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Fueled by idea, group works on fuel booster
Photo
POWER BOOSTER: Some local inventors have come up with a hydrogen generator they say boosts fuel efficiency by 50 percent. The device, about the size of a candle jar and with a clear lid, is shown in the center of this photo, installed in an engine compartment owned by Ohio’s Hydrogen Innovation Organization, the company founded by the inventors.
By Ed Runyan
One of the inventors said the hydrogen booster could ‘change the world.’
WARREN — Several retired autoworkers from Struthers and Warren who dabble with inventing hope their work on a hydrogen booster will power a revolution in the automotive industry.
And they have enlisted the help of the Trumbull County officials to perfect the design.
Bob Davenport of Struthers and Bob Jolaski, Richard Eastman and Frank Naypaver, all of Warren, have been working on the booster — which so far increases fuel efficiency in their own cars 50 percent — for several months in Naypaver’s home.
Davenport, Jolaski and Naypaver are all retired from General Motors and Delphi Packard. Eastman is not retired.
Last week, they took the idea to Sheriff Thomas Altiere and county commissioners Paul Heltzel, Frank Fuda and Dan Polivka and got permission to test the devices on a couple of county vehicles. Specifically, they will be installed on Altiere’s county vehicle and Fuda’s personal vehicle, Fuda said.
If it is successful, the county will consider installing the devices on more county vehicles.
Davenport, president of the newly formed company Ohio’s Hydrogen Innovation Organization, said the key to the device is what is known as Brown’s Gas, named after Bulgarian inventor Yull Brown.
Brown’s Gas is the product achieved when the hydrogen and oxygen in water are separated and the hydrogen is fed into the air intake of an automobile, Davenport said.
Because Brown’s Gas is in a pure state and three times more powerful than gasoline, it improves the efficiency of the combustion of the gasoline and improves the efficiency of gasoline, he said.
It burns the gasoline cleaner and smoother and also reduces emissions, thereby reducing the need for a catalytic converter. The purpose for the converter is to burn the rest of the gasoline that the engine does not use, he noted.
Davenport said the device, which is about the size and shape of a large candle jar and sits under the hood of the vehicle, has produced a 50 percent improvement in the gas mileage in the cars of the four inventors.
They hope to secure a government grant to help them improve the product and determine how it will interact with different types of automotive carburation systems and car computers.
So far, the device only works for a couple thousand miles before it needs to be replaced. More work needs to be done to make it last longer, Davenport said.
None of the commissioners knew of any particular grants they could get for the inventors, though it is possible grants could be secured if they were able to begin a production facility to make the devices.
They met with Congressman Tim Ryan, D-17th of Niles, on Friday to seek out other types of grants to develop the product.
The concept of boosting fuel efficiency with Brown’s Gas is not a new one. The process was patented in 1938, and a lot of variations have been tried since then, Davenport said.
The inventors — Naypaver is president of the Youngstown-Warren Inventor’s Club and Davenport is vice president — say they would like to make money from the invention, but they are taking it to county officials to see if it can benefit the entire community.
“We felt for the taxpayers, this is the best way go,” Davenport said.
Davenport said Naypaver came back from Florida recently sold on the idea of developing the hydrogen booster after discovering there were “a lot of retired guys in Florida making their own [boosters] and saving money on gas.”
Besides his work on the hydrogen booster, Davenport also invented a kitchen device called the Add-A-Trap, which prevents drain clogs and prevents the use of chemicals to clear drains.
Davenport said Brown’s Gas may also hold the key to other industries besides automobiles. It has been used to power heaters and would reduce pollution compared to natural-gas heaters.
“When this thing is purified, it will change the world. It’s a big thing,” he said.
Davenport said he has also discussed the idea with Mahoning County commissioners.
runyan@vindy.com