Platinum Fuel Injection

INFORMATION Product Reviews
1

Yesterday, my mechanic told me about platinum fuel injection, touting it as another fuel saver that “the government is keeping away from us”…
Well, I did a bit of reading, and this is what I came up with:

A site that sells this product: (incidentally the ones who used to carry the HHO technology)
http://www.hhotek.com/products_auto_platinum.php

Basically they (and my mechanic) claim that by introducing microscopic amounts of platinum into the combustion chamber, one can create a more complete burn that can be harnessed by the engine, instead of having it burn in the catalytic converter, releasing useless heat…

Sounds good in theory, right?

Not in this guy’s books:
http://www.fuelsaving.info/platinum.htm

In short, the main assumption made by the Platinum guys is that around 20% of fuel is released from the engine to the catalytic converter unburned, and the catalytic converter burns the rest…
But it does make more sense that if 20% of unburnt fuel was to be released into the catalytic converter, the resulting temperature change from the combustion of gasoline in said converter would melt the converter. The numbers provided were subjective however, so I tried to do a few calculations to find the temperature change by using the formula Q=MC^T (^T = change in temperature)… I found the specific heat capacity (C) of gasoline to be 2.22 KJ/Kg K (or 2.22 J/g K), and the energy released during the combustion of gasoline (Q) to be 2.24x10^4 J/gK… I’m not sure about the mass though (m), as I do not know how much gas is released into the engine in the first place (so that I can compare the temperature changes in 20% and 2% catalytic converter gas release), thus I cannot validate either person’s claims…

What are your thoughts? How efficient are our engines in terms of burning fuel? Would Platinum Fuel Injection provide any significant benefit to one’s fuel economy? If one wishes to complete my calculations, he or she would have to know how much gas is actually released into the combustion chamber… (or is there a better way to calculate the net temperature change when a certain amount of gasoline combusts)

I am emailing the guy on the first site, asking for the protocols that he used to run his test on the Acura Integra… perhaps I should email the second site asking for precise calculations on which he used to claim that:

“…if you turn off ignition to one cylinder of a V8 engine (so that 12% of the fuel is burnt in the catalyst) then the heat release is so great that the catalyst would be quickly destroyed when the engine is at full power. To suggest that 20% is burnt in the catalyst under normal conditions is just not true…”

In a way, I kinda wish that the mechanic was right about this… I honestly don’t want him to sound like an idiot, especially since he was the only one who offered to teach me how to adjust my valves and index my spark plugs (which is noted to increase fuel economy and horse power)…
But all this “the government is lying to us” stuff… well, they probably are, but they aren’t so omnipotent and powerful to develop, enact, and maintain such intricate schemes, solely on the basis of greed…
After all, its so much easier to criticize one’s solution, than it is to develop a solution in the first place…

2

really dude? without getting into the technical stuff. This thing costs ~$250, according to their calculator this thing will save me ~$340 a year. That is assuming a 22% mpg increase. So at most i would save $90, F that. I ain’t putting some untested snake oil into my car just for $90. Tell your mechanic to stop trying to sell useless junk to make himself a few extra bucks. It only makes him look bad.

3

you wanna save gas?

lean out your daily tune a bit, save 2 or 3 mpg.

or, like mitsubishi does, rig up some system to shut off two cylinders during light footed driving.

these are all very custom and very un-wise suggestions, even if the mitsubishi mod was possible, it would probably only be so on an aftermarket ignition system and engine control unit

but as for doing any of these “secret” things. forget it. nothing in cars is a secret unless a multimillion dollar corporation is keeping the secret.
this is definitely not a multimillion dollar corporation.

4

[QUOTE=ronin_of_life;2128533]
But all this “the government is lying to us” stuff… well, they probably are, but they aren’t so omnipotent and powerful to develop, enact, and maintain such intricate schemes, solely on the basis of greed… [/QUOTE]

OMG. Check out Mises.org Read up on the Federal Reserve and watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SFywA_LQuU&feature=player_embedded
You will never say that again.

Platinum is $1,592 per ounce and Rhodium is close to $2,400 per ounce. That product must have microscopic amounts, if any at all. If you want platinum in your combustion chamber get some spark plugs.

The chart on that link says it all. 20MPG Civic and a 19 mpg Focus:bs:

5

[QUOTE=therealkroysc;2129056]OMG. Check out Mises.org Read up on the Federal Reserve and watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SFywA_LQuU&feature=player_embedded

Platinum is $1,592 per ounce and Rhodium is close to $2,400 per ounce. That product must have microscopic amounts, if any at all. If you want platinum in your combustion chamber get some spark plugs.

