Benjamin Drose has a degree in political science and is a technical writer by trade. Ben started the blog e-Cat Site in the Fall of 2011 to cover the story of Andrea Rossi and subsequently joined Cold Fusion Now, bringing his interest in the business of LENR with him. Contact Ben
When you come to a fork in the road, take it! — Yogi Berra
Being able to replicate a scientific discovery is one of the mainstays of the scientific method. Difficulty in replicating the Fleischmann and Pons experiment in 1989 has given rise to the widely held myth that cold fusion in fact has never been replicated. Of course this is not true. The number of documented replications runs in the thousands. Yet, even a number in the 1000s is small in the grand scheme of things. The reasons for this are myriad, including the lack of a clear theoretical understanding of the phenomenon, poor funding, the complicated nature of the calorimetry setup, etc. Aside from those things, there is often the desire to keep important parts of replication process out of the public domain because of lack of patent protection. Because cold fusion has been forced to fly commercial because of a lack of access to funding and support through traditional scientific channels, the technology is being developed under a different model than most scientific discoveries of this significance. Cold fusion is now being developed like a business, including reluctance to share information to potential competitors and closely guarded trade secrets and, concomitantly, absolutely no obligation to the public at large to share findings or methods.
However, things have begun to change in this regard with the emergence of Francesco Celani’s cold fusion wires, and the continuing development of the Athanor/Hydrobetatron of Ugo Abundo and his students and colleagues at the Pirelli High School in Rome. Although these cells may never prove to be commercially viable, both may provide a replication pathway that serves to provide answers as to how and why, and subsequently disseminate that knowledge widely. When this happens, widespread replication can truly begin.
The recent 8-page article in Popular Science may serve to plant the seed of interest in the general public. While the article did not endorse the technology per se, it did lend it a sense of credibility that has been sorely lacking for 2 decades. Popular Science has been a publication read by the educated layman since its inception in 1873. The importance of establishing some degree of credibility with that demographic cannot be understated. It was this demographic that brought us the personal computer. It was after reading an article in a similar publication, Popular Electronics, in 1975 about the Altair 8800, that set Bill Gates out to start a company that would eventually become Microsoft. In addition, the co-founders of both Microsoft and Apple (Gates/Allen & Job/Wozniak) were members of Homebrew Computer Clubs, which were bands of computer hobbyists and enthusiasts who met regularly to exchange information, parts and ideas. In essence, Homebrew Clubs were an early form of crowdsourcing, wherein small groups of technically savvy people worked independently, but in a collaborative fashion, to solve problems and overcome technical difficulties as related to early manifestations of the PC.
Altair 8800
With the recent release of the “The Believers” and several balanced articles in mainstream magazines including Popular Science (Scientific American notwithstanding), the seeds of credible interest are being sewn to a wider audience. As more people become aware that there is something to cold fusion, interest will surely grow and the desire to replicate will surely follow. We saw a wave of replication efforts of the e-Cat last year as word of Rossi spread across the web. However, these efforts were mostly shots in the dark because Rossi provided so few details. The next wave of replication attempts will be among people with much more information, as both Abundo and Celani have made a concerted effort to provide a great deal of detail with the precise goal of enabling widespread replication.
The Martin Fleishmann Memorial Project is currently sponsoring three groups attempting to replicate the Celani cell. The slide show below outlines the rationale and plan for sponsoring replications.
The three groups enlisted in this replication effort so far are working separately but will be collaborating, sharing information and discussing technical issues. These are the seeds of cold fusion crowdsourcing. In the video below, a member of the EU replication team receives a shipment prepared by another team, the Hunt Utilities Group. The shipment includes all the necessary equipment to set up a replication, including the cell itself and a PC with custom software to monitor experimental results. Per the video description:
“This is a trial run for when we are ready to ship second generation reactors around the globe in the event of successful internal Celani replications”.
As you watch Matthew of the EU team unbox the cold fusion kit from HUG, he looks like a youngster at Christmas opening up one of his presents. Now imagine, if you will, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of others being able to purchase a similar setup for their own replication attempts. Per quantumheat.org:
“We will be setting up a Crowd-sourcing initiative soon. It will be listed right here and elsewhere when we do. The idea of a global, grass roots effort overcoming the institutional biases and bringing this to the attention of mainstream science and industry is so cool. Of course, a visionary philanthropist who recognizes the potential of this and funds the whole historic initiative also makes a good story.”
One of the groups involved in this replication attempt is, as mentioned, the Hunt Utilities Group of Pine River, MN. This group is dedicated to fostering sustainable living, and has been involved in different alternative energy technologies for at least a decade. On the HUG site there is a section that describes how the group became interested in LENR. Members of this group became aware of Rossi in January of 2011 and have been following the developments regarding the e-Cat ever since. Eventually, it became obvious that something very real and significant was happening and members of HUG decided to transition from watching on the sidelines to active participation.
“So, we started studying, built a safety lab to handle hydrogen and nano-powder safely, built a clean room (relative to the rest of the shop) and started gathering and building test equipment. The fun part is that the learning curve is so steep, we need mountain climbing gear. Our shop staff quickly evolved from a loose bunch of individuals into a focused team. We feel lucky. We also feel a sense of destiny that we happen to have the right team with the right tools at the right time.”
