The Effect of Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) Mass on the Performance of a Fuel Cell as an Energy Source for a Prime Mover Engine
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The integration of hydrogen-based fuel cell technology as a supplementary energy source for internal combustion engines has gained increasing attention as a strategy to improve fuel efficiency and engine performance. This research investigated the effect of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) mass on the performance of an alkaline electrolysis cell used as a supplementary energy source for a gasoline-powered prime mover engine. An electrolysis cell was assembled using stainless steel electrodes immersed in an aqueous NaOH electrolyte solution to generate hydrogen and oxygen gases (oxyhydrogen or HHO), which were introduced into the engine air intake. Three experimental configurations were tested: (1) 15 g of NaOH with a 5 Ah battery at an engine speed of 2000 RPM; (2) 15 g of NaOH with a 7 Ah battery at 3000 RPM; and (3) 10 g of NaOH with a 5 Ah battery at 4000 RPM. Each configuration used 75 mL of Pertalite gasoline and 150 mL of distilled water. Baseline measurements were obtained under identical operating conditions without fuel cell integration. The results indicated that fuel cell integration extended engine operating time across all RPM settings, with an improvement of up to 52.5% at 4000 RPM, while maintaining comparable average engine speeds. The highest deviation in mean RPM compared with the baseline condition was +14.66 RPM (+0.51%), observed at 3000 RPM using 15 g of NaOH and a 7 Ah battery, indicating a slight improvement in combustion performance. These findings demonstrated that NaOH mass and battery capacity jointly influenced the HHO production rate and, consequently, affected engine performance and fuel consumption characteristics.
Copyright (c) 2026 Exel Lirio Gorung, Simon Simanjuntak , Jedithjah Naapia Tamedi Papia , Nelson Seleman Luppa , Herotje Siwi
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