[/QUOTE]

therealkroysc
hmm… I must’ve overlooked that, now that you mention it… but then how do you explain the amounts of platinum used in the center electrode of the spark plug (I assumed platinum wouldn’t be that expensive by referring to the price of the spark plugs and the catalytic converter)?
How are they able to keep the prices low on platinum sparks (in comparison to copper spark plugs)?
On another note, I’m a fan of copper spark plugs (NGK V powers- hard to find, more switch intervals, but its worth it imo)- platinum conducts 1/3 as much electricity as copper, (iridium is 1/2 as much as copper), although smaller points can be produced with platinum without risk of deformation as one would expect in a copper plug…

As for the video… well, now that you saw it and believe in it wholeheartedly… what are you going to do? You’re going to pass on the links to all your friends? Let the voice of the (not so) deep narrator pound every computer speaker? And then what?
Its hard to live a life that isn’t yours… you wouldn’t want to know the atrocities that go on in this world today… atrocities that aren’t voiced over by guys in deep voices as of yet…
Your video does reiterate my point- guys in the government are rarely the brains of the operation… they’re akin to the Ego, who must balance the desires of the Id that represents the corporate entities, and the Superego, who represents the people that they are responsible of serving…
But for now, the Canadian government does a lot for me- its police, one of the finest out there, keeps me safe, and they provide good food, a roof over my head, opportunity to better myself, and time/resources to pursue my interests… I have no qualms against them… I just hope that others can enjoy what I enjoy as of now…

LSneo- you are right, it does look bad for the mechanic when he’s trying to sell ‘secret’ technology to those who have only known him for 2 days… but a consistent savings of $90 does add up (I do assume that I don’t have to purchase the platinum catalyst again- as typically a catalyst does not partake in a reaction- it only creates an alternate pathway that requires a lower activation energy, and hence it shouldn’t be consumed…
the question is- does the platinum stay in the combustion chamber then? would there be any other adverse effects for the engine?

OMGitsweasel- I am only interested in prolonging the life of my car- platinum fuel injection is a fishy concept, especially since the concept hasn’t been adequately tested… but it is an interesting concept nonetheless, and I am not one to immediately bash ideas solely on surface details and parent sources… I want to know:

  • why it doesn’t work
  • what can be done to make it work
  • is it worth making it work
    Rigging up a system that would shut down 2 cylinders under light loads is a far fetched yet interesting point, but I am just your typical future bachelor of bio med- I"ll probably leave that to my engineering buddies…

thanks for the input guys

6

what im saying is that if it really worked, a large car company would have stolen the idea and be using it so they could flaunt better gas mileage.

the amount of r&d that the car industry is responsible for is astounding.
chrysler had a gas turbine engine in the 60s
GM had a fully electric car in the 80s
gasoline has been used in cars since the beginning. in 200 years im sure SOME car company has tested every precious metal there is in every possible method they could in order to have that next best thing over the competitor.

im not saying its bs or not, im just pointing out that its highly unlikely.

7

[QUOTE=OMG Its Weasel;2129751]what im saying is that if it really worked, a large car company would have stolen the idea and be using it so they could flaunt better gas mileage.

the amount of r&d that the car industry is responsible for is astounding.
chrysler had a gas turbine engine in the 60s
GM had a fully electric car in the 80s
gasoline has been used in cars since the beginning. in 200 years im sure SOME car company has tested every precious metal there is in every possible method they could in order to have that next best thing over the competitor.

im not saying its bs or not, im just pointing out that its highly unlikely.[/QUOTE]

That’s what I’ve been assuming too…

I’m also assuming that they’re not done ‘testing’ every precious metal thoroughly… one would have to test each metal in different forms in different compounds in different areas of the engine- at different operating temps and in tandem with other modifications… take molybedium for instance- its lubricating properties are excellent beyond par, but the main reason why it hasn’t been used as an effective engine oil additive as of late, is because researchers have failed to keep the particles under suspension… until now supposedly (I"m not buying it until they provide a sound explanation backed up with detailed test results)…

Lets not also forget the major hoops that many have to jump through just to get their technology acknowledged by a major company- take insulin for instance- the main researcher Frederick Banting was only given a graduate student (Best) and a basement lab to do his research to purify insulin… if the research didn’t show promise quick enough (and that could be due to many confounding variables, and not because the idea itself is flawed), then the researchers would have to pack up their bags and leave… (this was actually the case in the early stages of Banting’s insulin research- the dogs were dying because of contamination of the extracts- partly due to the unsanitary conditions of the lab, and that continued until James Collip came up and found a way to remove contaminants from the extracts while keeping the anti diabetic agent intact…)- imagine the implications if they didn’t produce results in time (ie. if the dogs kept on dying due to lab contamination)…

So if the researchers couldn’t jump the hoops just to market their technology with approval from major organizations, and they decide to market it themselves, does that mean that the technology itself is flawed? One can imagine how many researchers have walked that path- with only a very few ideas passing through the sieve of corporate judgment… whether the judgment is sound or not is up to speculation…

That is why I want to know why it doesn’t work…
“Why is the technology flawed, if it is in the first place”
“How is it flawed? What can be done to make it work?”

99% of the time by looking into this we will recover a dud (I’m not having high hopes for the Platinum fuel injection tech myself right now, and that’s the case for many after market “magic mileage + hp booster techs” out there- I’m no engineer, and if countless others who are paid much more just to see if this works state that it doesn’t… that’s pretty convincing then), but there’s a 1% chance that we will recover a diamond in the rough…

and if it is a dud- I learn more about the mechanics of my ride (from articles, you guys and others)- a win win situation…