• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• Smartbuy

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

K. Giriprakash

Bangalore, Aug. 26 A US-based company is all set to bring to India a hydrogen generator kit which can reduce fuel costs for passenger and other vehicles by as much as 30 per cent.

EcoMobil’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr K.B. Prasad, told Business Line that his company will soon introduce in India an eco-friendly auto kit called the Hfactor which will cost less than Rs 20,000 and can run on a single charge for over 3,500 km.

“Once we start manufacturing these kits in India, we expect the costs to come down further. We have targeted revenues of over $100 million in three years once we begin selling these kits in India,” Mr Prasad said.

He said the company plans to raise funds through an initial public offering to invest in its Indian operations. EcoMobil has bought technology from Hfactor, owned by Mr Raymond Russ, a pioneer in hydrogen fuel cell technology. Mr Ross earlier worked with a US-based large car manufacturer for over three decades as a senior master technician and was instrumental in Ford’s fuel cell technology vision.

The hydrogen generator which sits on the engine of a vehicle is designed to make the car function more efficiently. The generator separates water (H2O) into its two elements, hydrogen and oxygen, and infuses hydrogen into the air intake manifold of the engine and helps the engine burn fuel more efficiently.

The unit’s internal positively and negatively charged components and a chemical catalyst create the reaction that separates the water elements. The engine’s air intake manifold injects the hydrogen into the piston cylinder.

Because of the introduction of hydrogen, the usage of fuel is regulated and thereby uses less fuel and increases the efficiency of the engine. This results in drastically reducing carbon monoxide and other hydrocarbons emissions and keeps the environment clean, Mr Prasad explained.

He said the hydrogen injected by the generator begins to clean and remove the carbon deposits built up over time on the vehicle’s pistons and intake valves. Once the carbon is removed, more of the fuel injected in the cylinders will supply power instead of being absorbed by the carbon deposits. This also results in increase of horsepower of the vehicle.

Mr Prasad said the company plans to involve car manufacturers in India for retailing these auto kits. “It will also help customers to become more confident in using our kits,” he said.

More Stories on : Non-conventional Energy | Outlook | Environment | Petroleum | Automobiles

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line