Press Release from Ecat Australia and Ecat South Asia – August 2013
TOMORROWS ENERGY, TODAY
Since we last wrote, there continues to be important developments. The rest of the world is waking up that L.E.N.R. is serious. A recent Forbes article emphasized the maturing of the technology.
And OilPrice.com journalist Brian Westenhaus thinks the industry may have reached the turning point and perhaps the last stages before widespread acceptance. This is further supported by an influx of universities in the US and afield that are now including LENR or Cold Fusion studies in their syllabus.
The 18th International Conference on Cold Fusion (ICCF-18) held last month also provided substantial details of the technology along with deepening understanding of the physics behind it. In practice no-one is yet able to match the COP that Rossi has attained: COP=6, but we hope that all parties do succeed because there is much need for more efficient and environmentally friendly energy sources.
Our focus has continued to be on working with interested parties, discussing their needs and recommending solutions. The following diagram shows the wide applicability of the Rossi E-Cat and Hot-Cat.
Many companies around the globe and in this region are starting to focus on co- and tri- generation, the situation where one heat source is used over and over again. To this end the actual effective COP can be much higher than 6, if one can re-use the heat. A typical co-generation use could be using the initial heat for a food manufacturing process, and the waste heat for a chilling/refrigeration process.
Consider a typical Co-Generation opportunity: Fruit and Veges industry.
Primary Application: Blanching. For this, typically they would be using grid electricity, or Gas. With the E-Cat they would enjoy a COP of 6 (i.e. for every unit of energy previously used, now they can consume just 1/6th of that energy, reducing their bill proportionately). Once used the energy they have consumed is typically wasted.
Secondary Application: By coupling the blanching process and its waste heat, to a chiller system, the company can convert this waste heat into chilling, allowing operation of cold rooms for holding vegetables, at almost no additional energy cost. Assuming a 70% efficiency on this leg, the company might be able to get an additional 50% re-use of the energy (allowing for inefficiencies).
Now the company may also consider that there is a third use for the same energy – output from the Chiller is hot water (approximately 50-70 degrees C). This is ideal for general use in bathrooms and kitchens for washing and cleaning.
Notice from the example table above, that there is substantial improvement of the facility’s energy use. Using the E-Cat, the company may be able to achieve upwards of 10 times the value of the input energy. (note this is a generalized example. Engineers will be able to estimate specific applications which depend on environmental conditions and other factors).
E-Cat Australia and South Asia is working with manufacturers and distributors of allied equipment to assist our clients get additional benefit when they implement an E-Cat or Hot-Cat.
According to a press release on their website, U.K.-based Hydro Fusion is looking for a Swedish Pilot Customer to participate in an E-Cat power production pilot-program.
HydroFusion is the North European Licensee Group Branch for Andrea Rossi‘s E-Cat and has an office in Sweden.
Energy produced by the E-Cat is in the form of steam from a nozzle on the unit. The pilot operator of the 1 MW thermal generator “will only pay for the energy produced by the ECAT, i.e. Hydro Fusion and Leonardo Corporation will take responsibility for all associated costs including: the plant itself, installation and any transportation costs.”
The customer must agree to install the unit by this fall 2013 and allow the showcasing of the plant for other would-be buyers.
The 1MW plant consists of 106 smaller 10-kilowatt units fitted together in parallel within a 6-meter shipping container. A valve in front of each smaller unit allows re-filling of hydrogen fuel, as well as access to the heater that starts the reaction. These smaller units each contain three core reactors, each 20 cm x 20 cm x 1 cm, holding a specially-treated nickel powder, the heart of the nickel-hydrogen exothermic reaction.
Hydro Fusion claims, “per unit of weight, this process is at least 100,000 more efficient than any known combustion process.” A recent third-party report by scientists who conducted a test on several versions of the core reactor confirmed energy density “off-the-chart”.
The E-Cat technology produces no CO2 emissions and no radioactive waste.
On their website, Hydro Fusion outlines the E-Cat 1MW specifications to which the customer must agree to append all applications:
Heat energy is produced according to specs.
