The testing of a proto-type 1 Megawatt nickel-hydrogen reactor today appears to be a success. The Energy Catalyzer, or E-Cat, a thermal energy device that runs on a fuel of hydrogen and hosts the reaction in a nickel powder generated 479 kilowatts of power over 5.5 hours in self-sustain mode.
Sterling Allan of Pure Energy Systems was in attendance and wrote the positive report here. He took this video of inventor Andrea A. Rossi making a statement in response to a Radio Citta del Capo reporter’s query “if the test today was a breakthrough”:
Self-sustain mode means that there is no input power to continue the reaction. In this state, when the input energy is zero, the energy-out over energy-in ratio becomes infinite. The energy was computed by measuring the difference in temperature of coolant water flowing through the reactor as it turned into steam.
Why the unit performed at 479 kilowatts and not 1 Megawatt is unclear and may be due to “a glitch”. In the late-night report released by Mr. Rossi, Domenico Fioravanti, the lead engineer testing the unit and representing the Customer, indicated the system of gaskets will need to be upgraded as there are some “leaks”. [Download .pdf report formatted by Mats Lewan here along with temperature data here.]
The decision was made earlier in the day to test the unit at a lower power in self-sustain mode, rather than the full 1 Megawatt capacity. Nevertheless, generating almost one-half megawatt of power with no input over five hours is a huge accomplishment.
According to the report, the 1 Megawatt unit is composed of 107 smaller 10 kilowatt units connected in parallel and housed in a shipping container. Each 10 kW unit comprises three 3.3 kilowatt units together in parallel.
University of Bologna’s Dr. David Bianchini detected no measurable radiation above the background level being emitted from the device.
Fascinating video by Mr. Allan shows the set-up:
In attendance along with Mr. Allan was New York Associated Pressreporter Peter Svensson who had exclusive story rights through midnight, but since it will be days before his story makes it to the wire, Sterling Allan and Mats Lewan were able to release their articles this evening. NYTeknik science journalist Mats Lewan has covered the E-Cat demonstrations regularly and wrote this article here. Rounding out the media were also Focus.it.
Scientists, engineers and specialists in nuclear physics from France, Sweden, Russia, China, and Italy were also present, indicating the strong interest from around the world in this revolutionary energy technology.
The still unknown Customer for the E-Cat reactor is reportedly “happy” with the test, and ready to make the sale. Wherever the unit ends up, we are looking forward to the first commercial cold fusion energy reactor on the market, and the many more to come.
Related Links
Bologna 28 ottobre: primo resoconto del test dell’impianto da 1 MW di Andrea Rossi by Daniele Passorini 22passi Blogspot October 29, 2011
First commercial cold fusion reactor tested in Bologna by Ruby Carat October 6, 2011
Our greatest blessings come by way of madness, indeed of a madness that is heaven-sent. –‘Socrates’ on the Oracle of Delphi in Phaedo
A test of the first commercial cold fusion technology held on October 6 at the University of Bologna, Italy continues to draw debate on just how much excess heat was generated.
Excess heat is the condition of more heat energy created than equivalent energy put in a device and is the sought-after effect in cold fusion research for its potential to generate ultra-clean power to replace dirty fossil and dangerous radioactive fuels.
E-Cats link together to scale up for a 1 MW unit. Photo: Daniele PasseriniAndrea A. Rossi‘s Energy Catalyzer, or E-Cat as it is called, is essentially a hot-water boiler expected to be marketed as a thermal energy device. A small version of the reactor, which can be scaled to various levels, was the object of the test last Thursday that brought scientists from around the world to observe and measure its properties.
Preliminary data revealed that excess heat was produced; though just how much will remain unknown until reports from the various scientists in attendance are released.
An early tweet from Robert Zreick and subsequent report by NYTeknik science journalist Mats Lewan showed a lower limit of excess heat between 2-3 kilowatts. This value is a lower limit as a small amount of hot water and steam were removed from the system without measurement. Had that heated mass of water and steam been measured and the energy added to the system, the total excess heat measured would be higher.
In this particular demonstration, a heat exchanger cooled and condensed the steam emitted from the E-Cat transferring the heat to a secondary flow of water. The change in temperature of that secondary flow of water gives one measure of the energy provided by the E-Cat.
