What about an engine that only runs on CLEAN water? I see this being most useful for someone traveling around on a Quad bike or scooter of some kind. something that would get some good MPG.
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And how would this get out of A Certain Warehouse Which May Or May Not Be Owned By The US Government?
[quote=“KA101, post:2, topic:8561”]…
And how would this get out of A Certain Warehouse Which May Or May Not Be Owned By The US Government?[/quote]
If I remember right, this is in the somewhat near future yes? so if giant chicken walkers, super duper cybernetics and laser guns are floating around, why is the engine so far fetched?
Petroleum industry lobbyists.
Petroleum industry lobbyists.[/quote]
Well if the petroleum industry would block such a engine, how come that they allowed electrical engines? 
Seriously: The concept of a engine that uses water is already planned, but to be honest: Why are there no Hydrogen engines? Those already exist!
Now comes the question: Why such engines and how would they work ingame with Hydrogen so rare?
Easy: How do we mainly get Hydrogen? Via using electricity for splitting WATER into Oxygen and Hydrogen!
How would the engine work ingame: It would be a combination of producing Hydrogen via electricity and then use the Hydrogen for combustion. So the engine takes a small amount of electricity and mainly CLEAN water.
Now comes: But why should we make/use such a thing? We already have electrical engines!
Answer: Those engines are as strong as conventional ones and you can also attach an alternator onto it to PRODUCE more charge than is used. Also they aren’t as loud as conventional engines and produce no pollution! They even return some amount of water! (far less than is used but still)
How ot acquire: Garages, vehicles with them installed (such would have also a electrical engine and some solar panels) and crafting.
How to craft them: This would be a more tricky part and require some mid/higher skills. You take an combustion engine and modify it to support the new fuel (some welding required and a electrolytic seperator [or however they are called. Also those could also be found or crafted… but takes quite some materials and electronics skill])
I hope those ideas fit the original idea
Attach alternator on hydrogen engine to electrolyze water to fuel hydrogen engin-
I am going to have to stop you, right there. This is rather poor understanding of physics: simply put, it’s a naive attempt at perpetual motion.
Yes, we do have sci-fi technology and whatnot, but a rule of thumb is that if you have a mundane (made of realistic technology) object, it has to behave in an appropriate manner.
[quote=“iceball3, post:6, topic:8561”]>Attach alternator on hydrogen engine to electrolyze water to fuel hydrogen engin-
I am going to have to stop you, right there. This is rather poor understanding of physics: simply put, it’s a naive attempt at perpetual motion.
Yes, we do have sci-fi technology and whatnot, but a rule of thumb is that if you have a mundane (made of realistic technology) object, it has to behave in an appropriate manner.[/quote]
My good person I understand physics relatively good (I know that NO combustion is perfect in power usage and the main power drain is the heat that isn’t used). The main POWER comes from the WATER/HYDROGEN which is used as fuel, the alternator is just another addition to get as much usage out of the invested energy (the alternator would just LOWER/NULLIFY [best case] the electrical usage, not provide more electrical power than is put in)
Does that please you? I just had thrown a rather “raw” idea.
But if we gonna have some more sci-fi esque stuff: Where is the fusion generator/engine? Yes, yes I know that they won’t come even near in the size of an engine anytime in the next 50+ years, BUT it could be a complete own vehicle tile which uses hydrogen (from a hydrogen tank) to produce good amounts of energy.
Furthermore a big electrolytic seperator (vehicle tile big) that takes some amount of power to create hydrogen (for the tank).
The combination would supply more energy than any vehicle could ever use. Drawback: It takes water, MUCH water and power to “kickstart” it. Also such an Fusion generator/engine could only be found deep in a lab and a bi…h to transport (200kg+ weight and bulky as hell).
^Just wanted to throw that out. 
So apparently my attempt at being facetious didn’t work.
‘The energy required to separate hydrogen from oxygen by electrolysis of water is greater than the energy expended when the two combine together again.’
tl;dr basic physics says no.
