why the world ignored us and now looks for it

Over the years and due to the increase in the price of oil, companies and inventors have been looking for more efficient and economical alternatives, as was the case with the first photovoltaic car. But this interest in innovating comes from a long time ago, an example of this was Arturo Estevez Varelawho designed and patented the first Spanish water engine.
For many this invention was a true fraud, while for others it was considered an interesting innovation. However, this engine hid a mystery that its inventor never wanted to reveal, since it is impossible for an engine runs only on water, So what was the secret to making it work?
The inventor of the engine: A genius or a fraud?
Arturo Rufino Estévez Varela, was born in Valle de la Serena and studied Industrial Technique at Areneros in Madrid. Later, as head of a mechanical workshop, he began to patent inventions in 1931, reaching almost a hundred inventions.

His fame increased in 1970, when he presented an invention that recovered space rocket parts that then remained in the atmosphere. He called this system “wing plane,” an invention that interested NASA technicians. Then, taking advantage of his popularity, he presented for the first time in 1971 the controversial “water engine”
During the public demonstrations Estévez used a moped in which he had replaced the gasoline tank for a hydrogen one, Then he filled the generator with water that he had drunk and in this way the engine worked.
The mystery hidden in the Spanish “water” engine
To this day everyone wonders How did the inventor get the engine to work? The answer is indeed with water, but also with hydrogen. Water is only one of the pillars of his invention, another of them was hydrogen and the third remains a mystery.
Previously, Estévez stated that hydrogen came from an amorphous paste to which water was added. This paste was the result of a “sand” supposedly invented by himself and mixed with 20% charcoal, treated in an oven at 1,800 degrees.
For his part, the inventor handed over the patent for his invention to the State without charging a single peso. “My patent, the license for Spain, I transfer free of charge to the State for the benefit of all Spaniards”.
Then the famous Spanish engine reached the ears of Francisco Franco (a member of the military leadership that carried out the 1936 coup against the democratic Government) who commissioned a technical analysis where it was predicted that this secret material It could be boron.
Does it make sense that the secret ingredient is boron?
This mystery has been a great challenge for science, since it is known that water alone cannot burn inside an combustion engine, so a mineral substance such as boron is necessary to create a chemical reaction.
From this reactionHydrogen gas is released, which is led to the engine injection system to be burned inside the chamber, and as a byproduct, boron is oxidized, releasing heat.”adds Pablo Ibáñez, journalist.
For his part, the inventor denied that this substance was boron and stated that it was a much cheaper material. Currently, this continues to attract the attention of some experts who have formulated different theories, some believe that the substance could be ferrosiliconused in the 20th century in airships and static balloons to produce hydrogen, but there is no further evidence either.
Estévez’s invention worked and water was an essential pillar, however water is practically free, while boron has a very high cost. Additionally, boron oxide can be recovered and recycled but requires a large amount of energy, which dramatically increases costs.
Specifically, Ibáñez states that between the combustion of hydrogen and the recycling of boron oxide, 4.4 times the “energy we get in the car.”
Similar to what was the mysterious Swedish engine, the water engine remains a mystery but the idea of creating an engine with water remains attractive, although another secret ingredient would have to be found to really make it viable.