Heat energy 1 MW thermal at up to 120 C
Heat exchanger from ECAT system to customer heat application.
Electricity is consumed according to specs.
250 kWe maximum power consumption
166 kWe average power consumption, i.e. COP=6
Hydro Fusion would like to receive quotations from Pilot Customers on both thermal MWh price and electric MWh price, based on an assumption of 7,000+ operating hours per year.
Current estimated delivery time for the E-Cat is four months with functionality warranted for two and years and an expected 30-year life span.
Multiple independent labs are racing to produce a commercial product based on the Fleischmann-Pons Heat Effect (FPHE), most working quietly in their labs. But since the public demonstration of Andrea Rossi‘s E-Cat in January 2011, we’ve witnessed on the global theater the grueling process of actualizing a revolutionary technology.
Early prototype E-Cat had external hydrogen tank for fuel.It has been amazing to watch. A thermal generator based on nickel-hydrogen exothermic reactions, E-Cat design changes have been guided by efforts to make an efficient, easy-to-use, and safe commercial product.
The earliest prototypes were fueled by hydrogen gas from a canister connected to the unit. For obvious reasons, the danger of hydrogen tanks in a domestic environment present a problem, and having the fuel pre-loaded inside the new E-Cat HT removes a huge liability.
But a pre-loaded fuel cartridge also makes a compact device easy to use.
Previous announcements have set the life for a single charge at six months, after which time the contents can be recycled and a new one installed. As this first generation of new-energy technology filters out to the public, we can expect much longer life-cycles in the future.
How is this fuel pre-loaded into the less-than-a-gram nickel-powder mixture? The answer is proprietary at the moment. But what is possible?
Perhaps a material that absorbs hydrogen and then releases it slowly is used. Metallic-hydrides can do exactly that. Could there be amongst the nickel-powder another transition metal that serves this function?
While we wait to see what’s next for the E-Cat, there are others in the field that have discovered the pre-loaded reactor benefits, each having different designs.
Pre-loaded solid wire works to make heat
SEM image of treated Celani wire by MFMP.Francesco Celani used a pre-loaded wire for his live demonstrations last year at ICCF-17 and NIWeek 2012. A very different design than Rossi’s, this solid-cathode type cell is being reproduced by the Martin Fleischmann Memorial Project as an open-source enterprise with step-by-step activity documented and available online.
Separating loading from activation for Pd-D systems solved by pre-loading
Pre-loading of hydrogen has also benefited palladium-deuterium (Pd-D) systems, helping to hasten initiation of the reaction, which can sometimes take weeks or even months to begin. Waiting so long for a reaction to occur makes data acquisition burdensome, and discoveries difficult.
Ideally, multiple cells would run at the same time, allowing several variables to be monitored and determined simultaneously. At one point, Drs. Fleischmann and Pons were running up to 32 cells, an expensive and still time-dependent undertaking.
SRI International experimented with pre-loading of hydrogen in fine wires as described in Calorimetric Studies of the Destructive Stimulation of Palladium and Nickel Fine Wires [.pdf]. From the paper, a description of how they did it:
SRI electrolytic cell with pre-loaded cathode.1. Loading. When Pd wires were used as a substrate or as test objects these were pre-loaded electrolytically with either H or D in low molarity SrSO4 electrolytes (50μM) using procedures developed previously at SRI [8] and elsewhere [9].
2. Sealing. The atomic loading of H or D can be sealed inside the Pd lattice for extended periods (several hours or days) with the addition of very small concentrations of Hg2SO4 to the SrSO4 electrolyte and continued cathodic electrolysis [8,9]. The deposited Hg at monolayer coverage is a highly effective poison for hydrogen atom recombination, effectively preventing= desorption by inhibiting molecule formation.
The outcome?
The results show clearly that excess energy is generated both from Pd and Ni wires loaded either with deuterium or natural hydrogen5. However, data from Pd/D codeposited onto highly loaded Pd wires (solid triangles) sit on top of the plot, indicating that this category of wires generates the most excess heat. Interestingly, the Ni codeposited system also yields significant amounts of excess heat.
