This article discusses Gunnerman's other venture A-55 Inc. Still no revenues.
An IPO for A-55 was pulled in 1999, but the prospectus is here. sec.gov
tahoe.com
Sunday, June 13, 1999 2:38 AM
Reno Scientist invents water-based lower polluting fuel
By JOHN SAMMON
RENO - An alternative fuel invented by Reno scientist Rudolf W. Gunnerman has the potential to change the world and end the oft-quoted complaint, "They can put a man on the moon, why can't they build a non-polluting car?"
"The breakthrough came last January 1," Gunnerman said. "This didn't happen overnight."
For years, Gunnerman experimented with solid fuels, at times helped by grant funding or investors.
"I own a lot of patents," he said.
An orphan in Germany during World War II, Gunnerman emigrated to the United States in 1949 at the age of 21 with one suitcase and $20, brought to the U.S. by an offer to be a university teaching assistant. He went on to build a multimillion-dollar business, first as a retail business entrepreneur, and then by starting environmental technology-oriented companies.
Gunnerman's work to apply science to human needs began in the 1960s, with his development of heat-barrier materials that could be used to make fire-proof products, such as fire-safe doors. Thousands of homes were built with the fire-proof materials in Alaska, California, Mexico, Egypt and Japan.
In the mid 1970s, concerned about wood smoke pollution shrouding areas of the Pacific Northwest, he developed a wood-pellet technology that produced a cleaner fuel from wood-waste - now widely used.
In the 1980s, Gunnerman began experimenting with blending water and ethanol to produce clean fuel for internal combustion engines. Realizing there would not be enough corn to produce the ethanol needed, he began using petroleum as a base. He started testing a mix of petroleum and water, binding the elements together with a unique combination of additives.
After years of testing and refining, Gunnerman came up with a water-based emulsion (30 percent water), so that the harmful effects of water in engines was eliminated, while the low-emissions benefits of the emulsion were retained.
The result are much cleaner fuels, called "A-55," the same name as the private company set up to market the product.
"The water is within the oil," Gunnerman explained. "Inside the engine, the water turns to steam and explodes the carbon particles out (called atomization). The drops ejected are smaller. There is faster combustion.
"It cuts pollution that goes into the air," he added. "This fuel runs cleaner in a car without a catalytic converter than regular gas in a car with one."
Gunnerman added that the fuel can be used in your auto with no major engine modifications or loss in performance. The fuel could be priced cheaper than the current price of gas.
"Just a little change in the engine's timing will accommodate this fuel," he said.
Gunnerman said in the past, fuels had additives like MTB, supposed to cut air pollution. However, MTB reportedly pollutes water supplies, and many gas producers have removed it.
"They'll put one chemical (MTB) to offset with another," Gunnerman explained. "It usually only makes it worse."
The scientist also developed an alternative diesel fuel that cuts pollution by over 50 percent.
"Diesel is very-polluting," Gunnerman said.
The diesel fuel is currently being tested in bus lines around the country.
He said large oil companies seem receptive to his ideas, partly because oil is used in the product. Recently, he journeyed to Russia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, where officials are interested in the cleaner burning fuel technology for vehicles and power plants.
"Pollution is a major problem in Russia, where they have coal and oil-powered power plants," Gunnerman noted.
As a result of his work, the awards have started coming in.
Gunnerman was recognized as the International Society "Man of the Year" for science and technology, a worldwide honor. Dubna International University in Russia granted him an honorary doctorate and the scientist also got the "Peter the Great Gold Medal" from the Russians, awarded to scientists and entrepreneurs.
He was also named 1999 Executive of the Year by the International Scientific-Executive Hall of Fame, an organization founded in 1963 to honor global contributions by scientists and business executives. |