Using the data provided by Mats Lewan, this graph generated by Eric Hustedt (see below; my addition includes the arrows and text.) Both the input energy curve and the output energy curves are plotted together. Input power is in the form of electrical power and used to start the reaction between the fuel of hydrogen and its nickel powder environment. Output power was measured by the difference in temperatures of the water in a secondary loop of heated water.
At first, it appears the input power is turned on and off a few times. The output power drops during this initial (loading?) period, then begins to rise rapidly, settling on a bumpy plateau. After about four hours, around mark 15:37, the output power appears to increase rapidly again, rising almost vertically to over 6 kilowatts. The input power is then turned off to zero.
E-Cat input and output power October 6, 2011. Graph: Eric Hustedt
After the input power is turned off, notice the output power eventually reaches a maximum of 8 kilowatts. After a short decline, there are two more instances of increased output power, with a final decline after which the demonstration is ended.
The total area underneath the power output curve appears greater than the total area underneath the input power curve. Therefore, we conclude that excess heat was generated. However, the up-and-down nature of the power generated may show possible instability. Until reports from scientists who attended the demonstration are released, these musings are merely speculations.
One of the best features of cold fusion research is that there are many such systems that generate excess heat, not just nickel and hydrogen.
Excess heat graph for Pd-D system from JET EnergyHere you can see a graph of excess heat production from a palladium-deuterium system from Dr. Mitchel Swartz‘ Jet Energy, Inc. lab using his Phusor.
Notice the blue line of the output power is above the red graph of the input power. The difference in height of the two curves represents the excess heat energy generated; the Phusor cell is producing more energy than it is consuming.
The LENR-CANR Library contains thousands of papers from scientists worldwide investigating the properties of multiple types of similar energy-producing systems. Editor Jed Rothwell has a graph from Dr. Michael McKubre‘s lab at SRI International on the homepage.Excess heat graph for Pd-D system from SRI presented at ICCF10 For this palladium-deuterium system, a steady increase in measured current (in red) is compared with no increase in electrical current using a hydrogen and palladium system (in blue) control cell.
Both Dr. Swartz and Dr. McKubre are just two cold fusion researchers who have repeatedly witnessed the creation of large amounts of energy in small, tabletop ‘cells’ that use a fuel of hydrogen and/or its isotopes, and various transition metals as host to the reaction. There are many other labs, and many other scientists on the verge of unlocking the power of these systems. The enigmatic theory behind the effect may elude researchers, but the results are empirical and undeniable despite mainstream science’s refusal to acknowledge this field.
Mr. Rossi is the first to bring this science into the realm of a usable technology. Yet, even among the cold fusion community, ostracized as it is from conventional scientific circles, Mr. Rossi is an outsider, criticized for lacking discipline and method. Tensions are elevated as the emotional investment over two decades, with a corresponding lack of financial support, has reached the limit of tolerability, and the need for this technology is so great.
27 kilowatt E-Cat module. Photo: video frame by Mats Lewan
You don’t like those ideas? I got others. –Marshall McLuhan
The fact is there is no map outlining the process of rolling out a revolutionary breakthrough technology. The personal computer was dispersed into the population under the noses of Mainframe, Inc. by two young guys with their parents in the next room. The New Fire is emerging from a just-as-unconventional lone inventor who plays jazz drums and knows a good samba when he hears it.
Early steam engine diagram scanned from single sheet bought for $1.
Yes, this engineer of The New Fire demonstrates the energy of humanity’s future using a carburetor-sized heat exchanger, bathroom scales, and duc tape. A perfect scientific method performed on ideal spheres has encountered the spontaneity of jazz drums and electric tweets in a science fiction environment of artificial intelligence so pervasive it goes unnoticed. Science is being done in a world-wide lab where all times are happening at once.
Marrying high and low technologies from various ages has a name – Steampunk. The Steampunk artist rides the collision of centuries and translates that reality into objects that fuse hand-made efforts with factory-made design and modern electronics.
Steampunk Computer Photo: Steampunkworkshop.comAs our world is increasingly medievalized with parochial legislation and stiffened standards attempting to prop-up a declining civilization, Steampunk retrieves the early industrial efforts before fossil fuels, painting the Josephson junctions and digital chips with a veneer of human scale.
Steam Punk Andrea Rossi has brought world attention to a new energy technology that is in its first stages of actuality and which draws on the simple elements of hydrogen from water and a metal powder that combine to create a powerful energy that defies conventional theories of “modern” physics promising clean, abundant energy for the whole world.
