thanks for mentioning this.
I was pretty sure he had died too.
a genius racing engine man actually.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jake de Villiers" <crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2008 6:07 PM
Subject: Re: Water 4 Gas. com Does it work? Has Anyone Tried it? Know of It?

> David, I'm sorry to have to tell you that Smokey died May 9, 2001 - a
> great
> automotive thinker gone.........
>
> On Sun, Jul 13, 2008 at 4:56 PM, David Beierl <dbeierl@attglobal.net>
> wrote:
>
>> At 06:38 PM 7/13/2008, miguel pacheco wrote:
>>
>>> Uhm, read on, the O2 thing is no longer an issue..............
>>> Possible or not, it looks like a fun project.
>>>
>>
>> I've got one question, in two* parts.
>>
>> A: How much energy does it take to electrolyze the water to H and O?
>> B: How much energy do you get back by burning the stuff?  Is it as
>> much as you spent to make it?  Hint: No, it isn't.
>> C: What's the efficiency of the gasoline --> mechanical -->
>> electrical cycle that generates the current to electrolyze the
>> water?  Guessing 30% in the engine times 80% in the alternator... :-(
>> D: Where does the energy come from to do this?  Hint:  The Gasoline.
>>
>> *Our THREE main weapons are surprise, fear, ruthless efficiency and
>> fanatical devotion to the Pope!
>>
>> TANSTAAFL.  The three laws of thermodynamics say you can't win, you
>> can't break even, and you can't get out of the game.  There's no
>> question that you suffer a net loss of energy by hydrolyzing water
>> and then burning the products, made worse by the various
>> inefficiencies attendant on generating the electricity.  So *IF* this
>> method works at all, it has to be by somehow increasing the
>> efficiency of the Otto engine cycle by a considerable amount, i.e.
>> getting considerably more mechanical output from somewhat less
>> thermal input.  AFAIK the only remaining area for large improvements
>> in recovery of mechanical effort from the thermal cycle involve
>> raising the operating temperature of the engine which is currently
>> constrained by materials (Smokey Yunick once hoped, maybe still does,
>> to build a ceramic engine that would run continuously red-hot for
>> just this reason).
>>
>> So what am I missing?  Help me out here...
>>
>>
>> --
>> David Beierl - Providence RI USA --
>> http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
>> '84 Westy "Dutiful Passage," '85 GL "Poor Relation"
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Jake
> 1984 Vanagon GL
> 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
> Crescent Beach, BC
> www.crescentbeachguitar.com
> http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27