JimBowie1958
Old Fogey
- Sep 25, 2011
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More on LENR at NASA: Bushnell and Zawodny Speak | E-Cat World
Low Energy Nuclear Reactions, the Realism and the Outlook
by Dennis Bushnell, Chief Scientist, NASA Langley Research Center
Low Energy Nuclear Reactions, the Realism and the Outlook by Dennis Bushnell
Center Innovation Fund Projects
SPAWAR Space and Naval Warfare – LENR Proof | Musings from the Chiefio
Low Energy Nuclear Reactions, the Realism and the Outlook
by Dennis Bushnell, Chief Scientist, NASA Langley Research Center
Low Energy Nuclear Reactions, the Realism and the Outlook by Dennis Bushnell
Center Innovation Fund Projects
SPAWAR Space and Naval Warfare – LENR Proof | Musings from the Chiefio
In following up some videos of the Rossi E-Cat I found one that asserts his nickle powder at temperature method can not be patented due to a prior patent. That prior patent describes substantially the same absorption of hydrogen to inside the atomic radius and eventual fusion as I had described in my musings about how this might work; with two very important distinctions:
1) It has, rather than a direct nuclear fusion, the formation and expulsion of a modestly high energy Proton that then causes fusion when it impacts other parts of the electrode.
2) The physics is much more detailed and much more likely to be accurate.
Of particular note is that it asserts just about any transition metal ought to work. Even Lead.
What caught my eye was that the metal had to be heated to above a critical temperature to work (which explains why Rossi has heaters in the E-Cat) and that temperature varies by metal. The Debye limit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debye_model#Debye_temperature_table
Inspection of the table shows several metals with quite low limits, so ought to work at room temperature.
Aluminium 428 K
Beryllium 1440 K
Cadmium 209 K
Carbon 2230 K
Cesium 38 K
Chromium 630 K
Copper 343.5 K
Gold 170 K
Iron 470 K
Lead 105 K
Manganese 410 K
Nickel 450 K
Platinum 240 K
Silicon 645 K
Silver 215 K
Tantalum 240 K
Tin (white) 200 K
Titanium 420 K
Tungsten 400 K
Zinc 327 K
So anything below about 300 K ought to be fairly easy to ‘make go’. This also explains why the ones using, for example, Tungsten electrodes work best once they are glowing and / or steaming at the electrodes.
The need for lots of surface area, crystal defects, et. al. all imply that bulk metal powders, sponges, and irregular chemical depositions ought to be beneficial. I’d pondered using carbon fiber mats with an electroplate over them to get lots of surface area from not much metal. That would likely still work, but the range of metals usable is likely quite large.
In particular, using a chunk of Tin solder ( Debye Temperature point 200 K ) ought to make a readily available electrode material that is easily plated and / or deposited from solution ( i.e. poor / rough tin plate), cheap, and relatively low toxicity and that ought to start working at below room temperature.
IMHO, it looks like a simple electrolysis cell to make hydrogen and then an equally simple electrochemical cell to react it made from common metals ought to be “doable” as a test case.
But Wait, There’s More
The implication of that video and the patent is that there ought to be all sorts of unexpected places where a mix of hydrogen ions and metal atoms in a crystal might produce neutrons, protons, and fusions; including rocks in the Earth and potentially be part of the process of how the sun works. This could explain some of the “odd” occurrences of neutrons from various rock pressurization / electric discharge processes.
If, as some have proposed, the sun is an Iron Sun at some depth but with a hydrogen atmosphere, that hydrogen ought to be getting fused via the metal hydride formation process. That it would then spit out a load of protons and we have a high energy solar wind full of protons is curiously attractive…
The video states that one of the likely reactions (to make the neutrons vs heat work out) is likely a more direct fusion of Deuterium into Helium. That would depend on other processes in the metal crystal lattice. I found the physics a bit deep as it was discussing something discovered long after I learned the physics I know, but it looks like the vibration modes of crystals may be highly important. While I hate saying “crystals and vibrations make it work” as that sounds so “new age” ;-) the fact is that the Phonon theory looks to be well attested and important to making actual devices that do unexpected things. Like sound driven heat engines and heat pumps and gigahertz sound “lasers” called SASERS (which they talk about as important for a variety of benign uses and I immediately thought “Wouldn’t a sonic welding of your innards make a messy kind of weapon?…
At any rate, it looks to me like defect heavy and small metal particles lets the H or D easily enter the crystal spaces. The application of an external electric field drives the ionized H or D into the metal crystals and into the metal ions and then vibrational modes of the crystal may cause some atoms to be smashed together while others get whacked with decent energy protons and the odd neutron. Part of “the deal” is heating the metal to the point where the metal crystals start to ‘get sloppy’ (above the Debye temperature) but many metals are at / below room temperature Debye Temps so ought to work better / easier in test cells.
Just get over the vision of a crystal as a static lattice and visualize it more as a mini-destruction derby and it all makes sense ;-) Oh, and the smallest lightest cars get crushed together by the big “cement truck” metal ions ;-)
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