Whether the device demonstrated on October 6 generated power of X kilowatts or Y kilowatts pales to the fact that we have a new energy technology – confirmed by science – that needs support for development, and promptly.
It is our best chance for a technological future on Earth.
After the October 6th Energy Catalyzer test, there’s been continual updates, graphs, number crunching, and speculation on what is next, trickling in throughout the web.
For a good summation of the test as being positive, yet could have been better, and a really good part on the psychological aspects of “inventor” versus “outsiders” which helps understand the possible nature of the testing set up which has been criticized, check out Hank Mills article – E-Cat Test Validates Cold Fusion Despite Challenges
Now an update on the U.S. partnership which I wrote yesterday that it appeared to be no longer. According to a comment on e-catworld it may still be on and the issue could be the shipping of the plant, and the partner wanting to write Rossi’s name on the U.S. bound “send to” portion of the shipment, but due to the serious U.S. legal implications regarding the shipping and hence production of, what they would see as, a “nuclear plant”, lawyers could have advised Rossi against having his name as receiver, and advised that the U.S. company should take responsibility for shipping. The commentator speculates the contract would still be signed, but the inauguration would be in Europe, not U.S.
The U.S. partner? I’ve been seeing speculations on a few sites that it could be Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, as for one that’s where the URL “E-Cat.com” redirects to. On the surface it might not sound as big as the NASA or GOOGLE speculations, but then again:
Kleiner Perkins is not a consulting company. It is a premier venture capital company with several technology funds. They were key to starting Google and Amazon and a number of other major companies. Their Green Fund is headed by Al Gore (former us VP under Clinton), and another major fund is headed by former General Colin Powell.
They are “top dog” in the VC world. If they are actually behind this, then this is as real as it gets.
Some updated information on projected pricing, designing, and longevity of the E-Cat from Rossi posts.
Projected pricing- 500euro per kw. (2500 euro for an E-Cat?)
Projected Longevity – “life of the E-Cat is 20 years”
And finally a call out for designers:
Andrea Rossi
October 8th, 2011 at 1:43 AM
Dear Francesco Toro,
The E-Cat basic module “for the People”, that we will put in commerce within months, will be 40 cm long, 40 cm large, 40 cm high, will weight 60 kg, the shape of a cube. I need a design cheap ( I want to put it in commerce at a price of 500 euros per kW) but nice, very nice. I will buy the design which I will choose and everybody has my honour word that I will not use designs not paid. I need it within two months.
Go to the report of Nyteknik (google “Nyteknic E-Cat Test October 6″) to see the pipes position: that will be it.
Please send proposals to
info@leonardocorp1996.com
I am sure that from the enthusiasm od our Readers will pop up a masterpiece.
Warm Regards,
Andrea Rossi
On October 6th the E-Cat was tested in Bologna, and initial reports back were positive: The E-Cat ran in self sustain mode for over 3 hours.
NyTeknik promised a more thorough follow up article the next day and that, along with a new video of the E-Cat from the demonstration can be found here – NyTeknik article + video
Within this article is a link for a more detailed report and temperature data as well.
Also of note in the article, is the business side of things. The U.S. partner, to whom the one megawatt heat plant was to be shipped to for the end of October test, is no longer. The shipment was blocked due to the final agreement not being satisfactory to Mr. Rossi and his legal team. So it appears the partnership is off, as of now. But, he still maintains that the October launch is on, though the whereabouts not announced.
PESWiki continues to provide updated accounts of the October 6th aftermath, including an email they received today from Rossi – PESWiki Updates
Stay tuned, and in the meantime enjoy the E-Cat music video by The Tom and Doug Show in the post below. Andrea Rossi saw it and responded:
Per il signor Rossi, e tutti i colleghi raduno a Bologna:
vi auguriamo il successo di questo test importante
della vostra energia rivoluzionaria tecnologia ed
una consegna rapida di Nuovo Fuoco per il pianeta!
To Mr. Rossi, and all colleagues gathering in Bologna:
we wish you success on this important test run
of your revolutionary energy technology and
a swift delivery of New Fire to the planet!
May we wake up tomorrow
and step on a path to freedom,
peace and prosperity for all the world.
Maggio ci svegliamo domani
e passo su un sentiero verso la libertà,
pace e prosperità per tutto il mondo.