Furthermore, the Hunt Utilities Group embraces the collaborative, crowdsourcing model:
“HUG envisions a unique approach to collaboration in the LENR field that would ideally catalyze progress for the encumbered information sharing process. With open information sharing via crowdsourced blogging, ideas can be traded quickly without delay. Live data could be posted for review, criticisms, interpretation, and suggestions from peers and collaborators. At the expense of immediate intellectual property rights, the accelerating benefits could prove an invaluable asset leading to certified patents.”Source.
To help those attempting to replicate Celani, Earthtech.org of Austin, TX (home of NI), has set up a cold fusion device verification service. Per a recent comment on E-Cat World, the service works thusly:
“Harold Puthoff, the CEO, would pass the making of the Celani device to Scott Little, for lab replication and testing, if asked, and have the costs absorbed by the Institute for Advanced Studies at Austin.
Any cold fusion device that passes their testing would be immediately recognized world-wide as “officially” verified.”
In addition to the replication of Celani, replication attempts of the Athanor/Hydrobetatron cell of Ugo Abundo of the Pirelli High School in Rome have spread to North America. There is now a replication attempt of that cell being undertaken at the Gladstone Secondary School, in Vancouver, British Columbia. This is of course the same city where Defkalion Green Technologies is making its new home.
In a comment posted a couple of weeks ago on the Defkalion Forum, a user with the screen name “HappyRocker,” announced the school’s involvement in an Athanor replication attempt. A member of the faculty of that school posted a comment on the DGT Forum and requested a visit to the new Defkalion offices in Vancouver. Short of that, this commenter requested a visit by a Defkalion representative to the school to explain the basics and/or lend a hand with the calorimetry setup of their replication attempt. It should be noted, aside from any support from Defkalion with issues regarding calorimetry, the Vancouver school has enlisted the services of an expert in calorimetry from Vancouver’s Simon Fraser University to assist them with this important aspect of the experiment.
Since the original posting, more details have emerged about this work. The school has named their project the EC2, or EC squared (short for electro-chemistry electron capture). They have setup a project blog for students involved with the work, which can be viewed here. In the future they also plan to set up a fundraising effort through Kickerstarter.com, and they hope to sell coffee mugs, T-shirts and quite possibly even replication kits. Preliminary testing in regards to the EC2 project is to begin very shortly.
Gladstone Secondary School – Vancouver, BC
I think the promise of widespread, crowdsourced replications of some cold fusion cell were summarized recently by Jed Rothwell on Vortex-l. His comments were primarily in regards to the Celani cell but the same could be said of the Athanor, or any other potential cold fusion replication kit meant for a more general audience.
We can hope that the Celani device, replicated by 5 or 10 labs, will convince hundreds more researchers than we now have.
Many of them will replicate, triggering thousands more. Once you get up to a million people who believe it, money starts pouring in, and thousands get to work frantically developing the technology.
At that point it does not matter how many people still do not believe the technology is real.
I think the whole cold fusion community, scientists, researchers and advocates alike, were outraged by the cold fusion hit piece that was recently posted on Scientific American. Believe me, I was as perturbed as many of the rest of you. I had an article full of righteous indignation and anger but never posted it. While I am still perturbed, a couple of days of reflection have allowed me to gain a bit of perspective.
Scientific American is the oldest continuously-published monthly magazine in the United States. It has been in circulation for 167 years. Many famous scientists, including Einstein, have contributed articles to the publication during it’s over century and half of existence. However, its reputation has been in a slow and steady decline for the past half-century. The decline in its once stellar reputation has been even steeper in the last decade, where its contributors have taken questionable stances on a variety of issues, including commentary on political matters like the Iraq War. The publication also did not endear itself to anyone when it raised its college library subscription rate by 500% in 2009. No, this is not your great grandfather’s Scientific American, any more than cold fusion is the kind of nuclear power your mother told you about.
Cold Fusion Now Bumper Sticker
It is in this environment that we find the quasi-scientific blog of Jennifer Ouellette’s, Cocktail Party Physics. That name alone should tell us that this is not really an overly serious endeavor. The author herself admits her forte is “finding quirky connections between physics, popular culture, and the world at large.” She has written several books in this vein, one of which extols her bravery in overcoming her fear of calculus. On the other hand, most serious about science overcome their fear of calculus by the time they graduate high school. Cold Fusion Now’s own Ruby Carat would think it immodest to call herself a serious scientist but has an academic background in physics and a graduate degree in mathematics. She obviously overcame any “fear of calculus” many moons ago and didn’t think it was such a big deal that she had to write a book about it. If Ouellette is gracious enough to accept Ruby’s invitation for a chat about her article over cocktails, I hope it is live streamed over the Internet. That is one conversation I would like to be privy to.
Yet, Jennifer’s approach to science and its relation to the world at large would have made her a perfect candidate to give us a review of “The Believers.” It would have been right up her alley. Instead, when someone mentioned the film to her, she inexplicably choose to write a 3000 word article espousing every myth and sophomoric joke about cold fusion perpetuated for the last 20 years, and never actually bothered to see the film. A bit curious to say the least.
