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Ogle Says His System Nearly Pollution Free
6/17/1977
Tom Ogle recently claimed that an exhaust emissions test made at Casa Ford in El Paso proves that his Oglemobile fuel system operate almost pollution free.
A spokesman for Casa Ford verified that the tests were made recently, although he
would not attempt to interpret the test results on what would be near-
Ogle, who has not been available for comment lately, came to the local newspaper
with an emissions printout he says support his contention that his system gets 100
mpg on gas-
Examining the test results, Ogle stated: "This means the Oglemobile is virtually pollution free, and we've done this on an old 1970 Ford Galaxie, as compared to a 1977 Ford LTD that even uses a catalytic converter."
He made his point by comparing his car to the LTD at an idle speed of about 1200 rpm. The printout showed some staggering comparisons between the exhaust emitted by both cars. The LTD, for example, which had a 351 cid engine, emitted 221 parts per million of hydrocarbons (HC), and 1.10% carbon monoxide (CO). Ogle's car, which also had a 351 cid engine, showed zero hydrocarbon emissions, and only .10% carbon monoxide, or more than 10 times less than the CO emitted by the LTD.
Although the chemical content of leaded and unleaded gas differs, the primary byproducts include unburned HC (composed of hydrogen and carbon compounds), and CO (composed of carbon and oxygen atoms). There is also nitrogen oxide and some sulphur dioxide that are emitted. All of the chemicals are considered harmful.
"They told us at Casa Ford that if we ran any cleaner we would be running on air," Ogle said. "Just these tests alone mean we would go a long way to solving part of the world's pollution problems."
Ogle said the analyzer at Casa Ford is the most accurate testing equipment you can get, and that the computer is designed to meet safety standards set forth in the 1970 Clean Air Act as well as air pollution control levels of the Environmental Protection Agency.
"These tests mean that we're burning everything in the engine we are supposed to," Ogle said.
Eddie Davis has been Casa Ford's vice president in charge of service for the past 8 years, and has been the service manager since 1954, and a mechanic since 1946. It was Davis who instructed the tests be run on the test car owned by Ogle's partner, El Paso businessman Jim Peck. "Yes," Davis said, "we ran the tests on the Oglemobile." When asked, Davis would not lend his interpretation to the results. "It would take an engineer to say what they really mean." But, he added, "The readings do look very low on the Oglemobile as far as comparing them to other conventional vehicles."
Davis said he specifically arranged for a car with a 351 cid engine to be compared with the Oglemobile. "We felt that would be most realistic." The tests, Davis said, were conducted on a highly sophisticated, $75,000 emissions analyzer that can duplicate highway driving conditions. "Our roadamatic and computer analyser is the very latest in the line of equipment designed to read engines," he added. When asked, he did not think the computer had made a mistake. "I don't know whatever is is that Ogle has done," Davis said, "but there was not a chance of an error, human or otherwise. We run tests like this all day long on all our cars."
Davis said, however, that although the Oglemobile scored such low marks for chemical pollution emissions at idle speeds, the same should not be considered true for actual city or highway driving. "At idle speed there is no load on the engine. I suggested that he run some performance tests on the Oglemobile to see how it compares to later model cars," David said. The performance tests, he added, could also be run on the Casa Ford analyser.
Ogle's contention that the exhaust emission tests can be used to determine gas mileage was based on a formula that he said the EPA uses in similar testing procedures. "The Federal Energy Administration uses an exhaust analysis," he said. Davis, however, wasn't so sure. "I don't know if you can compute fuel economy from the emissions readout or not. Tom told me that there is a way to determine fuel mileage from the exhaust test information. I had never really heard that before.
In other matters, Ogle said his Washington patent attorney was in El Paso last week. "He rode in the car, and looked it over real thoroughly. He's an engineer, and knows what's going on." Ogle said he expects to hear additional word about his patent application on his vaporized fuel system within the next few weeks. "Things are looking real good," he said, smiling broadly.
