Suppressed Inventions and Other Discoveries (81 page)

Water-to-Gas Conversion Powder

One of the most controversial figures of his kind was Guido Franch. In the 70s he created a sensation when he began demonstrating his water-to-gas miracle. Chemists at Havoline Chemical of Michigan and the University [of Michigan] were among the first to test his fuel. According to both, it actually worked better than gasoline. According to Franch, his secret lay in using a small quantity of "conversion powder" which was processed from coal. He stated that he processed coal in a series of barrels containing liquid. Supposedly, as the "processed" coal sank to the bottom, a greenish substance rose to the top. It is this residue that was dried into the mysterious "conversion powder"! Franch said he learned the formula from a coal miner, Alexander Kraft, over 50 years before. While it cost Franch over a dollar a gallon to make his fuel in small quantities, he claimed that it could be produced for a few cents a gallon if mass produced.

A number of private groups tried to deal with Franch for his formula. According to some, the inventor was just too difficult to deal with, and there was just too much gamble involved for the concrete facts they got. Franch continued to put on his demonstrations for years and claimed the auto manufacturers, Government, and private companies just weren't interested in his revolutionary fuel.

Burn Water

Back in the 1930s a number of the early tractors squeezed great economy from a number of simple adaptions. Some simply used a heated manifold to further atomize the gas; others used cheaper fuels. The Rumley Oil Pupp tractor had a carburetor with three chambers and floats in it. One was used for gas, one for kerosene, and the third was for water. After owners started the tractor on gas, they simply switched over to a cheaper mixture of kerosene and water.

With the advent of ultra-sonic devices there were a number of researchers in the early 70s who successfully mixed up to 30 percent water in gasoline—and used to run their automobiles.

Some disgruntled motorists just "spudded" into their carburetors—ran a hose to a container of water and let their engines suck in an extra water ration. Experts claimed this could damage valves if cold water hit them, but few seemed to have trouble.
Gas and Water Mix

In the mid-70s a Dr. Alfred R. Globus of United International Research presented his Hydro-fuel mixture concepts at a meeting of petroleum refiners in Houston, Texas. According to reports, this fuel was a mixture of 45 percent gasoline, 50 percent or more of water, and small percentages of crude alcohol and United's "Hydrelate." This latter chemical was a bonding agent which kept the fuel's ingredients mixed. Even though it was estimated that a hundred million gallons of gas a day could be saved through the use of this product, no one seemed to be interested.

Water and Alcohol Motor

A Paris engineer ran his private cars on a mixture of denatured alcohol and water according to the French magazine Le Point. The forty-nine-year-old inventor-mechanical engineer Jean Chambrin maintained that his motor design could be mass produced for only a fraction of the cost of present engines. As publicity surrounded his achievements the inventor took even greater precautions for security.

Super Mileage Additives

L. M. Beam, who had had his super mileage carburetor bought out back in the 20s, worked out a catalytic vegetable compound that produced much the same results. By rearranging the molecules of gas and diesel, he obtained better combustion, mileage, and emission control. At one cent a gallon he guaranteed his W-6 formula would save at least 10 percent in fuel costs. Refused and rejected by State and Federal certification agencies (Air Pollution and Environmental Pollution agencies), Beam was finally forced to survive in the mid-70s by selling his formula abroad.

The Lacco Gas Additive Formula

Eighty percent water, 15 percent gas, 5 percent alcohol, 2 percent lacco. According to an article in the January 20, 1974 San Bernardino, CA, Sun Telegram, a man named Mark J. Meierbachtol of that city patented a carburetor which got significantly greater mileage than was usual. At this time the patent (#3,432,281 March 11, 1969) is being held by attorney T. F. Peterson for the inventor's widow, Ola.

Highway Aircraft Car

One of the more determined crop of radical auto designers was Paul M. Louis of Sidney, Nebraska. For many years he promoted aircraft design, streamlining to provide super economy in his proposed "Highway Aircraft." He called cars of current design "shoeboxes." His first attempt at marketing a car was in the late 30s. He was stopped by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and it was not until his company withered away that he was given a clean "bill of health." In the mid-70s at the age of seventy-eight he again tried to put his unique designs on the road.