The question is why? What was the purpose and point of doing this as a response to the release of a film that won top honors at the Chicago Film Festival? Well, there are some interesting theories about that. For example, Dr. Michael McKubre suspects the article is a “concerted effort by several leading members of the opposition.” This according to comments made recently by Jed Rothwell on Vortex-l. Some might dismiss that notion as a cock-eyed conspiracy theory but, upon further review, there might be something to that suspicion.
For example, Ouellette’s husband is Sean Carroll, a senior research associate in the Department of Physics at the California Institute of Technology, or CalTech. Yes, that would be the same CalTech whose failed replication attempts were largely conducted before many details of the original experiments have been released (as was the case with many reported replication failures). It was CalTech physicist Steven Koonin that infamously said that Fleishmann and Pons were “psychotic and delusional.” Indeed, the anti-cold fusion bias runs deep at CalTech. One can imagine that Jennifer has heard many cold fusion stories over the years from her CalTech physicist husband and his colleagues.
Steven Koonin
It should also be noted that Ouellette writes a column for a publication of the American Physical Society, the APS News, entitled “This Month in Physics History.” In an interview on the “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” this author describes the nexus and ongoing association with the mainstream physics establishment:
“I was actually a freelance writer in New York City trying to make a living , and it turns out the physicists would pay me. It is really as simple as that. They needed someone who could put physics concepts into plain English that would be able to appeal to a broader audience.”
http://youtu.be/4J-8a2NPHUE
As any student of literature knows, many of the earliest written stories in human history where myths handed down through generations via the oral tradition practiced by story tellers. The individual who actually put these myths to paper did not have to vouch for their accuracy or truthfulness. That was not their role. It seems that our “recovering English major,” Jennifer Ouellette, is playing the role of modern scribe for the myths of the mainstream physics community regarding cold fusion. This may explain why she shut down the comment section of her blog with the quickness. She was not able to appropriately counter the evidence provided that contradicted the 20 year old myths she strung together in her article. As pointed out previously, and as reiterated in the interview above, we are talking about an individual who, basic calculus aside, is “terrified of math and physics.” Having to talk about things in ways that require critical thought and examination of all the evidence probably sends her running for her cocktail shaker or the neighborhood pub.
As the saying goes, when considering praise or criticism, consider the source. Yes, I know, it is easier said than done. For those who have done their research, to hear old myths repeated with ignorant certainty as scientific truths is infuriating. But we must keep in mind that if a 20 year old myth, regurgitated by a writer who is “terrified of math and physics,” is all there is to worry about, we are in pretty good shape. So, sit back, enjoy a cocktail of your own, and try not to let scientific fundamentalists and the ignorant make you see red. I have an inkling that very shortly (within months), there will be a significant LENR disclosure and those who continue to cling to tired old myths will look as foolish as the cocktail party attendee who has had one too many and ends up donning a lamp shade on their head.
As has been pointed out previously, as developments regarding LENR continue to occur at an increasing pace, and from a growing number of individuals and companies, it is sometimes difficult to keep track of relevant news. In the last article, I tried to bring everybody up-to-date with news regarding Defkalion as they transitioned from Greece to Canada. Now I would like to take a closer look at Brillouin Energy Corporation.
For those who have been following the story closely, there is nothing new to report per se. Many are already aware that Brillouin, as reported first here on Cold Fusion Now, has received a patent for their technology from the Chinese government. They have also entered into a formal agreement with SRI International to further develop and scale up their NHB (New Hydrogen Boiler) technology as the next step towards commercialization. BEC has also negotiated with Sunrise Securities of New York, NY, for a “second stage” $20 million conditional investment agreement. If Brillouin meets the conditions set out in the agreement, which includes making a preliminary agreement to retrofit a small (5-10 MW) conventional power plant, the $20 million investment from Sunset Securities will make Brillouin the most robustly capitalized company in the LENR field.
In this article I would like to bring attention to two presentations given by Brillouin in the last few months. The first is a document the company presented at ICCF-17. Most readers of this site were unable to attend the conference in South Korea and may have missed Brillouin’s disclosure of recent experiments done with Michael McKubre of SRI International. Many have heard of this collaboration but have been unable to look at the data. A PDF of this presentation has been available on-line but many are not aware of it or have not had the access or inclination to view it. With the permission of Robert Godes, CTO and president of Brillouin, I have reformatted the PDF to fit on this web site in order to provide access to a greater number of people. Secondly, at the bottom of the page, I have included a slide show presentation released by Brillouin that outlines the technology and gives an overview of their plans for commercialization. This presentation also includes details of their agreement with Sunrise Securities (see slide #14).
I hope readers find this information enlightening and that it will foster a better understanding of the important and careful work being done by BEC. I hope you will refer interested friends and colleagues to this article for that same purpose.
