How to make the intake air more humid to save gas.

[cheapybob]

No, he was basically saying that the O2 sensor would think the engine was running lean and add more fuel. If max fuel economy is your goal, that would be a bad thing, so you'd need a device like the EFIE to fake the readings so more fuel doesn't get added.

[SVOboy]

I don't know if the o2 sensor picks up oxygen that's bonded into a water molecule, *shrug*

[GasSavers_maxc]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

I don't know if the o2 sensor picks up oxygen that's bonded into a water molecule, *shrug*

I'll do a test sunday to see if the injector duty cycle increases with water injection.

[cheapybob]

I'm sure my buddy will be interested in the results.

Actually, the way it went was HE suggested water injection to allow me to run leaner without causing problems, but someone else said it would cause the O2 sensor to think it was lean and add more fuel, and he said that could be possible, and we started discussing a setup like an EFIE with a wideband O2 to avoid the problem. He was saying it would be necessary and ok to add quite a bit of water to keep things cool. I don't pretend to understand it, myself. I sort of dropped it because I don't really want to pile lots of money into it that won't get a reasonable payback in fuel savings.

I was hoping to do something low tech like using a K & N air filter, and instead of oiling it, keeping it moist with water and letting my 190f+ intake air absorb it, but he seemed to think it would take a lot more water than that to cool things enough to allow me to safely run lean without burning valves, etc.

[GasSavers_maxc]

Originally Posted by cheapybob

I'm sure my buddy will be interested in the results.

Actually, the way it went was HE suggested water injection to allow me to run leaner without causing problems, but someone else said it would cause the O2 sensor to think it was lean and add more fuel, and he said that could be possible, and we started discussing a setup like an EFIE with a wideband O2 to avoid the problem. He was saying it would be necessary and ok to add quite a bit of water to keep things cool. I don't pretend to understand it, myself. I sort of dropped it because I don't really want to pile lots of money into it that won't get a reasonable payback in fuel savings.

I was hoping to do something low tech like using a K & N air filter, and instead of oiling it, keeping it moist with water and letting my 190f+ intake air absorb it, but he seemed to think it would take a lot more water than that to cool things enough to allow me to safely run lean without burning valves, etc.

Not oiling it might cause some problems? The egr valve is a good place to injected it too as long as its working properly.

[Bunger]

I've done a fair share of research on water injection in the past and found that you should be able to increase your mileage a decent amount. The reason being is that the water vapor in the combustion chamber absorbs a good amount of heat when converting to steam, which will then increase cylinder pressure, this does add some delay to the combustion process and thus lengthens the time pressure is applied to the piston. The overall effect greater torque, allowing you to cruise at the same speed with less throttle angle / fuel. Basically it increases the thermal efficiency of the engine.

[JanGeo]

How about just spraying a lot of water in a "water box" in front of the intake and the excess water would just settle out and drain back into the supply bottle. At small throttle openings not much air is pulled through the box but at full throttle more air flows through it taking more of the spray. Used a presurized bottle and pump the excess water back into the bottle under pressure. All that is needed is a small pin hole spray.

[cheapybob]

Originally Posted by maxc

A little in the egr tube works fine. About 5 or 6 inches before it enters the intake. I stress "a little" "previous posts"

How will it affect the O2 sensor reading, if at all?

Was there any increase in MPG by adding water via the EGR?

How do you calculate the optimal amount of water to add?

I was thinking of using a small atomizer and spraying it at the underside of the K & N and maybe even having a return feed at the bottom of the airbox. Wouldn't a wet K & N filter similarly to an oiled one?

I think the humidifier setup will end up using a lot of power. They basically boil a small amount of water, I think.

[JanGeo]

no the ultrasonically atomize it however you should keep in mind the mineral content of the water - bubbling it is better than spraying it into the engine.

[GasSavers_Ryland]

mineral content of the water can be taken care of by useing distilled water, and you can collect distilled water (with a bit of soot) out of your exaust system, the humidity in the air is averages out to be nearly equal to the amount of fuel in the air, so for every gallon of fuel used, you are running around a gallon of water thru your engine as well, if you are adding more water to your intake air, that water is going out the exaust pipe, using a heat pipe in the exaust pipe should alow you to condence some water as the exaust exits, you will still have to fill up your distilled water tank, but I would guess this would dubble the miles per gallon of water used, then you simply filter out the solids and you are all set!

I would guess that the electronic vaporizer has an osolator to vibrate the quartz, altho that is a compleat guess, but really, something as simple as a old carburator with water fed in to it linked up to the throttle body, play around with the jet size a little to get the perfect mix at any engine speed.

what about the lawn mower testing? set up that same lawn mower with a humidifer next to it's air intake and see how long it will run.