Dundee inventor Ken MacLeod has been given over £3000 to complete his device which he claims will make vehicles’ engines greener and use 25% less fuel.
He has spent two years developing an on-demand supplemental fuel system, which is fitted to a vehicle to reduce its emissions. It is a box six inches square and four inches deep that would normally be sited under the bonnet near the engine and contains a mix of water and a secret ingredient.
When a current is passed through the mixture, a hydrogen/oxygen gas is produced, which is siphoned off and fed into the engine along with the air and fuel that represents the normal part of the combustion process.
The device causes an enrichment of the air/fuel mix leading to greater efficiency and a 10% power rise.
Mr MacLeod is receiving £3050 from the Social Entrepreneurs Funds, delivered by support organisation Firstport, for his research.
The 51-year-old, who was recommended for the grant by the city’s Claverhouse Group, said, “My intention is you don’t have to change anything you do after fitting the unit, you don’t have to change fuel or find a special garage like you do with LPG.”
Dundee University and local transport firms will support Ken, who will fit test units on a number of different vehicles.
Academics and businesses are eagerly awaiting the results as they bid to combat rising fuel costs and reduce vehicle emissions.
“This grant has helped me massively, I’m very, very close to finishing my research, I have been doing it off my own back with my own money, which is now finished,” Mr MacLeod said.
“I’m now getting access to test equipment through the university which I could never have managed to afford on my own.”
He added, “By the end of this year, I would hope to have a more efficient working model which is ready to be the basis of a new business venture. This will also include the idea of being able to offer training and employment to, specifically, the long-term unemployed with the help of The Claverhouse Group.”
His grant is part of a strategy to encourage social entrepreneurs to test out ideas that can make a difference to people and communities and keep the economy moving.
Photo used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user Lee Jordan.