Controlled Electron Capture and the Path Toward Commercialization
Robert Godes[1], Robert George[1], Francis Tanzella[2], and Michael McKubre2 [1] Brillouin Energy Corp., United States, reg@brillouinenergy.com [2] SRI International, United States
Abstract
We have run over 150 experiments using two different cell/calorimeter designs. Excess power has always been seen using Q pulses tuned to the resonance of palladium and nickel hydrides in pressurized vessels. Excess energies of up to 100% have been seen using this excitation method.
Index Terms– Cold Neutrons, Electrolysis, Electron Capture, Excess Heat.
I. BACKGROUND
We started with the hypothesis that metal hydrides stimulated at frequencies related to the lattice phonon resonance would cause protons or deuterons to undergo controlled electron capture. If this hypothesis is true then less hydride material would be needed to produce excess power. Also, this should lead to excess power (1) on demand, (2) from light H2O electrolysis, and (3) from the hydrides of Pd, Ni, or any matrix able to provide the necessary confinement of hydrogen and obtain a Hamiltonian value greater than 782KeV. Also, the excess power effect would be enhanced at high temperatures and pressures.
Brillouin’s lattice stimulation reverses the natural decay of neutrons to protons and Beta particles, catalyzing this endothermic step. Constraining a proton spatially in a lattice causes the lattice energy to be highly uncertain. With the Hamiltonian of the system reaching 782KeV for a proton or 3MeV for a deuteron the system may be capable of capturing an electron, forming an ultra-cold neutron or di-neutron system. The almost stationary ultra-cold neutron(s) occupies a position in the metal lattice where another dissolved hydrogen is most likely to tunnel in less than a nanosecond, forming a deuteron / triton / quadrium by capturing the cold neutron and releasing binding energy.
This would lead to helium through a Beta decay. The expected half-life of the beta decay: if J_(4H)=0−, 1−, 2−, τ1/2 ≥ 10 min; if J_(4H)=0+, 1+, τ1/2 ≥ 0.03 sec[1]. Personal correspondence with Dr. D. R. Tilley confirmed that the result of such a reaction would be β¯ decay to 4He.
Early Pd/H2O electrolysis experiments used a well-mixed, open electrolysis cell in a controlled flowing air enclosure. The temperature probes were verified to +/- 0.1°C at 70°C and +/- 0.3°C at 100°C. We simultaneously ran live and blank (resistive heater) cells, maintaining identical constant input power in both cells. High-voltage, bipolar, narrow pulses were sent through the cathode and separately pulse-width modulated (PWM) electrolysis through the cell (between the anode and cathode). Input power was measured using meters designed to measure power high frequency (HF) PWM systems. NaOH solutions were used for high conductivity. Differential thermometry suggested excess power up to 42% and 9W (Fig. 4[2]).
II. EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Fig. 1 Components of the Brillouin Wet Boiler
Our recent test data were generated autonomously through the use of a fully instrumented pressurized test vessel that permits much greater control over experiments than was possible using the “open container” test cells from Phase One experiments.
A. Reactor Components
The components of the most recent closed-cell Wet Boiler are shown in Fig. 1.
Those components include:
• A 130bar pressure vessel with a band heater
• A 28AWG (.31mm) Ni 270 cathode
• Ni 270 wire mesh anode
• 0.5 liter of 0.15 to .5M NaOH solution
• Thermal transfer oil coolant loop with a heat exchanger. MobilTherm 603
• Platinum resistive temperature detector’s (RTD’s) measuring input and output coolant temperatures.
• Mass Flow meter in the coolant line.
• An catalytic recombiner , used for safety.
• Resistance heater for calorimetric calibration
B. Power Measurements
We performed conservative measurement of the input power into the reaction chamber and the control board. All inputs, including inductive and logic circuits losses, are counted as power applied to the system All power used for stimulation and control of the cell is measured. The power delivered to the band heater is provided by a Chroma 61602 programmable AC source.
A 100 MHz Fluke 196C oscilloscope meter, operating in “AC (rms) + DC” mode, was used to measure the all input cell power applied to the primary control system. Output power is calculated from the heat removed from the inside of the test cell by pumping an organic fluid (MobileTherm 603) through a heat exchanger immersed in the electrolyte inside the cell. The electrolyte is heated by the stimulation of the electrodes. An external heat exchanger extracts heat from the circulating organic fluid. The net heat in and out is carefully measured and the difference is tabulated. The flow rate is measured by a positive displacement flow sensor (Kytola 2950-2-AKTN). 100Ω platinum RTD’s are used to measure the cooling fluid’s inlet and outlet temperatures, placed just before and just after the cooling loop, respectively. Room temperature in the immediate environment of the test cell is also measured using a 100Ω platinum RTD.
Heat also escapes from the test cell via conductive and radiative loses. Heat flows out of the test cell through the top of the test cell, its supporting brackets to a shelf, and through its insulation. This is accounted for in the software, following extensive calibrations of the cell running with out stimulation pulses (Q).
The bias of the measurement scheme is to under-report thermal output. The electrolysis recombination activity in the headspace of the vessel increases the amount of the conduction and radiative losses at the top of the cell as it heats up and conducts more thermal energy through its mechanical supports. These losses become less significant at higher operation rates as the recombination heat layer moves down to the point where the heat exchange can begin to pick up more of that recombination energy.
