Magnetic Treatment for Fuel Economy In
1991, in the UK, the Department of Trade and Industry's testing
laboratory at Warren Spring tested a magnetic device for improving fuel
economy on a Vauxhall Cavalier and found "fuel consumption improved,
power increased and emissions reduced. A Volvo F10 truck tested for
particulate smoke emissions showed a decrease of 15%."
In July 1999, Landrover Monthly
magazine tested a magnetic device which gave them a 15% improvement in
mpg on a 4.2 V8 Defender.
You will find articles on fuel economy in the Sceptics page and the Experts page
How does it work?
No-one knows. One
theory is that the magnetic treatment on the fuel line causes a more
complete mix of fuel and air in the combustion chamber.
Professor Kronenberg on the Experts page suggests that the fuel may be
'refined' further by the magnetic field 're-cracking' some of the
larger fuel molecules so that they can burn more completely.
Does it just work on petrol?
It seems to work on any fuel
that will flow through a pipe. Petrol, diesel, light and
heavy oil, natural gas, LPG, propane, butane. Some salesmen use
butane lighters to demonstrate the effects of magnetic treatment.
I've heard reports that in power
stations using a coal slurry, the injected steam can be magnetically
treated to give a similar fuel economy.
Does the same device work on vehicles and boilers?
Yes,
and no. When the vehicle devices were first used on heating
boilers and burners, some results were disappointing. Then
it was noticed that some results were disappointing on stationary test
bed engines as well. It seems that the vibration or 'jiggle' from
movement along a road made the magnets more effective. So
most designs for boilers have several poles in close proximity to
simulate that 'jiggle' or rapid change in field experienced by road
vehicles.
And boiler units seem to work fine on vehicles.
Is it easy to fit?
Yes, just apply as many as required to the vehicle or boiler fuel line and strap them in position.
However, there is a problem with
modern computer-controlled-ignition vehicles. These
computers 'sniff' the exhaust and adjust the fuel/air mixture to
produce an emissions level that matches the level the manufacturer
decided was the level for best performance.
Now the magnetic devices have
been shown to reduce the levels of emissions, so the computer would
then detune the engine to restore the emissions to the original
level. So fitting a magnetic device could degrade the
performance of the vehicle so that there is no overall improvement.
However, there is a
solution. If the magnetic device is fitted while the engine
is hot and running, the computer sees it as a natural change and
adjusts to compensate. So you can get lower emissions and
higher performance on computer-controlled-ignition vehicles.
How do you know it is working?
Many vehicles have MPG meters and economies can be seen straight away. Many
suppliers will provide charts to help customers calculate
economies. When I tried it, I found a noticeable increase in bottom
end power.
But
some suppliers will not sell to commercial installations unless they
have a good testing procedure and keep good enough records to demonstrate how
effective the devices are.
Is it worth trying?
Only if you can get a good money back guarantee. There are devices on sale that do not work well.
