Brown's Gas - The Reality

by Jon
(USA)

Brown's Gas: The Reality
Jon -.USA

Dear Chad, I worked with a researcher & manufacturer of hydrogen/oxygen gas generators during the mid- 1980's. I am a welding engineer and entered that particular business fresh from a senior technical position of 10 years with a prominent fortune 500 group. I eventually left the hydroxy gas generator industry in 1990. During my tenure with the company I co-authored several patents related to combustion modification and flame thermal map manipulation of stoichiometric 2H2O2 gas mixtures.

At this time I became directly involved in litigation proceedings with Yull Brown. Unfortunately, my colleagues and I wasted a considerable sum of money investigating Brown and his mostly ridiculous claims. Hearing Brown referred to as a "Bulgarian physicist", "world famous scientist" etc. is extremely nauseating bull****t, the man had been coaxing money from gullible investors, morons and unfortunately, innocent little old ladies in Australia for years in the late '70's and mid '80's.

Brown asserted that he had been for many years, a professional electrical engineer with Asea Brown Boveri (ABB). It was discovered however, that Brown was formerly employed by ABB as a somewhat more lowly, electrician. Furthermore, Brown unashamedly claimed the title of 'professor' (bestowed by the University of Life Sciences). When contacted in 1986, the 'University of Life Sciences" was actually a residential address (Chicago I recall), a housewife answers the telephone, she knew of Brown because he and the woman's husband had set up this "university". (her husband by the way, was unable to come to the phone because he was actually at his daytime job driving a truck somewhere).

Professor ? - yeah, right! Brown liked to quote Dr. John Bokris. I contacted Dr. Bokris at Texas A & M University in 1986. He knew of Brown but denied supporting his claims or having any involvement with Brown other than allowing Brown to store one of his primitive machines at the (rented) office at Texas A & M. Brown 'borrowed' his electolytic cell from an expired patent (Rhodes, I believe) who was possibly the forerunner at the Heynes Company (nice guys-producing good quality,small machines for the jewellery industry in the U.S. since the '60's). In latter years his cell designs were I believe, probably borrowed from the preliminary concentric nested tubular designs of "Dr". Alvin Crosby in New Zealand.

"Dr." Crosby was originally one of Brown's licensees but was forced to radically re-design Brown's machine to make it work. I became friendly with Crosby and subsequently discovered he was not a "doctor" - his sole qualification was that of automobile electrician. The "doctor" handle was used to lend credibility to "The Brown Gas Roadshow". I object most strongly to the term "Brown's Gas" - who did he think he was ? Faraday ? Cavendish ?

Using funding from a prominent New York merchant bank, we experimented at great length with proper controls and documentation, at times borrowing expensive equipment from Auckland University's physics dept. to compile data with one aim : to develop this technology to a level where it could compete with, or supersede 'standard' metalworking industry practice for oxyfuel cutting, welding and brazing. We spent several million dollars over the course of this research.

There is nothing 'wonderful' or 'not fully understood' about the combustion characteristics of the stoichiometric mixture 2H2O2. The flame burns with a comparitively low 'specific heat' per unit volume making it impractical / uneconomical for most commercial ferrous metal working businesses. Acetylene derives enormous 'specific heat' via breaking of its triple bond.

There is no way, that a hydroxy flame can compete in speed or labor with LPG or acetylene for oxyfuel gas cutting and most brazing applications, even with vapour entrainment of a wide variety of hydrocarbons including alyphatics, aromatics even double-bondeds like Toluene (methyl benzene) or the ketones, as well as alcohols to boost specic heat. In a steel cutting operation each torch will require a minimum 2000 litres/hour of hydroxy fired through the preheat slots of a modified LPG cutting tip (or un-modified MAPP) to even come close to LPG/02 oxyfuel cutting performance.

Sublimate tungsten ? read oxidation ! A potential customer would be better off investing in an pressure-swing adsorption oxygen unit and LPG fuel for oxyfuel production cutting systems. I snickered when I read that people had been trying to fusion weld steel plate with 2H2O2. Just use electric arc in its many different forms MA, MIG/MAG,FCAW,TIG...it is faster, stronger, cheaper and cleaner.

If you need to fusion weld thin steel with 2H2O2 it is possible. Methanol entrainment is something "Professor/Doctor/Engineer/Famous Scientist/Electrician" BROWN probably flogged during the discovery procedure for his litigation. What dickhead Brown did not comprehend is that you must use A.W.S.- ER70s-6 wire which is alloyed with maximum deoxidant for mig welding rusty steel plates under a CO2 atmosphere.

This wire is a common, cheap MIG wire but will (in a limited way) compensate for the lack of CO & gaseous compound interforms in the flame mantle that normally envelop and shield the weld during acetylene/oxygen welding. - precisely the same reasons why you cannot fusion weld steel effectively with LPG/OXY. Brazing most metals (of low mass) is easy, just use flux either applied externally or as a core inside the filler rod.

Accordingly, this type of equipment only has a limited place in a NICHE market. Brown attracted the "nutters" and "fringe people" with his banter of the "golden mean", free energy, atmospheric motors, passive radiators and of course, he would identify the dullards and latch on to them quickly. I must say that it is really gratifying that wankers like Pat Robertson got taken for big dollars....... tee hee hee. Brown must be laughing his t***ies off in that hot 'ol place where his soul (assuming he had one) now resides.

After all, the original suckers in Australia and in latter times the U.S., proved to be the bounteous hosts on which he, the Bulgarian electrician with the Bulgarian name, Brown ? fed - and fed really well. -Know-all Jon Good luck and Godspeed!