C. Cell Calibration and Operation
This system recovers 98% of the heat input by the control band heater alone. The circulating oil is not able to remove all of the recombination energy in the test cell. A significant amount of the recombination energy escapes by conduction through the brackets that secure the cell to the shelf that holds it in place. The method chosen to measure these parasitic heat losses is simple and accurate. The test cell has an electric resistance heating unit called the band heater. The band heater uses a known quantity of watts to heat the entire system to a selected temperature: 70, 80 or 100 degrees C. It takes 132 watts from the band heater to heat and hold the vessel to 70 degrees C with the cooling oil circulating in the cooling circuit. Measurements of the circulating oil show that the oil continuously removes 90 watts at this set point. The difference (delta) is 42 watts and this is the amount heat is “lost” from the vessel by thermal conduction and radiated heat. At 80 degrees C, the calculated parasitic loss figure is 45 watts and at 100 degrees C the parasitic loss is 47 watts.
Using this simple technique, at these three set points the amount of heat leaves the system in excess of that removed by the circulating oil is quantified to calibrate the measurements. This information is used in the data shown in the following slides. Table 1 shows the parasitic heat losses at 70, 80 and 100°C.
Table of Calibration Power Loss Terms
The cell/calorimeter is designed to operate at up to 200°C and up to 130bar. The pressurized cell is controlled using LabView® software (National Instruments, Austin, TX, USA) that continuously and automatically collects information about energy flow in and out of the test cell. All experimental data are methodically and systematically archived and recorded to disk. The thermal load due to radiative and conductive losses, in addition to that collected by the heat exchanger, are approximately 400 watts at a vessel temperature of 100°C but can achieve more than 2000 watts at 200°C. The working fluid’s inlet temperature is maintained using a re-circulating chiller (Neslab RTE111).
During operation we have applied up to 800 total watts. The only input to the system is electric power and the only output from the system is heat.
The AC stimulation consists of alternating high voltage positive and negative pulses, approximately 100ns wide, of duty cycles up to 1% or repetition rates of up to 100 KHz
III. RESULTS
Representative results of experiments operated in our pressurized cell/calorimeter are described below. Excess power is defined as the number of watts generated in the cell exceeding that supplied to the cell. The ratio of output to input power is often plotted as percentage.
When the output, for example, is twice that of the input, the amount of excess power is 100%.
The following experiments described herein were designed to measure excess power produced using proprietary electrical stimulation of nickel containing dissolved hydrogen.
A. Experiment 1
Experiment 1 yielded excess power of over 50% for approximately 2 days. Fig. 2 shows the calorimetric results and effect of stimulation frequency soon after 50% excess power was measured in the cell.
Fig. 2. Calorimetric results from experiment 1
The amount of excess power shown on the screen is approximately 59 %. During this time period there was 107 watts in, 170 watts out, yielding 63 watts excess power, with the cell temperature at 76°C and pressure of 84bar. Approximately 32 watts power was applied to the catalyst and is included in the 107W total input power.
B. Experiment 2
Fig. 3 plots the power and temperature recorded during a complete 66-hour Ni/H2O electrolysis experiment.
Fig. 3. Plot of power and temperature versus time for Experiment 1
Excess power of over 50% was recorded for much of this experiment. We repetitively swept Q repetition rate while stepping up Q amplitude and then a third parameter affecting Q shape to examine the effects and interplay among them.
The excess heat produced during this run shown in Figure 3 declined as additional power was applied. The red line plots the percentage of excess power, blue the sum of the electrical inputs, and green the temperature of the test cell. The repetitive spikes in the data are due to the cycling of Q repetition rate and the downward sloping trend indicates the increase in power to a change in the shape of the Q pulses. This slide indicates that the level of the production of excess power does not rely exclusively on input power since increasing input power reduced absolute amount of excess power. The automated test system now has the ability to automatically sequence 4 separate input variables. When the Q pulse shape stepped out of an optimal operating point the red and blue plots crossed.
C. Experiment 3
Fig. 4 plots the calorimetric and temperature data for a subsequent Ni/H2O electrolysis experiment.
Fig. 4. Calorimetric data for Experiment 3
In this experiment we examined the effect of changing specific input parameters. This plot shows a thermal output 50% greater than input for 14 hours. A gradual increase in temperature tracks small incremental increases in both the DC and AC currents. This continued for 12 hours past the end of this plot as seen in Fig. 5., which shows the sharp response of the system to input power while everything else was held constant.
Fig. 5. Calorimetric results from Experiment 3 continued
A jump in excess heat from less than 55% to almost 70% was produced using the settings input during the second half of the experiment on February 15th. Learning from this data, we modified electric inputs to exceed these results.
D. Experiment 4
Fig. 6 plots the calorimetric and temperature data for part of a Ni/H2O electrolysis experiment. While holding total input power constant Q pulse shape was changed, which yielded excess power production in excess of 75% for approximately 11 hours.