[quote=“Rivet, post:8, topic:8561”]So apparently my attempt at being facetious didn’t work.
‘The energy required to separate hydrogen from oxygen by electrolysis of water is greater than the energy expended when the two combine together again.’
tl;dr basic physics says no.[/quote]And there you go. rivtech high five
I swear i remember having the same argument against both starbound fans and devs in why water doesn’t count as a fuel. They were all sort of staunch on either blatant nisubderstanding of physics, or “handwavium makes water a fuel source suddenly.”
Perpetum engine: produces power, consumes only sanity.
The law of energy conservation breaking ITT
Not a bad idea actually. Artifact ‘engines’ that do not require fuel but do standard artifact Bad Things.
What about a battery of some sort that runs off the eldritch somethings in the nether?
When it runs out, you have to plunk it down near a portal, fight off the hordes and wait until it’s fully recharged.
“It’s fueled by the tears of physicists.”
“It’s fueled by the tears of physicists.”[/quote]
“Harness the power of the infinite number of physicists in alternate universes that are spinning in their graves!”
Why not an engine that runs off Paper, or chewing gum-- Oh how about Aspirin? Or maybe fungicide?
I mean as long as we’re throwing random shit out there that’s less abundant than gasoline in CDDA.
Physicists spinning in their graves is something that could actually happen in DDA.
The concept of water as a fuel source has existed for decades at least. My lack of knowledge in anything beyond basic physics doesn’t change that, therefore, I figured that there had to be SOME merit to the idea. As for using chewing gum instead?.. come on man, that’s just a waste of good chewing gum…
On that note though, what about a wood gasifier for fuel? you could even plop one down on a vehicle tile with a small engine, a storage battery, a floodlight, etc and be able to keep your creation inside and away from pesky creatures that would destroy it. it would vent fumes/exhaust the same as the stone fireplace/woodstove do
So i’m back and have slept now.
I KNOW that the the process of hydrogen making won’t give you more power out than you put in, I just wanted a way for turning the electrical power (which could directly used for rather weak engines compared to combustion ones) into some kind of gas like fuel and using it.
I still think that a hydrogen engine would be doable and valid but ofc the process of hydrogen making would take good amounts of power and is only good for storing the energy in some other kind of way. But using hydrogen fuel would allow us to get engines that operate on combustion level. (also the hydrogen could serve as ammunition for some weapons)
That said: There are now portals to other planes, in which some other materials exist (or artifacts). Why not use them? Some kind of artifact/material that constantly spits out electricity could be used for making hydrogen (and the researchers would all over it because of that. So only found deep in a lab in a secure vault or so).
To my point for the Hydrogen engine: I’m sure that the main reason for this topic is to have a way for making your own fuel (besides using solar and/or muscle power).
So why not give us the ability to make our own fuel? I mean there are many ways of doing that:
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Liquified coal gas: You CAN make a fuel similar to gasoline from char/coal (some european contries used it in times of fuel shortages and it’s a pretty old tech, but not very used because using oil directly is easier). It would require some chems and a PLACEABLE machine (similar to a kiln)
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ETHANOL: We can make our own alcoholic drinks with still and all, so giving us the ability to make alcohol that can be used in a engine isn’t that far off. It would require the same materials as making “normal” alcohol (sugar, water etc.) but mainly TIME and some bigger kind of still (it could run automatically without you needing you to control it) and you make it for DRIVING not for DRINKING so it wouldn’t take some “taste enhancing” materials (you could also make already existing beverages into fuel).
Ofc a Ethanol engine could be build (in RL there are garages which modify normal combustion engines into ethanol engines without changing much) or found (those would be rare and just some kind of “calming” thing towards other nations:
“Yeah, yeah nature problems and stuff. Look we have cars/engines running on ethanol, clean and all. SO QUIT YOUR WHINING AND F… OFF!”