Hydrogen additive smart box cuts emissions from cars

Record ID: 990992

  • Title: Hydrogen additive smart box cuts emissions from cars
  • Date: 24th January 2018
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) SIMON JOHNSON, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF CGON, SAYING: "In 12 months’ time, if we're not in America in a major way and we haven't got most of mainland Europe covered, we'll have failed. That's my personal opinion, I would expect us to have five or six thousand installation centres worldwide within a 12 month period."
  • Embargoed: 7th February 2018 10:53
  • Keywords: CGON ezero hydrogen additive emissions particulates pollution fossil fuels
  • Location: BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, UK / FILE LOCATIONS
  • City: BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, UK / FILE LOCATIONS
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Science
  • Reuters ID: LVA0057ZH19P7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:A 'smart box' that fits neatly into a car's engine bay promises to cut emissions by up to 80 percent and improve fuel efficiency, according to its makers. British company CGON says the 'ezero' box can be installed onto any fossil fuel engine, from petrol to diesel to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
    In Britain, about 100,000 cars fail their MOT test every month on emissions alone, according to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). But independent tests by emissions measurement company Emissions Analytics showed that CGON's technology demonstrates a reduction of up to 91.3 percent in PN (particulate number) and 47.9 percent in NOx (nitrogen oxide) and 50.6% in NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) respectively. Real-world drivers report up to a 20 percent increase in fuel efficiency, the company says.
    CGON's technology introduces small amounts of hydrogen into the engine's fuel-air mix, which burns quicker and promotes more complete combustion.
    "It's basically an electrolyser; we fill the box up with some electrolyte and there are five rods inside and when we pass a current through those rods we create a small stream of hydrogen which comes out the top. And that's piped directly into the engine," explained managing director Simon Johnson.
    The hydrogen causes a chain reaction effect as it's sucked into the engine through the air intake along with the regular fuel/air mixture. This creates a cooler burn that's faster than a conventional mix, eliminating almost all waste gases and reducing harmful emissions.
    "Normal diesel burns at about 2,000 feet per second. When we add hydrogen, that burn rate is 40,000 feet per second. So we get this much faster burn in the engine," Johnson said, adding that in a typical 1.5 litre car only a tiny amount of the gas is needed; about 7 centilitres per minute.
    "It's a tiny fraction. But that causes this wonderful effect. And the effect is immediate and obvious. When we test a car in the UK we use an emissions testing machine, we can see the box on and the box off - the effect is instantaneous."
    In developing the patented technology, the breakthrough came with the materials used for the cathode and the anode: a specific type of titanium with a special coating. While other hydrogen additive systems have been developed, CGON says their method allows them to efficiently create hydrogen by electrolysis at an extremely low current and without the toxic bi-product called Hexavalent Chromium. This makes it the only hydrogen additive technology suitable for passenger cars, the company says.
    Launching in August 2017, their flagship product - the ezero 1 - costs £459 (636 USD) and needs to be installed by a qualified CGON mechanic. However, once installed it's designed to last the life of the vehicle. All the driver needs to worry about is topping up the smart box with their patented electrolyte solution, which lasts around 6,000 miles in a 2-litre engine vehicle and costs under £10 GBP (14 USD).
    Johnson said that as well as the thousands of passenger cars that fail road tests on their emission levels, they're also targeting taxis: "Because they're all driving round our city centres and we can massively reduce the particulate matter they push into those city centres."
    He added that the coming year will see significant expansion, with expectations of five or six thousand installation centres worldwide within 12 months.
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