Jalopnik
Apparently an idea and creation from the past that holds promise for future applications was just too much for the CBC's crack team of comedy writers to resist — the Back to the Future puns in this piece are a real riot. Greg Vezina managed to convert a Chevy Impala to run on "Hydrofuel", or the very smelly chemical ammonia to everybody else. Though there was interest from Canadian officials in at the time in 1981, the fact that the car is now a rusting away beside his garage speaks volumes of its success.
Apparently an idea and creation from the past that holds promise for future applications was just too much for the CBC's crack team of comedy writers to resist — the Back to the Future puns in this piece are a real riot. We're not at all up on the industrial and ecological impact of ammonia as a fuel, but it is interesting. Just think, if this had taken off, we wouldn't be troubled hippy-owned grease burners smelling of French fries, instead we'd all have watery eyes from the prodigious stench of ammonia. [Youtube]
Comments
I haven't got the foggiest clue of how this works.
Are there any Jalopnik boffins in the house to enlighten us?
That is depressing enough to make into a poignant indie film.
I guess that's why you never keep your crowbar in your trunk.
Hyrdrofuel? Sounds Welsh.
@amblito: Can't be Welsh, it has too many vowels. Celtic, maybe?
Unfortunately, ammonia prices are directly linked to feedstock prices and natural gas prices. Which means it's a) more than doubled in price in the last 5 years or so and b) more than 50% of it is now imported.
[www.ers.usda.gov]
Oh, and that "feedstock" bit? Think corn. Thank you, government-mandated, economy-upsetting ethanol.
[www.agriculture.com]
But then wouldn't our cars run on urine? Throw in a little exhaust deodorizer (like in the ancient SNL skit with Gilda and Jane) and you're good to go!
If it would run off ammonia then it should run off cat pee... I say we start harvesting cats. I've got a couple in my neighborhood I'll willingly contribute.
@Novaload: Dammitman...
@mytdawg: IOTD (Idea Of The Day)!
"Did you wett yourself?"
"No, it is my Impala."
I say put the ammonia filling stations next to bars and elementary schools. Imagine, giving $20.00 to a group of kids or drunk people to "fill er' up". On another note, I thought Canada was on strike!
+ Watch video
Seriously, I told the people when they moved in to keep the damn cats away from my car - period. Cat prints on my car and on my truck INSIDE my garage. I'd be less offended if they just came in and took a dump on my couch.
There is now a live trap in my garage. Somebody's kitty is going for a ride. Unless you got a GPS on that thing, you might not want to let it out of your sight...
@beercheck: In an additional nerdy note, since ammonia is completely miscible with water, it would likely pose the same threat of ground water contamination that brought the curtain down on MTBE fuel additives.
Well, I don't get it. You need carbon to make combustion work. It's getting it from the ambient CO2? How exactly does this thing go? Don't you end up with a buttload of nitroxides?
Combustion works also with other things than carbon based fuel, doesn't it? I mean: your average shotgun shells doesn't contain high-octane either. ;)
Ammonia exists of NH3, which means it has one Nitrogen atom and three Hydrogen atoms. Under normal circumstances it is quite stable and doesn't burn. When adding only little air to it, it will actually burn, leaving only NO2 and H20 as exhaust gasses.
Ofcourse with non-ideal combustion you would get Nitrous-oxide (NO) instead of Nitrous-dioxide which also means that we will suffer again from acid-rains. :(
Right. I had forgotten anhydrous ammonia could be flammable in the presence of oxygen. Besides, that was the last thing I wrote before I drunkenly stumbled off to bed. I woke up embarrassed, remembering the only things you really need for combustion is hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrocarbons just happen to be a convenient source of hydrogen.
Apparently NH3 oxidation is thermodynamically favored only at very high temperatures. I read somewhere this morning that you need to burn a very small amount of pure hydrogen in order to initiate the cycle.
Hey! This company stole this guy's name, and are using it on their schlocked up website:
[www.hydrofuelnh3.com]
The nitroxides are the same problem diesels have, but I wonder if this process creates significantly more.
Those little url previews they put in the text body are very strange...
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