Fig. 6. Calorimetric results from Experiment 4
After achieving a thermal steady state, the system performed well for the duration of the test. Subsequently a new set of input parameters were utilized in this experiment, after which the excess power peaked at approximately 85% and was above 80% for more than seven hours.E. Experiment 5
Fig. 7 plots the calorimetric and temperature data for part of a Ni/H2O electrolysis experiment.
Fig. 7. Calorimetric results from Experiment 5
This was the first time the excess power exceeded 100%, meaning the “watts out” were twice the “watts in.” Certain electrical inputs to the cell were changed deliberately in a proprietary manner effecting Q frequency content.
This experiment is important because it shows both our upward discovery trend and because it exceeded the important 100% milestone. These set of representative experiments showed that we have progressed well beyond the results with the open-cell experiments described in the Background section.
F. Experiment 6
Experiment 6 shows the effect of changing the repetition rate of the high voltage stimulation pulses. Figure 8 plots the input and output powers, percent excess power, and the Q pulse repetition rate. Output power is shown in blue, input power is shown in green, and excess is shown in red as a percentage. The proprietary repetition rate of the pulses is plotted without scale in turquoise.
Fig. 8 Effect of Repetition Rate on Excess Power
For five days, excess power from the induced thermal reaction in nickel hydride averaged approximately 20% during times when the wave form at a given repetition rate was applied to the nickel hydride. Total applied power was above 450 watts. When the repetition rate was reduced excess power fell significantly, even though the input power rose. On seven different occasions when total applied power to the system was above 450 watts, and the repetition rate was reduced, excess power dropped from approximately 20% to close essentially 0%. Excess power returned quickly to approximately 20% when the repetition rate was restored to its original value.
This plot demonstrates a cause and effect relationship exists between the frequency of the applied waveform pulses (Q) and the amount of excess power produced in the test cell.
IV. CONCLUSIONS
We have demonstrated that the nickel-light-water system is able to achieve more than 100% excess heat production (“2X”). Recent data shows that excess heat production was in the range of 110% for 2 hours.
We ran over 150 experiments using two different cell/calorimeter designs. Excess heat was always seen[3] in experiments where Q pulses, which have been tuned to the resonance of the hydride conductors (“core”), are present. Using our open cell design it is now possible to get excess heat on demand using light water and hydrided nickel and palladium.
Pulsed power in the cathode is the preferred method to raise the energy of the Brillouin zones confining hydrogen nuclei in the metal lattice[1]. We postulate that conversion of this energy to mass, results in the production of cold to ultra-cold neutrons. The removal of charge from the system by absorption of an electron by a proton makes a current pulse the preferred source of pulsed power because it provides electrons for capture.
In all cases, the application of a suitable Quantum Compression waveform enables active hydrided materials to produce excess power on demand without regard to the grain structure. While it is common for “gross loading” systems to work with some pieces of material and not others from the same batch. We believe that the Quantum Reactor technology caused every centimeter in all 15 meters of Pd wire to immediately produce excess heat while exposed to properly pulsed currents in light water. Quantum Reactor technology also allows for significant modulation of the power out of the cell.
Leveraging the results of the open cell experiments, the proprietary circuitry was attached to hydrided conductors in high-pressure, high-temperature systems for the sealed cell experiments[2].
The data taken from nickel-hydrogen system that was stimulated by our proprietary electronic inputs show that the thermal output is statistically significantly greater than the electrical input. Measurable and repeatable surplus thermal output is found in the nickel-hydrogen system when all other inputs to the cells remain constant. We have shown 100% excess energy and hope to achieve 200%, which would make the technology industrially useful. We also believe that the moderately elevated pressure and temperature environment of the pressurized cell may increase the probability for proton-electron captures, than the conditions at ambient temperature and pressure, because the electrolyte can be heated to over the boiling point of the electrolyte at atmospheric pressure. In addition to elevated temperature and pressure, the dimensions of the metal cathode inside the test cell, is much larger than what was used in the “open container”, first- round experiments.
We conclude that the reaction producing excess power in the nickel hydride is related to and very dependent upon the frequency of the Q pulses applied. We have thus demonstrated that there is a repeatable and measurable relationship between excess heat production from the stimulated nickel hydride in the test cell and the repetition rate of the applied electronic pulses. When the repetition rate is changed from the optimum frequency, excess power production ceases in the nickel hydride lattice. When that repetition rate is restored, significant excess power production resumes.
V. FUTURE WORK
We are looking closely at the experimental data from Experiment 5 and will use it to attempt to break through the next threshold 200% (“3X”) hopefully soon.
We have started to perform experiments in a third cell/calorimeter design in collaboration with SRI International that we believe will lead to more useful heat by operating at higher temperatures. We feel that the first commercial applications expected will be hydronic heating systems that require grid power and produce lower quality heat as well as higher quality heat systems that will be used to re-power existing dirty generation assets.
In addition to Pd and Ni, the Q-pulse reactor system should work with other transition metals that confine hydrogen nuclei sufficiently in a lattice to effect electron capture events.
