11 replies to this topic

[Magoo]

From the company's website: 

 

 

The Phoenix Fuel Converter is a coolant to catalyst heat exchanger. The process is designed so when large hydro carbon chains come in direct contact with the heated catalyst, the covalent bonds are broken or at least weakened, making smaller hydrocarbon chains that will evaporate and burn easier in the combustion chamber and produce more power with less fuel. This allows for better fuel efficiency, engine power, and reduces emissions on every engine it is installed on.

 

 

 

 

LINK:   http://www.fuelconverter.com/

 

 

Would like our esteemed experts to look this over and give it a fair, objective analysis. 

[Fat Boy]

[Catalina Park]

By running regular hydrocarbons through a catalyst it reduces the need for snake oil.
A big saving for the environment.

[BRG]

You'd think that in this hi-tech century, magical fuel saving devices like this would have died out, but I suppose that you can still fool some of the people some of the time.

[Magoo]

By running regular hydrocarbons through a catalyst it reduces the need for snake oil.
A big saving for the environment.

 

Great line, I may steal it. 

[Magoo]

You'd think that in this hi-tech century, magical fuel saving devices like this would have died out, but I suppose that you can still fool some of the people some of the time.

 

And look at the endorsers they have lined up. Anything for a buck, i suppose. 

[blkirk]

There is no such thing as weakened molecular covalent bonds.  Unless, of course, you want to take a really contorted view of things.  Heating the fuel (which is probably all they are really doing) will make the molecules expand.  This does several things.

 

First, it reduces the density of the fuel.  This will make the injector timings from the ECU be off by just a little bit so the injectors will put less fuel into the mix.  The oxygen sensor feedback should let the ECU correct for this.  But I doubt the old beast or a diesel they did their test on has this level of feedback.

 

Second, preheated fuel will take less additional energy to change state from a liquid to a gas.  This means the fuel will cool the cylinder a little less and raise the operating temperature of the engine.

 

I can see how an oil snake preservationist could use the two facts to argue that molecular bonds have been weakened, but it's a real stretch.  I can't say anything about what higher cylinder temps would mean to emissions, especially in a diesel, but I find their claim that you have to run the device for a few months to see the real benefits to especially unbelievable.

 

I just went back and looked at their fuel mileage data.   The before data is all short mileage (94-122 miles).  The after data is all long mileage (233-364 miles).  If those two data sets represent identical use cases, I'll sell my half of the moon to the martians.

 

tl;dr; My considered opinion is that all their device does is preheat the fuel.  Whether or not that actually makes any difference in fuel consumption and emissions is beyond my engine knowledge.  The real question is do they know their data is crap?

[Greg Locock]

There's two bits to this

 

1) does splitting long chains up into shorter ones affect engine performance? Quick answer, yes, but not necessarily in a good way. That is, on balance you could reoptimise the timing around the new fuel, and it may then give higher bmep.

 

2) can a low temperature cat process sufficient fuel to make a difference? Cat cracking heavy fuels down to short ones is done in refineries. https://en.wikipedia...king_(chemistry). That is at high temperatures and so on. so No probably not.

[Oho]

Second, preheated fuel will take less additional energy to change state from a liquid to a gas.  This means the fuel will cool the cylinder a little less and raise the operating temperature of the engine.

 

I can see how an oil snake preservationist could use the two facts to argue that molecular bonds have been weakened, but it's a real stretch.  I can't say anything about what higher cylinder temps would mean to emissions, especially in a diesel...

 

From layman's perspective, it would probably be bad.

 

http://en.wikipedia....s_recirculation

[Kelpiecross]

I'd buy one - it looks like a great idea.

[Catalina Park]

You'd think that in this hi-tech century, magical fuel saving devices like this would have died out, but I suppose that you can still fool some of the people some of the time.

 

[Lee Nicolle]