Ogle was asked about the allegation by a former physicist living in El Paso who claimed there is not enough energy in a gallon of gasoline to get 100 miles per gallon on a 5,000 pound car travelling at freeway speeds. "Naah," Ogle said, as he smoked a cigarette. Shrugging his shoulders as if to ward off silly questions, he added, "The time will come. We''ll have all the facts soon, and then nobody will be able to argue."
Ogle first tested his car on April 30th, 1977, when he and 3 passengers drove from
El Paso to Deming, N.M., a distance of about 200 miles, on less than 2 gallons of
gas. The car and its fuel system have been externally scrutinized by mechanics, professional
engineers, and one official from the Federal Energy Research and Development Administration.
The consensus has been that a hoax was not involved in the El Paso-
Paraphrased text of interview done with Tom Ogle, December 1977
Demonstration In New Lab
Ogle Refining Fuel System
12/30/1977
Tom Ogle revved the 225 horsepower engine to 2,500 rpm, then escorted his visitors to the tailpipe and asked them to take of whiff. There wasn't the usual pungent exhaust odor. Then, as if that wasn't enough, while the motor was turning at a simulated 35 to 60 miles per hour, he removed the radiator cap and stuck his finger into the coolant. It didn't burn his finger, or any of those of his visitors who tried his little experiment.
Ogle, 26, gave the local newspaper another demonstration of his controversial vaporizer fuel system that made headlines last May when he drove a 5,000 pound car from El Paso to Deming, New Mexico seemingly on less than two gallons of gas. That averages out to about 100 miles per gallon. Thursday's demonstration took place at his new laboratory at 254 Nevarez in the Lower Valley.
His claims of 100 mpg stirred the interests of El Pasoans as well as residents of
cities across the US. Another El Paso inventor, Dan McCoin, 36, who has built an
"infinitely variable transmission" that he guarantees will double fuel economy in
stop-
Ogle ran his vaporized fuel system on a 225 horsepower, 302cid Ford engine mounted on a test stand, attached to a three speed standard transmission powering two rear wheels. Prior to starting the engine, he poured a measured five gallons of gas into the specially designed, 1/4" reinforced steel fuel tank. The engine was idled for one hour at about 2000 rpm to simulate 55 to 60 mph at freeway speeds. "We figured we'd do it this way so that nobody could say we had extra fuel tanks hidden in the doors or under the seats," he said. At the end of the test, gas in the tank had not depreciated noticeably, and water in the radiator was cool enough so that McCoin could stick his finger in it without getting burned.
McCoin, who has maintained cautious asceticism about Ogle's invention since the local paper first ran stories on it last May, was briefed by Ogle on the entire mechanical apparatus. Mike Gable, who helped McCoin build his transmission, was also on hand.
The first thing Ogle did was take his visitors to the rear of the test stand for a whiff of the exhaust being emitted by the engine. "How do you like that?" Ogle asked. "There are no hydrocarbons and very little carbon monoxide coming out." McCoin and Gable both examined the exhaust. "Normally, it would burn your eyes," McCoin said.
Ogle previously had his system tested on a $75,000 emissions analyser at Casa Ford
of El Paso that indicated there was very little pollution being emitted by the engine.
During the 1-
Ogle generates vapours in his special fuel tank by running re-
McCoin's own calculations of potential fuel economy was something less than Ogle's, about half as much. "I'm still convinced that 50 mpg would be pushing the limit," McCoin said. "I'm not saying you (Ogle) can't get 100. You could have something here that nobody else has accurately interpreted. That remains to be seen.
"I'm just saying the theoretical maximum is between 300-
Ogle, however, as he has repeatedly done since his controversial story first went public, defended his position that he will get 100 miles to the gallon. "No one has ever really looked at vaporized fuel systems. They've always worked with the carburettor to get better mileage," he said.
"I've said all along that nobody knows how far you can expand gas mileage by running off vapours. We know liquid fuel can only by used to a certain point. A lot of things have never been done because nobody ever tried them. Detroit, for example, has always tried to use raw, liquid gas. What I've done is something that nobody else ever thought about doing.
I think we might be able to get this thing to do even better. It's still just in the rudimentary stages. There's still a lot of work that has to be done on the system.
Ogle proudly holds up the emissions print out.
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