APPENDIX
A. Controlled Energy Capture Hypothesis
p + ~782KeV + e- » n + νe
(using energy for ultra-cold neutrons)
p + n » d + 2.2MeV
(making ultra-cold deuterons and energy)
d + (up to 3MeV) + e- » 2n + νe
(using energy to make di-neutron system)
d + n » T + 6.3MeV
(making tritum and energy)
2n + d » 4H + (?MeV)
3n + p » 4H + (?MeV)
(making short lived 4H nuclei and energy.)
4H » 4He + β¯+ νe + (17.06 to 20.6)MeV
(making helium and lots of energy)
Several months ago, I posted an article asking the question Can Defkalion Survive the Greek Crisis? To summarize, I explored the obstacles that Defkalion Green Technologies faced starting a commercial enterprise in a country in the midst of economic turmoil and rising social unrest. This would certainly be problematic for any new enterprise, but especially so for a company seeking to commercialize an entirely new technology. Aside from the technical and logistical challenges, I also raised the question of whether Defkalion would be able to attract sufficient investment in a chaotic economic, social and political environment. If investors are fond anything, aside from making a profit, it is stability. Investment involves enough risk in and of itself, and this risk need not be exacerbated by economic and social turmoil.
Apparently this line of thought was also contemplated by Defkalion management, as on July 18, 2012 company representative George Xanthoula sent out an e-mail outlining Defkalion’s plans to leave Greece and set up operations elsewhere. The reasons given for this move were very similar to those mentioned above. Australia, Canada and Switzerland were mentioned as possible sites of relocation.
At the National Instruments-sponsored NIWeek in August, Defkalion CEO Alexander Xanthoulis announced that there would be offices in both Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and Zurich, Switzerland, with the Vancouver office serving as the primary base of operations. It was not made clear why Canada was chosen as Defkalion’s new base of operations, but Mr. Xanthoulis is described in company literature as being a Greek-Canadian, so his roots in that country may have been a factor. In August, a company representative stated the Vancouver office would be open this month, although no specific date was given.
While waiting for official commencement of operations in Canada, Defkalion has continued to do testing in Greece on their Hyperion cold fusion reactor. In a message on the Defkalion discussion forum, the company announced it had conducted two official test runs on its reactor from September 5th to September 14th. These tests were reportedly conducted in Greece on its R5 prototype, and testing is scheduled to begin soon on its R6 pre-industrial reactor at the Vancouver facility. In that same message, a Defkalion represented wrote: “An official announcement from our company within the next weeks will inform you of the peer-reviewed journals where the results of all these tests so far will be published by the independent testers.”
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
If indeed Defkalion testing has been submitted for peer-review, and these results will soon appear in peer-reviewed journals, this would be a very positive development. Failure to release independent testing results, after public announcements in February of this year raised expectation of such, led many to question the validity of Defkalion claims about its Hyperion reactor. However, reports that have filtered out about the testing results have served to buoy confidence in the Hyperion in some quarters. Those who are privy to information that most of us are not, have much less doubt about the Hyperion and Defkalion’s claims regarding it. Although, even among this group, there remain some questions regarding the device’s stability. The company gave presentations at both NIWeek and ICCF-17 but they did not provide any new information, save for the location where their base of operations was being moved. Hopefully, the coming weeks and publication of independent testing results in peer-reviewed literature will answer many lingering questions.
Yet, as Defkalion settles into its new surroundings, they have more to be concerned about than providing definitive proof to the faithful and silencing critics and detractors. Certainly they have escaped the chaos in Greece but Canada has its own native dangers with witch company officials need to contend. First of all, Western Canada is home to one of the fiercest predators in the wild, the grizzly bear. Company employees would be advised to keep trash can lids firmly secured and their facilities locked at night. Vancouver may be a bustling metropolis, but it is an oasis in the midst of a vast wilderness. Grizzly bears do not respect no trespassing signs or city limits. There is a reason the city named its NBA basketball team after them.
Grizzly Bear
The second resident of Western Canada that Defkalion must concern itself with is the powerful and influential Canadian oil industry. Canada is the sixth largest oil producing country in the world, and is the primary source of oil imports into the United States. The bulk of Canadian oil exploration and production is in the Western Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.
Defkalion may also soon have to contend with Chinese oil interests. CNNOC, a state-owned Chinese oil company, is currently in negotiations with the Canadian government to buy the Canadian oil company Nexen for a reported price of $15.1 billion. If approved by the government, this purchase would be the largest purchase of a Canadian energy asset by a Chinese company, and the largest single purchase by a Chinese company of a foreign asset. This deal is expected to be approved by the Canadian government, despite concerns amongst some Canadians in regard to allowing a state-owned Chinese enterprise to own such a large stake in their domestic oil industry.
A cold fusion optimist might conclude that some in the Canadian government are aware of the arrival of Defkalion on their soil and the promise the Hyperion offers for the future of energy. As a result, officials may be obliged to allow the Chinese to spend billions of dollars on an asset whose value may be greatly diminished in the not too distant future. Many others may simply conclude that this deal is about oil, cold hard cash and maybe even political influence, but not related to cold fusion or Defkalion in any way.
