LENR is the less-career-killing word for "Cold Fusion".
LENR = Low Energy Nuclear ReactionsContrary to popular opinion, the form of Cold Fusion announced by Pons and Fleischmann in 1989, using Deuterium and Palladium electrodes has NOT gone away.
It has been replicated thousands of times -- though not completely on demand.
Unlike the Pons and Fleischmann setup, this uses Hydrogen and Nickel, produces large amounts of power (reportedly up 130 kW for short periods) and can be turned on and off on demand.
It was demonstrated at the Univerity of Bologna, Italy on Jan 15, 2011 :
Rossi-Focardi Energy Catalyzer
Additional experiments have been performed in February, March, April and September.
Rossi is planning to install a 1MW heating plant in October 2011. This was originally to have been through Defkalion, a company in Greece, but according to Rossi they were unable to meet their financial obligations, and he terminated their relationship. This installation will now be done in the USA, through the Ampenergo company, reportedly in conjunction with a "major US company".
For links relating to these, see:
LENR-CANR News, New Energy Times, or, for a very sceptical view : Focardi-Rossi Energy-Catalyzer
Wiki: Energy Catalyzer provides a summary, but because of Wiki's strict policy of avoiding controversial subjects, and of using only "Reliable Sources", it does not accurately reflect current events or, necessarily, reality.
In an April 2011 interview on EV WORLD, NASA Langley Chief Scientist Dennis M. Bushnell commented favourably on LENR in general, and the Rossi/Focardi eCat in particular. Links to the podcast, and a transcript are available at EV World Bushnell Interview Transcript.
In June 2011 Steve Krivit visited Rossi for a demonstration. He accused Rossi and the Italian team (Levi etc) of not measuring the steam quality correctly (which, if true, could invalidate the reported energy output). This resulted in a "heated" argument and cross-accusations. These are reported at Andrea Rossi and His Energy-Catalyzer. Much of the present discussion on the web revolves around this issue of steam quality. For the time being, my analysis will use the reported results.
Mats Lewan of NyTeknik ran another test on a new eCat in Sept 2011 (according to Rossi, containing multiple reactors), which ran partly in self-sustaining mode.
Rossi held another public test on Oct 6, 2011, which was attended by about 40 invited scientists and reporters. Lewan was not expecting to be involved in the experiment itself, but stepped in at the last minute to record some key measurements, and reported on the experiment as a whole. Lewan : Oct 2011 Experiment The eCat ran for nearly four hours in self-sustaining mode.
On Oct 28 2011 an "acceptance test" was performed by "the customer" -- but invited guests were not permitted to see any of the instruments used. A report was issued, shown in the following scans:
These reports indicate that the eCat produced 475 kW in self-sustaining mode. (Even if it didn't reach full specified power, this is a major result.) A video of a "walk-through" is at PESN.
Steve Allen : 1 MW E-Cat Cold Fusion Device Test Successful and NyTeknik : Half a megawattThis 1 MW system is not analyzed in my "Fakes paper".
In November 2012 Rossi presented some pictures of a new "Hot Cat", which operates in the 300C to 1000C range, and which would be suitable for electrical generation.
In May 2013 the results of a "Third Party" test were presented as an arxiv.org paper, with Levi as the lead author.. A summary is at Forbes (with a plot by your's truly). In one of the runs the eCat got out of control and melted its steel container! The results are included in the "Fakes" document.
In particular, I'm working on a Thermal analysis of the Hotcat in an attempt to understand the "sine-wave" like output which Levi observed.
My contribution to this discussion is to examine ways in which a FAKE Rossi eCat device could be made .. and detected, and to attempt a numerical analysis of various aspects of the eCat experiments.
Here are the latest versions of my papers:
Thermal Analysis of the Hotcat (May 2013 Levi paper0
Note : the conclusions of my Fakes/Proof paper are not significantly affected by the issue of steam quality, so I have not updated it.
An analysis of the eCat Steam Quality -- raising doubts about the doubts reported by Krivit.
eCat Steam Quality v 410H (with index)
eCat Steam Quality v 410H (without index)
eCat Steam Quality Calculator -- used to report on eCat experimental Results
These will be updated as new information becomes available.
Index Page -- v 430A May 21, 2013
This document may be quoted, copied or translated, with the following copyright notice:
© 2013 Alan Fletcher lenr.qumbu.com