NH3 CAR

Dont hold your breath, Cujo... This was not destined to be.

Hmmm, if it doesn't take gigajoules to make Ammonia, why not? The engine in my car can use toluene, ethanol or LPG with little modification. Perhaps in 10 years, we will have omni-fuel vehicles in the showrooms?

It takes hydrogen to make ammonia, but that is not the killer in my mind. Ammonia burns to make oxides of nitrogen, literally forms of nitric acid. These would be intensely corrosive in general, and would be expelled to the air after combustion. I just dont think it will fly, practically.

Since ammonia was used extensively as a refrigerant fluid, maybe it could be used to transmit power where nonammonia external combustion is employed.

1. It takes about as much to make it as you can get from burning it. So consequently it's an energy storage and transport system, not an energy source.
2. It burns very slowly, making it more of a win in large marine engines than small automobile engines.
3. It smells really bad.

The REO Multifuel Engine has been around for ages.

--scott

I have an old General Electric refrigerator which dates back to the

Exactly, anhydrous ammonia was used as a refrigerant in these types of devices.

If you scour the patents, you can find claims that fuels based on hydrocarbons to which an additive of alcohol mixed with ammonia has been used can give twice the economy of the hydrocarbon alone. (And other such concoctions).

While I hate to call these patentees downright liars, their claims are suspicious. You should know that you claims are not usually checked by the patent office, and you could patent a lot of garbage with little likelihood of being confronted by your misdeeds.

Nah, I dont think ammonia as a fuel is in the cards.

"hls" wrote in news:QImdnZOYX_n2ph snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Indeed. Nitric acid is great for two things only: making acid rain and nitro glycerine.