commercial in a few years time, the system will be
incorporated into cars that will cost about the same as existing
conventional cars to run, and will be completely emission free.

[Illustration photo - Actual pictures of Engineuity's system are
classified at this stage. (Image credit: Ford)]

As President Bush urges Americans to cut back on the use of oil in wake
of the recent surge in prices, more and more people are looking for
more viable alternatives to the use of petroleum as the main fuel for
the automotive industry. IsraCast recently covered the idea developed
at the Weizmann Institute to use pure Zinc to produce Hydrogen using
solar power. Now, a different solution has been developed by an Israeli
company called Engineuity. Amnon Yogev, one of the two founders of
Engineuity, and a retired Professor of the Weizmann Institute,
suggested a method for producing a continuous flow of Hydrogen and
steam under full pressure inside a car. This method could also be used
for producing hydrogen for fuel cells and other applications requiring
hydrogen and/or steam.

The Hydrogen car Engineuity is working on will use metals such as
Magnesium or Aluminum which will come in the form of a long coil. The
gas tank in conventional vehicles will be replaced by a device called a
Metal-Steam combustor that will separate Hydrogen out of heated water.
The basic idea behind the technology is relatively simple: the tip of
the metal coil is inserted into the Metal-Steam combustor together with
water where it will be heated to very high temperatures. The metal
atoms will bond to the Oxygen from the water, creating metal oxide. As
a result, the Hydrogen molecules are free, and will be sent into the
engine alongside the steam. The solid waste product of the process, in
the form of metal oxide, will later be collected in the fuel station
and recycled for further use by the metal industry.

Refuelling the car based on this technology will also be remarkably
simple. The vehicle will contain a mechanism for rolling the metal wire
into a coil during the process of fuelling and the spent metal oxide,
which was produced in the previous phase, will be collected from the
car by vacuum suction.

Beside the obvious advantages of the system, such as the inexpensive
and abundant fuel, the production of Hydrogen on-the-go and the zero
emission engine, the system is also more efficient than other Hydrogen
solutions. The main reason for this is the improved usage of heat
(steam) inside the system that brings that overall performance level of
the vehicle to that of a conventional car. In an interview, Professor
Yogev told IsraCast that a car based on Engineuity's system will be
able to travel about the same distance between refueling as an
equivalent conventional car. The only minor drawback, which also limits
the choice of possible metal fuel sources, is the weight of the coil.
In order for the Hydrogen car to be able to travel as far as a
conventional car it needs a metal coil three-times heavier than an
equivalent petrol tank. Although this sound like a lot in most cars
this will add up to about 100kg (220 pounds) and should not affect the
performance of the car.

Engineuity is currently in the advanced stages of the incubator program
of the Chief Scientist in Israel, and is seeking investors that will
allow it to develop a full scale prototype. Given the proper investment
the company should be able to develop the prototype in about three
years. The move to Hydrogen based cars using Engineuity's technology
will require only relatively minor changes from the car manufacturer's
point of view. Since the modified engine can be produced using existing
production lines, removing the need for investment in new
infrastructures (the cost of which is estimated at billions of
dollars), the new Hydrogen cars would not be more expensive. Although
Engineuity's Hydrogen car will not be very different from existing
conventional cars, the company is not currently planning an upgrade kit
for existing cars but is concentrating on building a system that will
be incorporated into new car models.

Possibly the most appealing aspect of the system is the running cost.
According to Yogev, the overall running cost of the system should be
equal to that of conventional cars today. Given the expected surge in
oil prices in the near future Engineuity's Hydrogen car could not come
too soon.

Iddo Genuth, Tomer Yaffe - IsraCast

For comments about this article

Project Identity
Name of Company Engineuity R&D Ltd
Profile Advanced on board Hydrogen production system for cars
Established August, 2002
Main Focus areas Technology and method for producing hydrogen on-board
cars that will overcome obstacles associated with manufacturing,
transporting and storing of hydrogen.
Seeking investments Yes
Isracast Category Company, Renewable energy

Related links:

* Engineuity website

Scientific Editor: Tomer Yaffe | Copy Editor: Talia Adar © 2006
IsraCast Jerusalem. All rights reserved. IsraCast allow all media
sources full use of the content published on IsraCast, without the need
to receive authorization, under the following guidelines