Ultrasonic Fuel Systems

With the advent of the fuel crisis of 1973 there were a number of experimenters who found solutions involving the use of ultrasonic fuel systems. Much of this work involved using sonic transducers to "vibrate" existing fuels down to much smaller particles. This procedure simply increased the surface area of the fuel and made it work more efficiently. Using a magneto-strictive or piezo-electric vibrator, conical or cylindrical cones were used at from twenty to forty thousand vibrations per second. An increase in fuel mileage of at least 20 percent was expected of these units.

Eric Cottell was one of the first persons to proclaim the fact that water could be mixed with gas and used as fuel with these units. His customers had been using his commercial units to emulsify foods, paints, and cosmetics for some time. When the word suddenly got out that the super fine S-onized water would mix perfectly with up to 70 percent oil or gas, there was congratulations from many sides (June 17, 1974, Newsweek). Later there was nothing but silence again.

Later in 1975, Cottell was interviewed again and explained that Detroit was so myopic that they would probably turn down even the wheel if it were a newly offered invention. Because installations of his reactors was so simple, Cottell ran several of his own cars on a water-gas mixture. He explained that an ultra-sonic unit caused internal stresses so great in gasoline that the molecules can actually absorb water to become a new type of fuel.

Super Mileage from Fuel Vaporization

L. Mills Beam developed a simple heat exchange carburetor back in 1920. In principle it was nothing more than a method of using the hot exhaust gases of an engine to vaporize the liquid gas being burned. Using simple logic Beam reasoned that raw gas going through a normal carburetor simply could not be atomized with high efficiency. As a result there was a waste of fuel when microscopic droplets burned instead of exploded. This, of course, created unnecessary heat and inefficiency.

Since he was easily able to double and triple the gas mileage of the cars he tested, it was not long before Beam was offered a settlement and percentage fee for the rights to his device. Accepting the offer, he never again saw any attempt to market his device or the parties who gained control of his device.

In his "Suppressed Inventions," Mike Brown spoke with Mr. Beam and found that the shadowy trail seemed to lead to a major oil company—but, of course, little could be proved.

Brown tells of a later device which used the same principle. John W. Gulley of Gratz, Kentucky, could supposedly get 115 miles per gallon out of his big 8-cylinder Buick, using his vaporizing arrangement. Typically, this device was assured of obscurity when Detroit interests bought it in 1950.

In the early 70s there was a device made by Shell Research of London that was a bit more sophisticated in design. Vaporizing the gas at around 40°C, a certain amount was allowed to go around the vaporizer to reduce pressure losses. The "Vapipe" unit was supposedly not marketed because it did not meet Federal emission standards.

Another advocate of vaporizing gasoline is Clayton J. Queries of Lucerne Valley, California. According to the Sun-Telegram of July 2, 1974, Queries claimed that he could easily develop an engine which could run all day on a gallon of gas. This inventor claims that all he needs to produce such a carburetor is money from an honest backer.

This same inventor said that he took a 10,000 mile trip across the country in his 1949 Buick for ten dollars worth of carbide. Building a simple carbide generator, which worked on the order of a miner's lamp, he said that a half pound of acetylene pressure was sufficient to keep his car running. Because acetylene was dangerous, he put a safety valve on his generator and ran the outlet gas through water to insure there would be no "blow back."

The Alexander Fuelless Car System

Robert Alexander and a partner spent only forty-five days and around five-hundred dollars to put together a car that confounded experts. A small 7/8 twelve-volt motor provided the initial power. Once going, a hydraulic and air system took over and actually recharged the small electric energy drain. The Montebello, California inventors were, at last reports, very determined that the auto industry would not bury their "super power" system. What happened? (U.S. PAT #3913004)

One inventor in the 20s used an electric car which ran off high frequency electricity which he generated at a distance. Using principles similar to the Tesla's ideas, he simply broadcast the re-radiated atmospheric energy from a unit on his house roof.
Henry Ford, acting for himself and the other Detroit oil "powers," q u i c kl y bought and quietly shelved this invention. (BSRAJ M-J 1973) John W. Keely reportedly used harmonic magnetic energies from the planet to run his mysterious motor. Later, Harold Adams of Lake Isabella, Ca., worked out a motor thought to be similar to Keely's. In the late 40s it was demonstrated for many persons, including Naval scientists. After a round of "dead ends," it, too, vanished into the pages of the past.