Pre-loaded NANOR devices can be electrically driven
Separating the long loading times from the activation of the reaction was achieved by Dr. Mitchell Swartz of JET Energy, Inc. with his nano-composite ZrO2-PdNi-D cell that is pre-loaded with hydrogen fuel creating a “reproducible active nanostructured cold fusion/lattice-assisted nuclear reaction (CF/LANR) quantum electronic device.”
In the paper Energy Gain From Preloaded ZrO2-PdNi-D Nanostructured CF/LANR Quantum Electronic Components [.pdf] by Mitchell Swartz, Gayle Verner, and Jeffrey Tolleson, the authors write:
“The importance is they enable LANR devices and their integrated systems to now be fabricated, transported, and then activated. They are the future of clean, efficient energy production.”
A sixth-generation NANOR was publicly demonstrated in the office of Dr. Peter Hagelstein on the campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) during the 2012 IAP Cold Fusion 101 course, operating from January 30 to mid-May. Swartz also described the technology in the 2013 IAP short course captured on video by Jeremy Rys.
Designed to run at low-power due to safety considerations for a multi-month demonstration on a public campus, “over several weeks, the CF/LANR quantum device demonstrated more reproducible, controllable, energy gain which ranged generally from 5 to 16 [14.1 while the course was ongoing].”
With the core smaller than 2 centimeters containing less than a gram of active material, this device produced LANR excess power density “more than 19,500 watts/kilogram of nanostructured material.”
From the paper, Swartz describes the “proprietary self-contained CF/LANR quantum electronic component, called a two terminal NANOR™-type of LANR device”:
The NANOR represents the pre-loaded core of the reactor.“At LANR’s nanostructured material “core” is an isotope of hydrogen, usually deuterons, which are tightly packed (“highly loaded”) into the binary metals, alloys, or in this case, nanostructured compounds, containing palladium or nickel, loaded by an applied electric field or elevated gas pressure which supply deuterons from heavy water or gaseous deuterium.”
“Loaded are isotopes of hydrogen -protons, protium, deuterons, deuterium, and hydrogenated organic compounds, deuterated organic compounds, D2, H2, deuterides and hydrides. Precisely for these NANOR-type LANR devices, the fuel for the nanostructured material in the core, is deuterium.”
“The preloaded nanostructured material is placed into the hermetically sealed enclosure which is specially designed to withstand pressure, minimize contamination, enable lock on of wires connecting to it. The enclosure is tightly fit with the electrodes.”
Described in the paper, the production of the preloaded core material involves “preparation, production, proprietary pretreatment, loading, post-loading treatment, activation, and then adding the final structural elements, including holder and electrodes.”
Fig. 2 – Series II and III two terminal NANOR™-type devices containing active ZrO2-PdNiD nanostructured material at their core.
Very pure materials are also required. “Contamination remains a major problem, with excess heat potentially devastatingly quenched,” the paper states.
The ratios of the NANOR’s composite elements are “in the range of Zr (~60-70%), Ni (0-30%), and Pd (0-30%) by weight, with the weights being before the oxidation step, and several later additional preparation steps. The additional D2 and H2 yield loadings (ratio to Pd) of up to more than 130% D/Pd.”
After several bakes, eventually an oxidized zirconia “surrounds, encapsulates, and separates the NiPd alloy into 7-10 nm sized ferromagnetic nanostructured islands located and dispersed within the electrically insulating zirconia dielectric.”
“Each nanostructured island acts as a short circuit element during electrical discharge. These allow deuterons to form a hyperdense state in each island, where the deuterons are able to be sufficiently close together.”
The latest Series VI NANORs have had energy gains beyond 30.
More than basic science, it’s an engineering development
Pre-loaded core reactors have “a decreased size, decreased response time, improved and dual diagnostics, and increased total output energy density.”
