Hi Moonie
Pythagorean said:
The way Moonbear heard it seems more reasonable, since theoretically: [tex]E + 2H_2 O = 2H_2 + O_2[/tex]
where E is energy.
But then there's at least two important questions to ask:
1) how much Energy is required; does a fryer produce it?
No way, thermal decomposition of water requires insane temperatures - over 2000 deg C for a single digit percent decomposition.
On the other hand, water doesn't have to decompose first, such thing could be a several step process, yielding a similar final result. But I find it highly unlikely.
2) how much water is required to produce enough hydrogen to saturate the food (in a dilution of peanut oil?) to a significant level?
This is the simplest part. Assuming oil is a trigliceryde with three monounsaturated fatty acids, each 18 carbons long, its molar mass is 879 g/mol. There are three double bonds, so in theory it can react with up to three moles of water. In other words - you would need 56 g of water to fully saturate 879 g of oil. That's not exact, as oil is not just a single trigliceryde, but IMHO it is a quite good estimate
I can be wrong, but I don't like this explanation. Water can be added to the double bond, that's a well known reaction, but it doesn't yield alkane and oxygen - it yields secondary alcohol. Besides, water has much better place to attack - it can hydrolise the ester, yielding glycerin and fatty acid itself. The latter reaction is catalyzed by bases and acids, so it won't be very fast in the fryer, but seems much more likely to me.