Nexus - 0109 - New Times Magazine-pages

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gas, using the latent heat in water molecules to provide an additional 26% in energy return. To convert enough water directly to gas in a travelling vehicle'you’d need an efficiency of 200%, however, or the car would soon run out of steam, “You can rum a car on water and it runs very well. But not continuously,” Mr Crosby said in 1983, “If we went into the automotive area it would make too many waves. And I’m not prepared to take that risk. The whole subject is very political.” Difficulties in using Brown’s gas as a fuel can be.over- come; according to Mr Crosby it can be compressed up to 2,000 Ib p.s.i., making it possible to carry enough fuel aboard avehicle. Yull Brown has stated thatconventional LPG bottles can be used for storage. “There is tremendous potential for water powered vehicles and they are the quickest way to halt the greenhouse effect,” Mr Crosby told NEXUS earlier this year. “All the engines are out there now - we don’t need to build new technologies. Automotive engines are ideally suited to direct conversion. The optimum, of course, would be to produce the gas directly as you drive, but that isn’t presently possible. But there are a number of ways in which it can be used. The gas can be bubbled through and added to petrol, for instance, greatly increasing fuel efficiency. “Butthe technology for this conversion is fast disappearing as new models of vehicles are doing away with carburettors in favour of fuel injection. This may have been foreseen by technologists.” Unfortunately, these generators have also generated much legal action between BEST Australia and Hydrox over patent and licensing infringement. Alvin Crosby claimed his use of high quality nickel elec- trodes and efficiency of design made his the superior generat- ing system. BEST refuted this. After two offers to shutup shop, in 1986 Crosby sold his interests to Hydrox International Corporation (formed from the assets of Crosby Energy Sys- tems) and subsequently sold all rights and patents to Peers and Company Merchant Bank of Wall Street - after his three-year contract with Yull Brown had expired. Manufactured in Manila, the Philippine capital, these generators were made available through Sydney-based Aquagas Australia Ltd and Fletcher Steel in New Zealand as welding units. According to Hydrox chief executive David Williamson, the Manila pro- duction team has disbanded. But the technology is used by at least eight other companies - apparently in breach of patent. Hydrox and’ Aquagas were taken to court by Brown’s Water Fuel Holdings‘in early 1988 to prevent them selling the Hydrox generator/welder in Australia. In February of that year a former Crosby and Hydrox employee was apprehended at Auckland Airport and charged with attempting to take ‘$2.87 million worth’ of research papers and circuit boards out of the country. In New Zealand’s first industrial espionage trial, Mr Williams pressed charges against his electronics engineer Kenneth Moreau, who admitted his attempt to smuggle the materials into Korea to a subsidiary company. Hydrox has listed subsidiary companies in Korea, the US, Hong Kong and Australia. NEXUS New Times Nine - 1989 ‘Accusations and court action have flown thick and fast between many of the parties concerned, and Hydrox was wound up by High Court order in Auckland last March by the request of creditors who were owed $NZ200,000. Yull Brown has discovered that a patent is only any use if you are prepared to defend it in court at great cost in time and money. Now thatBEST Australiais in production, we can only hope the system will also be developed for uses other than welding. Yull Brownis also developing plans for an emission- free waste disposal unit and a pump which works on atmos- pheric pressure differential and has no moving parts. Desalina- tion units are also:on the drawing board. Hydrogen Hope THE USE OF HYDROGEN AS A FUEL FOR VEHICLES HAS OFTEN BEEN CONSIDERED our best chance for stopping industry’s fossil fuel fix. Now it’s also seen as a solution to the Greenhouse Effect and climatic disaster. Hydrogen is literally the most plentiful element in the universe and burns more cleanly (although it still produces dangerous nitric oxides), producing more energy per kilogram and better engine wear than fossil fuels’ However, Brown’s gas burnt without air produces only charged water vapour as waste. Tests by Electronics Australia magazine found that a regular internal combustion engine needs little modifica- tion to accept Brown’s oxygen-hydrogen mix. The carbu- rettor is simply replaced with a throttle valve and pressure reducer while the engine is re-timed to handle the gas’ higher flame speed. Electronics Australia researchers- found that engines have an output about 8% higher than with a petrol/air mix. a Continues Over >