They are compact, portable and durable. Suitable for small power needs, they can respond on-demand with scalable power.
It’s a ragged course to a next-generation clean energy technology. Even as the science is still uncertain, the new pre-loaded hydrogen reactors are an engineering development that brings us closer to that goal.
“3rd party report shows anomalous heat production – The Rossi Effect”
“Indication of anomalous heat energy production in a reactor device containing hydrogen loaded nickel powder”
The long awaited “3rd Party Verification Report” on Andrea Rossi‘s E-Cat has been released. The .pdf can be downloaded from ecat.com HERE or arxiv.org
The announcement, which provides the abstract and the conclusion is posted here on Rossi’s E-Cat website.
The conclusion reads positive, yet also reads that much more testing is in the works, the next of which is slated to start this summer, and last 6 months.
This is just a breaking news post, thoughts or further commentary will be added here, or in a new post. Or better yet, share your own thoughts in the comments section.
Tom and Doug are two musicians who have a weekly radio show where they regularly discuss Andrea Rossi and the Ecat.
They’ve written songs on the topic, including I Believe in the Ecat, and LENR Revolution, complete with Rossi audio samples and a saxophone player inserted in the Ecat demonstration video.
An interview with Andrea Rossi conducted by Doug in mid-February opens this video where Rossi talks about plans for industrial Ecats and the third-party testing of the Hot Cat.
Some of the points made were:
After the delivery of the 1MW Ecat to the military last year, work ensued on engineering the industrial plants for certification.
Now, work continues on “manufacturing some industrial plants that are close to being delivered”, and the certification process continues.
The independent test of the Hot Cat, the Ecat that works at high-temperature, should be finished by the end of March.
It will be an important validation, but manufacturing of the industrial Ecats will continue regardless of the independent report. The third-party test and the industrial production are independent, but parallel. Rossi is very curious to learn what the report says, and will apply any new information to the engineering process.
He’s in contact with the third-party once or twice a week, but the main daily focus is completing the industrial plants that have already been sold.
He continues to work long hours, and will continue “pressing” until delivery.
After the industrial plants are delivered and working in their factory location, data from their operations will guide work on the domestic Ecat. The industrial plants are “basically assemblies of domestic plants”.
Domestic units for the home need to be easy to use and held to a high standard of safety.
Andrea Rossi describes his Ecat steam generator now being developed in labs in Bologna, Italy and Miami, Florida in a Swedish TV show “The World of Science”. While the video is in Swedish, Rossi describes his work in English.
Here is an annotated video with English subtitles from Hampus Ericsson via E-catworld:
New! Version with English sub-titles:
Close-ups of the 1 MW plant are shown in the Bologna lab. A 10 kilowatt experimental steam unit wrapped in insulation having the size of a large microwave oven is shown, though the core unit is a significantly smaller flat box centered in the interior as modeled by an animation.
The control panel for the Ecat is shown in the still image from the video at the top of this page. Rossi says the unit runs for a couple of hours, and he hopes to “maintain a temperature of about 600 degrees C”.
Classic video of cold fusion electrolytic cells are shown, as are some animations depicting hot fusion reactions, though there is a computer graphic model of a nickel metallic matrix infused with hydrogen. Hot fusion reactions based on overcoming the Coulomb barrier through collision dominate conventional theory, but have little to do with cold fusion, also called low-energy nuclear reactions (LENR), lattice-assisted nuclear reactions (LANR), and quantum fusion.
Ecat reporter for NYTeknikMatts Lewan is interviewed, as are multiple Swedish and European scientists asked to comment on the technology, including physicist and Defkalion-associate Christos Stremmenos. NASA’s Joseph Zawodny in interviewed stating the reasons that the U.S. space agency is accelerating their research into LENR.
Video clips from the Ecat conference held this past summer are also included as well as video of Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons, which appears to be from the 1994 documentary Too Close To The Sun.
E-Cat Australia and South Asia is working with manufacturers and distributors of allied equipment to assist our clients get additional benefit when they implement an E-Cat or Hot-Cat.
