National Instruments signs to do E-Cat controls

[ScienceRocks]

National Instruments signs to do E-Cat controls

Today, Andrea Rossi signed an agreement with National Instruments to have them make all of the instrumentation for the E-Cat cold fusion plants, which began to be sold commercially on October 28 with the first 1 MW plant successfully tested in Bologna.

Pure Energy Systems News

Today, Leonardo Corporation, led by Andrea Rossi, inventor and developer of the one-megawatt cold fusion E-Cat plant, signed an agreement with National Instruments (NI), to have them make all the instrumentation for the E-Cat plants, which began commercial sales on October 28, following the successful test in Bologna, Italy of the first 1 MW heat plant to the first customer.

The 1 MW plant, which is the size of a small shipping container, and said to produce about as much power as a small locomotive, is made up of around 100 modules, each containing three reactors acting in parallel that combine hydrogen and nickel (a special micro powder preparation) into copper in the presence of a proprietary catalyst and a radio frequency stimulator, beginning at around 450 degrees Celsius. The initial heating is supplied electrically from resistive heaters. Once the nuclear reactions commence, the start-up electrical energy source can be disconnected, and the self-sustaining reaction can be controlled by the amount of hydrogen pressure supplied to the chamber.

No nuclear waste is emitted, and no radioactive elements are required in the reaction. The gamma radiation produced during operation, which results in the copious heat generated, is shielded by to layers of thin led.

According to Rossi, NI will be creating the controls to monitor and regulate this process.

He said that their stipulation for the agreement is that all the instrumentation for the E-Cat plants have "by National Instruments" and logo on the instrumentation panels.

National Instruments, headquartered in Austin, Texas, USA, was established in 1976, and conducts global operations in 41 countries, with over 5,000 employees. In 2010, the company sold products to more than 30,000 companies in 91 countries with revenues of $860 million. (Wikipedia) Concezzi said that their customers include Boeing and Airbus, and that they have employees separated who are working on competitor technologies so that there is not a conflict of interest.


Fortune magazine has recognized NI in its list of "100 Best Companies to Work For" for the past 12 consecutive years. Their website presently lists 111 job openings.

National Instruments signs to do E-Cat controls

If this is a scam then Rossi is going to prison for the rest of his sorry life. I doubt it is, but if it is rossi's fucked. I think this is very real and very serious development.

 

[Old Rocks]

Well, I hope you are right.

 

[ScienceRocks]

We could cut emissions with fusion down to levels that we could of never dreamed of. If global warming is true than this may of saved our asses.

 

[Old Rocks]

That is the aspect that has me hoping that you are correct. It would pretty much end mining coal, and the remaining petroleum would be used as an industrial stock. Same for natural gas, and we could get all of that we need without resorting to fracking.

Plus, it would put every community, and individual, for that matter, as master of their own energy future.

 

[Old Rocks]

Not saying for sure that the process works, but saying enough that I find it interesting. Thank you, Mathew for bringing to our attention.

National Instruments signs to do E-Cat controls

So at this time, I would gather that their contract should not be construed as a validation or confirmation of the E-Cat science, but a signal of NI's willingness to help Rossi develop the technology into an even more robust embodiment, to help increase its operational stability, reliability, safety; while lowering its price point.


Postscript:

On November 10, 2011 4:39 PM [MST], regarding the above story, I received the following from Trisha McDonell | Corporate PR Manager | National Instruments.

Subject: Re: final Re: contact info for E-Cat / NI contract

Thank you Sterling for allowing us to review. We approve the text, especially the National Instruments portion of the story that includes Stefano's quote and information.

Best regards
Trisha

 

[ScienceRocks]

How the E-Cat Works

The heart of an E-Cat (Energy Catalyzer) is the reactor core. This is the metal tube in which the cold fusion nuclear reactions take place. Due to the high power density of the E-Cat technology, extremely large reactor cores are not required. Most E-Cat reactor core models have an internal volume that is smaller than a can of soda. Others are as small as a D-Cell battery, with an internal volume of around 50 cubic centimeters.

In the tube that composes the reactor core, a small quantity of specially processed, micron grain sized, nickel powder is placed. The nickel powder has been enriched in two specific isotopes (Ni-62 and Ni-64) via a proprietary and cheap method that only adds 10% to the final cost of the raw material. Enriching the nickel powder in Ni-62 and Ni-64 is important, because it is these two isotopes that undergo the most nuclear reactions.

Once the nickel powder is placed in the reactor core, an even smaller quantity of catalyst material is inserted into the same metal tube. Without the catalyst, the E-Cat could not produce practical levels of output. The catalyst is composed of one or more chemical elements that are not radioactive, rare, or expensive. In fact, the cost of the catalyst is considered to be insignificant.

Next, the reactor core is filled with a small quantity of pressurized hydrogen gas, from an external canister. The pressure of the hydrogen gas is a key factor in moderating the intensity of the reactions that take place in the reactor core. Higher hydrogen pressure increases the rate at which nuclear reactions take place, and lower hydrogen pressure reduces the rate.


Once the hydrogen gas has been inserted, external electrical resistors apply heat to the reactor core. At this point, the catalyst starts breaking down the molecular hydrogen gas (the normal form of hydrogen gas in which two hydrogen atoms are bonded together to form a single molecule), into atomic hydrogen gas. In the atomic state, the hydrogen atoms are not bonded to another hydrogen atom, and are isolated from each other.

These atomic hydrogen atoms then start interacting with tubercles on the surface of the nickel powder, where the reaction sites are located. The atomic hydrogen starts to fuse with atoms of nickel located at these reaction sites. As the nuclear reactions take place, the vast majority of gamma radiation that would be produced in such a nuclear reaction, are instantly converted into heat energy. A portion of this heat energy helps keep the reactions going, and at a certain point when the reactions are frequent enough, the input resistors can be cut off. At this point, the device is in a self-sustaining mode of operation.


Upon entering the self-sustaining mode of operation, a radio frequency generator may be turned on to help perpetuate and stabilize the cold fusion nuclear reactions taking place inside of the reactor core.

Extracting Energy

The reactor core is only one part of an E-Cat (Energy Catalyzer). It is simply the part that generates energy in the form of heat. To extract energy from the sealed reactor core, a coolant flows past it extracting heat energy from the outer surface of the reactor core. The coolant can be water, glycol, or another liquid with appropriate heat transfer properties. In some experiments, it has even been a flow of air.

It is important to note that the flow of liquid also serves another purpose. This additional purpose is keeping the reactor core from over heating. If the reactor core is allowed to become too hot, the nickel powder would melt and all nuclear reactions will cease. If such an event happened, the reactor would be "dead" and non-operative until a replacement reactor core was installed.


The heated coolant is transferred through a primary circuit, and then to a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger transfers the heat from the coolant to a liquid in a secondary circuit (such as water). The coolant in the primary circuit -- now at a lower temperature -- can then be re-used to extract heat energy from the reactor core once again.

Energy collected by the secondary circuit can be used for many industrially useful purposes such producing hot water, producing steam, turning a turbine, or producing electricity.

How the E-Cat Works