Water Powered Portable Generator!

[Thagarr]

I ran across this earlier tonight and I am not quite sure what to make of it. This is either a hoax, or it has the potential to change everything. A small company from Canada claims to be able to run a portable generator on plain tap water. Apparently they originally planned to make the announcement in December, but someone ran across their website and Youtube video early and outed them. The company is GDS Technologies out of Ontario, CA. Pure Energy Systems has an article up about it, you can read that HERE!

As you can see in the videos, there is not much more to it than a water tank, a couple of battery’s, some outlets and electronics. The actual guts of the technology are never shown and the articles I have found so far say they are keeping that a secret. I am probably way off, but the only thing that I can think of that might even be possible is they are using some kind of hydrogen fuel cell. That would still need some way of separating the oxygen from the hydrogen, and I don't see anything in the video that is even close to being able to do that, let alone combust the hydrogen! I am really curious to know how this thing works, if it actually does work!

 

[Red Back Dude]

I will be filing it under "solar roadways" in my mind untill proper proof comes out

 

[Thagarr]

I am extremely sceptical myself, but that video is pretty convincing. All 3 of the things he powers with it could be run off DC current though, I would love to see a demonstration of one using 3 air conditioners!

 

[Hylie Pistof]

A few years ago I heard about some guy who found that water running through pipes set up an electrical current. I no longer remember the details about what the pipes were made of or how much electricity was generated, tho.

 

[Thagarr]

Running water can certainly be used to create electricity, I think there was even some kind of water engine that could be hooked up to pipes, but it was basically just converting the water pressure back in to electricity. A very inefficient way to generate power. I am not sure if that is what you are referring to or not mate. That would require running water though, and there are no pipes to run the water through.

This thing is drawing water from a reservoir, once it's in the tank there is very little pressure behind it and it appears to simply be gravity-fed. The hose hookup with the check-valve on the side is just to fill the reservoir. There are some better pictures of the innards on the site I linked to above which show a belt driven electric motor and a DC to AC power converter as well as the batteries, but not much else. There is a fan on one side, and on the back attached to the reservoir is a circular device, but I have absolutely no clue what that is. This thing has me extremely confused!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Everything that I know about science tells me that it cannot work.
You'd have to separate the hydrogen and oxygen before being able to do anything with it (resulting again in water).
But the process to separate them takes more energy than you get back. So there's no point.

I had a teacher in school who claimed while we had the Age of Sail, age of coal and age of oil, we will be moving into the age of hydrogen soon.
When I asked him where that hydrogen is supposed to come from, he had no answer.
Hydrogen is nice for energy storage, but it is not an energy source.

 

[TheBlackKnight]

Based on my background and review of this article, this is not currently possible based on technology available.
It is a hoax (again).
As Pieter stated the energy required to break down water into its elemental properties of Oxygen and Hydrogen as a fuel source in order to generated electrical power far exceeds the actual energy output to make it a convenient source of power. Electrical current produced by flowing water (by any means or use) is extremely small for extraction as a power source. Hydrogen is a viable energy source but the volumes required are on the same level as methane or natural gas. Explosive volality of Hydrogen prevents storage of large quantities in most circumstances without careful protection. Can it it be done? Of course. Is it currently practical? No.

 

[Thagarr]

Everything that I know about science tells me that it cannot work.

Yup, me too.

You'd have to separate the hydrogen and oxygen before being able to do anything with it (resulting again in water).

But the process to separate them takes more energy than you get back. So there's no point.

Agreed

I had a teacher in school who claimed while we had the Age of Sail, age of coal and age of oil, we will be moving into the age of hydrogen soon.

When I asked him where that hydrogen is supposed to come from, he had no answer.

Hydrogen is nice for energy storage, but it is not an energy source.

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, so it does make sense to utilize for it's stored energy. Water would be one potential source of hydrogen, and the cheapest and most abundant, but there are other sources.

Based on my background and review of this article, this is not currently possible based on technology available.
It is a hoax (again).
As Pieter stated the energy required to break down water into its elemental properties of Oxygen and Hydrogen as a fuel source in order to generated electrical power far exceeds the actual energy output to make it a convenient source of power. Electrical current produced by flowing water (by any means or use) is extremely small for extraction as a power source. Hydrogen is a viable energy source but the volumes required are on the same level as methane or natural gas. Explosive volality of Hydrogen prevents storage of large quantities in most circumstances without careful protection. Can it it be done? Of course. Is it currently practical? No.

I haven't seen enough to call it a hoax quite yet, though I am certainly leaning in that direction from what I have seen. Though why anyone would take the time and effort to setup such a prank is beyond me. I am certainly no expert, but hydroelectric power is a very good way of producing energy from flowing water, there are many dams throughout the world that use this type of power production. It can be fairly efficient, and it is relatively cheap with the right conditions.

There are several types of hydrogen fuel cells that use various forms of electrolysis to separate hydrogen from oxygen in water. The quantity’s of hydrogen are fairly small though, and the cells are much bigger than anything seen in the pics or video. Some cells used in hybred cars use hydrogen gas and oxygen to create electricity, which is obviously much different than what is represented here.

I do agree though that there aren't really any good ways to store large amounts of hydrogen, it tends to find a way to explode when stored in large quantities.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

There may be a lot of hydrogen in the universe, but it is nearly all already linked to other elements.
And breaking the atomic bonds between those elements takes a lot of energy.

Either that or it is inaccessible in the middle of burning stars.

 

[Grey Roger]

As you can see in the videos, there is not much more to it than a water tank, a couple of battery’s, some outlets and electronics.

In other words, a UPS with a water tank added for show.

 

[Thagarr]

The way I understand it from everything I have read, the batteries jump start the generator, which in turn starts the water process, whatever that is. It apparently involves the use of magnets of some type, the hydrogen fuel cell was pure speculation on my part. The batteries are recharged while the generator is running.

If this is a hoax, this guy has spent a lot of time and money setting up a professionally designed web page, a verified listing on Alibaba, building the prototype and shooting the video, and also put his business, employees, and personal reputation on the line. Not something most people are willing to do for a simple hoax. Plus it is not even close to April. I will certainly be keeping an eye on this story!