renovation
08-10-2007, 02:25 AM
http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2007/08/large_car.jpg
Those humps under the tarp in Shawn Grannell's pick-up truck may look like lumber. But the Ann Arbor resident, who left Tuesday for California, is actually toting three tanks of ammonia.
That's right. The same pungent liquid you use to wash windows is - in a higher concentration and mixed about 60/40 in the carburetor with gasoline - fueling his way across the country.
"On the basis of either weight or volume, ammonia's the next best thing when liquid petroleum fuels can't be used," said Grannell, a University of Michigan doctoral student of applied physics. "I believe this is the only economically viable ... replacement for liquid petroleum fuels, especially for transportation use."
Grannell's thesis is on ammonia as an alternative fuel. But the idea of an ammonia-powered vehicle belongs to laser and holography pioneer Don Gillespie of Ann Arbor, the president of Eldon Engineering. For years, Gillespie has worked on issues related to global warming and the decline of petroleum.
After looking at the options from a chemistry and physics perspective, Gillespie determined that because ammonia has no carbon in its composition, burning it means the only exhaust is nitrogen and water vapor.
"If everybody went to (ammonia), we'd cut carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere by easily 65 percent," he said.
As an industry representative on Grannell's graduate committee, Gillespie convinced Grannell to tackle the project and then advised him as Grannell converted a Chevy S-10 pickup into an ammonia-powered vehicle.
The truck is dual-fueled, meaning it can switch seamlessly from 100 percent gasoline fuel to a mixture of 80 percent ammonia/20 percent gas. He said the truck runs the same, no matter which fuel it's burning.
As far as the men know, it's the only vehicle powered by both gasoline and ammonia.
http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2007/08/fill_er_up_with_ammonia.html
Those humps under the tarp in Shawn Grannell's pick-up truck may look like lumber. But the Ann Arbor resident, who left Tuesday for California, is actually toting three tanks of ammonia.
That's right. The same pungent liquid you use to wash windows is - in a higher concentration and mixed about 60/40 in the carburetor with gasoline - fueling his way across the country.
"On the basis of either weight or volume, ammonia's the next best thing when liquid petroleum fuels can't be used," said Grannell, a University of Michigan doctoral student of applied physics. "I believe this is the only economically viable ... replacement for liquid petroleum fuels, especially for transportation use."
Grannell's thesis is on ammonia as an alternative fuel. But the idea of an ammonia-powered vehicle belongs to laser and holography pioneer Don Gillespie of Ann Arbor, the president of Eldon Engineering. For years, Gillespie has worked on issues related to global warming and the decline of petroleum.
After looking at the options from a chemistry and physics perspective, Gillespie determined that because ammonia has no carbon in its composition, burning it means the only exhaust is nitrogen and water vapor.
"If everybody went to (ammonia), we'd cut carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere by easily 65 percent," he said.
As an industry representative on Grannell's graduate committee, Gillespie convinced Grannell to tackle the project and then advised him as Grannell converted a Chevy S-10 pickup into an ammonia-powered vehicle.
The truck is dual-fueled, meaning it can switch seamlessly from 100 percent gasoline fuel to a mixture of 80 percent ammonia/20 percent gas. He said the truck runs the same, no matter which fuel it's burning.
As far as the men know, it's the only vehicle powered by both gasoline and ammonia.
http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2007/08/fill_er_up_with_ammonia.html