The Water Fuel Cell, Mk. III

Following 60 days of realtime collaboration among some of the world's leading waterfuel researchers, the H2earth Institute is initiating this engineering design effort, to compile a Reference Configuration, or "Strawman" of the Meyer WFC. Based on accumulated experiential knowledge integrated from the 40 some odd WFC experiments performed by research associates of the Institute, this effort seeks to compile a standard model of the WFC, incorporating contemporary power and control electronics, and therefor exceeding the parameters of the original Meyer WFC, which is a 20 year old design at this point.

This project is an ideal opportunity to take advantage of the XWiki which is contained within our Netcipia Place. All members may edit this document, whereas non-members may only read its contents. A version history is maintained. This Standard Design Package will grow with the contribution of each member, in whatever ways he feels best able to add constructively to the document.

Design Objective

In order to parametize this target design, a flow rate is posited, requiring the conversion of 15ml of water per minute into hydroxy gas, which, at the 1:1860 standard ratio, represents 27.9 liters of fuel gas per minute, or 1674 liters/hour. This is the estimated fuel consumption of hydroxy by a standard commercial-off-the-shelf ("COTS") 3 Kw generator set, assuming (conservatively) that the energy density of HHO is commensurate with that of Natural Gas. If the gas exhibits higher quality, then, correspondingly, a lower rate of production would be acceptable. The objective is to fuel a 3 Kw genset (specifically, the Honda EU3000is), from a prototypical WFC which it powers, ideally using only its 12v/12a auxiliary DC circuit. To permit a 2 Amp auxiliary power margin from which to power a water pump, cooling fans, and potentially other peripherals, a 12v/10a energy budget is assumed for the WFC.

Design Architecture

This document will concentrate on specific engineering to accomplish the foregoing, and is divided into the following subsystem elements:

1. Physical Cell (Acoustical Mounting & Ground Isolation)
2. Oscillation Circuit (PWM Frequency/Waveform Control)
3. Resonant Charging Chokes (Inductors)
4. Voltage Intensification Circuit (Transformer)
5. Electron Extraction Circuit (Polarity Maintenance)
6. Photocatalytics (UV Photonic Exciter, if any)
7. Hydraulic/Pneumatic Control (Gas Pressure/Water Level Monitors)
8. Recouperator (Exhaust Condenser/Filtration)
9. Science Payload (Ports/Sampling for Research)
10. Instrumentation (Data Acquisition Mechanics)

Design, Parts & Sourcing Links

Please concentrate here all of the most specific URLs which link to particular sources of parts, materials, and components most relevant to the construction of this device, including control/monitoring software, and instrumentation.