Iowa Co. Hopes to Make Gasoline Obsolete

[almaty 19]

GONA, Iowa - While much of the world fumes over escalating fuel prices, a small company in north central Iowa is quietly hoping to make gasoline obsolete as an engine fuel.

Research at the Hydrogen Engine Center Inc. is done in an early 1900s red brick armory at the Kossuth County fairgrounds.

There, a clean six-cylinder engine that looks like it could have been pulled from a Ford pickup has been running for 110 hours, not quite half the 300 hours it must continuously run for certification. The company, led by a retired Ford Motor Co. engineer, hopes to meet

Environmental Protection Agency automotive 2007 emission standards.

All 81 parts are original Oxx Power, the brand name the company has given all its engines.

The engine can run on a number of fuels including hydrogen, ethanol, natural gas, propane or digester gas from landfills.

The company, started by Ted Hollinger, 65, is initially focusing on making more efficient, environmentally friendlier engines to replace those used in generators and in forklift trucks, airline ground equipment, irrigation pumps, tractors and buses.

Ford, General Motors and Chrysler have dropped industrial engine production as they've cut costs, leaving what Hollinger said is a ready-made market for his fledgling company.

"Our engine has to bolt in where the old engine went and can't be a thread off," he said. "If you do that and you make improvements in it so that it gets rid of emissions and it's more efficient, then I think people are going to like it."

The company incorporated in Iowa in 2003 and two years later in Canada. It merged with Green Mt. Labs in August 2005 and became a publicly traded company under the name Hydrogen Engine Center Inc.

Hollinger said he insisted that his company have a product to sell from day one instead of starting up as a research and development firm.

The company's products include a six-cylinder engine and a three-cylinder version for small engine applications.

The company has found immediate interest in its hydrogen-powered generators that use five engines.

Brad Van Horn, an engine distributor with Northern Power Productions of Minneapolis, said some orders are already placed for the generators as they approach the production phase.

"The level of excitement is huge," he said.

Van Horn, who sells in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska, said he gets calls daily from companies running irrigation equipment in Nebraska. Airports needing to replace the Ford engines in their baggage handling and other ground service equipment will also be a large market.

The company said American Airlines alone has 9,500 vehicles likely to be converted to alternative fuels over the next decade.

While the engines drive a revenue stream for the company, engineers are working to improve the technology of engines that run on hydrogen and other clean fuels.

Bob Mendlesky, another retired Ford engineer, light ups when he describes the potential for the engines his shop is developing.

He said there are obstacles to making cars powered with hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines. To carry enough hydrogen, the fuel tank would have to be under extremely high pressure, he said. In addition, tanks made to that specification cost as much as the engine to power the car.

Hydrogen technology is better suited for generator applications and for industrial uses at its current stage of development, he said.

A better solution may be engines that run on ammonia, Hollinger said.

Development of ammonia as a fuel must include ways to improve its combustibility. Ammonia does not readily spark like other fuels, but Hollinger is determined to overcome some of the obstacles.

"I tell people that I'm no dumber now than when I was at Ford Motor Co. If I can invent at Ford, I can invent here," Hollinger said. "I don't think that there's any reason we can't. Will we? I don't know."

Hollinger said he doesn't expect his small company to make major breakthroughs in the automotive propulsion, but he's willing to work with Ford or any other company working on clean fuel technology.

"I hope in the future the automotive people will look at our stuff and incorporate some of our ideas," he said. "Somebody needs to do something now."

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Hollinger said he insisted that his company have a product to sell from day one instead of starting up as a research and development firm.

I like that attitude. I hope they do well.

[Ban Hammer 13,336]

i hope he's successful

[almaty 19]

i agree..damn the gas power engine has been around for over a 100 years..you think with the tech. changes instead of improving it then be a new and more effective non gasoline power one...i know trhe electric car etc..but this should have been a national policy back with nixon and the oil embargo..we are no differnet than crack whores, giving politcal/national blow jobs for oil..

[Ban Hammer 13,336]

i agree..damn the gas power engine has been around for over a 100 years..you think with the tech. changes instead of improving it then be a new and more effective non gasoline power one...i know trhe electric car etc..but this should have been a national policy back with nixon and the oil embargo..we are no differnet than crack whores, giving politcal/national blow jobs for oil..

that's one way to put it

[Mirorgate 0]

i agree..damn the gas power engine has been around for over a 100 years..you think with the tech. changes instead of improving it then be a new and more effective non gasoline power one...i know trhe electric car etc..but this should have been a national policy back with nixon and the oil embargo..we are no differnet than crack whores, giving politcal/national blow jobs for oil..

Dean, that is policy. Auto Manufacturers have to "improve the design and functionality" of the vehicle each year to get certain breaks from the gov'ment. Course the gov'ment states they meant better MPG... the auto makers and the oil co's then give us improvments like...... intermittent wipers, alarms that say you should buckle the seat belt, air bags in collisions for safety... adhering to letter of law, but not spirit in which one would think it was written.

so we get "improvments", that aren't really that... maybe that guy with the HHO tech does have something. who knows, guess we'll see in a bit eh?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

What about using ethanol instead of gasoline? Aside from the cost of producing alcohol from sugar cane, its not all that difficult to modify existing cars to run on it.

Works well in Brazil apparently.

[Ban Hammer 13,336]

What about using ethanol instead of gasoline? Aside from the cost of producing alcohol from sugar cane, its not all that difficult to modify existing cars to run on it.

Works well in Brazil apparently.

brazil pretty much has to do that, cause gas prices down there are not a joke. glad we don't have prices like that in the states.