Fuel System to Be Tested

(10/09/2008)    East Hampton Village Police Chief Gerard Larsen told the East Hampton Village Board last Thursday that he plans to equip one of the department’s patrol cars with a para-hydrogen system that would increase the vehicle’s miles per gallon and reduce its carbon emissions.

    Andrew Edwards, the department’s mechanic, discovered the system, the Env-E para-hydrogen hybrid retrofit generator, which is made by Simple Energy Solutions in Sag Harbor, a few months ago. He suggested that the department test it out on one of its cars.

    “A friend of mine, Bruce McMaster, stopped me one day and told me about it,” Mr. Edwards said yesterday. After further researching the Env-E, he installed it in his own Ford F250 pickup. “I’ve seen about a 30-percent increase in miles per gallon.”

    The system was created by Tony Ruiz and his partners, Ted and Fran Schiavoni, about three years ago. Today’s updated version allows a car to run partially on gasoline and partially on water.

    Installed near the car’s engine, the generator breaks that water into hydrogen and oxygen, or para-hydrogen, and then ports that mixture directly to the combustion chamber, where it replaces a part of the air that is brought in through the air intake.

    On the cars that he has tested, Mr. Ruiz has consistently seen at least an 80-percent increase in fuel efficiency and a 40-to-70-percent emissions reduction. Dave Wisner and Steve Obraitis of Fireplace Auto in East Hampton are the authorized installers of the system.

    If Mr. Edwards sees similar results on the test run, the department will probably install the system in its entire fleet of cars, he said. The Env-E costs $1,600 to install, money that is available in the department’s budget. The idea was well received by Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. and the village board.

    “With the S.U.V.s we’re trying to replace, if it does work, this may be the answer, instead of hybrids, which are costly,” Chief Larsen said.     T.S.