Water to Hydrogen Fuel

The process of converting water to hydrogen has long been known, and the standard electrolysis method was developed back at the turn of the century. The only trouble has been that it takes a great deal of electrical current to convert the water over. With a 40 percent efficiency at best, a lot of people were hoping for the advent of cheap fuel cells which would convert the hydrogen and oxygen to electricity at a much higher efficiency. The standard procedure for the electrolytic extraction included using platinum electrodes in an acidic water solution—with at least 1.7 volts of direct current.

What gives many hope are reports of early experimenters who overcame the conversion problems. W. C. Hefferlin wrote of using a superior conversion method back in 1921. According to the reports, he worked out a method which used a high frequency current passing through steam. Being associated with some unusual projects made him suspect to a degree . . . but there are some who feel he put his discovery to good use despite the continued rejections he faced.

Hydrogen is probably one of the most ideal and easily adaptable forms of fuel that we could ask for at the present. Because it returns to water after it burns in the presence of oxygen, it is also pollution-free, and a joy to work with. Regardless of adverse criticism, it has been proven to be less expensive and dangerous than ordinary gasoline when used in automobiles.

An experiment was mentioned in the Alternate Sources of Energy Journal in which a couple of readers ran a car for a short period of time on chemically made hydrogen. Tossing some zinc in a bottle of water and acid (any strong acid), they captured the hydrogen given off in a balloon and manually fed it to their auto later.

Actually, feeding hydrogen to a standard auto engine can be a little involved, depending on one's source. I recall a group of California experimenters who fed their old Model A Ford on straight "tank gases" with not much more than some gas pipe plumbing. Later they developed a more sophisticated (oxyburetor) and allowed their motor suction to feed the correct hydrogen-oxygen mixture. To start the engine on these gases, they allowed the hydrogen to be sucked in first. Later they were in need of a variable Venturi carburetor to aid this procedure.

It is interesting to note that Deuterium, or "Heavy Hydrogen," is what powers the H Bomb. A pound of this fuel at less than a hundred dollars (recent estimates) will produce the power of $75,000 worth of fossil fuels. The proposed methods of producing cheap deuterium now have already become details of the suppressed past.

A classic case of the "water to auto engine" system was that worked out by Edward Estevel in Spain during the late 60s. This system was highly heralded, then sank among other such "high hope" hydrogen systems. Foul play? Who knows!

Hydrogen Generator

Sam Leach of Los Angeles developed a revolutionary hydrogen extraction process during the mid-70s. This unit was said to easily extract free hydrogen from water and yet be small enough for use in automobiles. In 1976 two independent labs in L.A. tested this generator with perfect results. Mr. M. J. Mirkin who began the Budget car rental system purchased rights for this device and hoped to develop it—against the usual ridicule of a number of scientists. Leach, who was very concerned about his security, was said to be greatly relieved by Mirkin's aid.

Hydrogen Auto Conversions

Rodger Billings of Provo, Utah, headed a group of inventors who worked out efficient methods of converting ordinary automobiles to run on Hydrogen. Rather than rely on heavy cumbersome Hydrogen tanks, his corporation used metal alloys, called Hydrides, to store vast amounts of Hydrogen. When hot exhaust gases passed through these Hydride containers, it released the Hydrogen for use in the standard engines. Billings estimated that the price might run around $500 for the conversions; gas consumption would be greatly reduced.

Because of the nature of this conversion, there even seemed to be favourable interest from various auto and petroleum interests in the mid-70s.
P.S.: In Florence, Italy, an inventor used a special tube to divide water in Hydrogen and Oxygen—without the usual electricity and chemical requirements (unconfirmed 1975 report).

Burning Alcohol