Defkalion may have flown into Canada under the radar because the results of independent testing of the Hyperion have not yet been made public. Perhaps that was part of the rationale for delaying publication. Jed Rothwell, cold fusion historian and administrator of the lenr-canr.org cold fusion library, wrote several months ago that the results of independent testing were being kept under wraps “for good reason.” I think avoiding the scrutiny of the oil industry in Canada, at least for a time, would qualify as a good reason.
If the independent verification of Defkalion claims are soon published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, Defkalion’s warm Vancouver welcome may turn as cold as a Canadian winter. By the same token, if Defkalion continues to make bold claims without the appropriate corroborating evidence, the Canadian government may scrutinize Defkalion a little more closely then the Greek government did while the company was in Greece.
When Defkalion broke with Andrea Rossi in August of last year, they publicly warned Rossi about the perils of “going it alone.” Ironically, a year later, they may be seen as doing just that. They are in a new country, with new laws, sharing a province with a powerful and prosperous industry that could be made irrelevant by their technology. Yet, Defkalion management has already proven adept at navigating difficult waters in the last year. They managed to engineer their own cold fusion cell after their abrupt break with Andrea Rossi left them without the core technology, the loss of their chief scientist as a result of that break, and escape from an imploding nation…and those are just the difficulties that have been made public. If one adds to the above that the Hyperion is reportedly the most robust cold fusion reactor currently being developed, this company has a lot working in its favor…I mean our favor.
I look forward to independent confirmation of Hyperion performance being made available to the public.
I am happy to announce that I have accepted an opportunity to join Ruby Carat to become an author and editor at Cold Fusion Now. In addition, I will be helping her with moderation and other duties on the site. The cold fusion story is expanding so rapidly and in so many different directions that it has become increasingly difficult for either one of us to keep track of the many facets of the story. Perhaps this is true more so for myself than for Ruby, as Cold Fusion Now has many intelligent and talented people contributing on a regular basis. These individuals include patent attorney David French. Cold Fusion Radio’s James Martinez, the ubiquitous and knowledgeable Brad Arnold, filmmaker Eli Elliot, and occasionally even Dr. Edmund Storms. And that’s just for starters. Click here to see more of the Cold Fusion Now Crew. With this group of talent to work with, I would have been foolish to pass up the opportunity to come on-board.
Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t also thank those who have contributed to e-Cat Site over the past year, most notably Tom Baccei and Mr. Johannes Van den Bogaert. Also a shout out to Ms. Sojourner Soo, the free-energy free spirit who pops in from time to time on various sites to fight the good fight. She was kind enough to provide the first article at e-Cat Site.
Of course, e-Cat Site would have been nothing without the regular readers and commenters. I hope you all will come on over to Cold Fusion Now and check out the articles and resources available. You will not be disappointed. I know many who have been following the story make the rounds and have your favorite sites for cold fusion news and updates, so there is some overlap amongst readership for both Cold Fusion Now and e-Cat Site. But let’s be honest, we all have our favorite sites for one reason or another. I hope the readers of Cold Fusion Now will welcome my input, and I hope the faithful of e-Cat Site will now become regular readers and commenters on Cold Fusion Now.
Ruby Carat and I are committed to bring you the most accurate and up-to-date coverage that we are capable of. As I write this, Cold Fusion Now is undergoing a number of upgrades to ensure that the site is accessible, readable and informative. There are new features and upgrades in the works as well. We both believe that cold fusion is ready to soar to new heights, both in terms of the state of the art of the technology and the coverage that will ensue. We want to make sure that we are ready for the added traffic that this will undoubtedly bring.
As for e-Cat Site, for right now it will remain open as an archive of the happenings of the last year, as well as a resource regarding cold fusion history. It is no lenr-canr.org, but I have made a conscious effort to provide enough background history for people to understand what cold fusion is and how it has progressed, especially over the last 20 years. I initially started the site as an information resource for friends and acquaintances regarding cold fusion. Many of them were as stunned as I, and I’m sure many of you, that cold fusion had never been truly debunked and in fact was being taken seriously by a growing number of people. Much of this interest was spurred by Andrea Rossi’s e-Cat, for which the site is named. I subsequently started writing articles and opened the site for comments so I could narrate the story from my own perspective, devoid of the constant sneering of the closed-minded and committed opponents. However, now I think the story has outgrown the intent and scope of the site, and it is now time to move on. It will probably be accessible for another year, or until such time we can move content over to Cold Fusion Now. However, there will be no new articles or news updates posted.
As mentioned above, I will also be helping moderate CFN. Just like at e-Cat Site, I welcome healthy debate. Disagreements are to be expected, especially when discussing something as complex as cold fusion. However, comments need to remain respectful of the subject matter, the site, and, most importantly, the person to which the comment is directed. Comments consisting solely, mostly or repeatedly of insults, taunts and inflammatory language are not acceptable and will be deleted, likely without warning. Repeated attempts to post such comments will be result in being banned. This is not the site to be contentious for sport. There are other sites that allow such behavior to go on unabated but this is not one of them.
Once again, I welcome the opportunity to join Cold Fusion Now, and I look forward to working with Ruby and the crew. I think we are in for some very exciting times ahead.
