Throwing Some Light on Cold Fusion

More 18Jan11: According to this article at PureEnergySystems website, the Italian inventor Andrea Rossi is also associated with the website "Journal of Nuclear Physics.com". Pierluca Rossi of the U. of Bologna is listed on the Board of Advisors for the "nuclear experiments blog." Articles published on the website are said to be peer-reviewed, published without modification. Authors are entirely responsible for the content of their own article.

Simply put, the effect involves pressurized dihydrogen gas (2 bars is the lowest mentioned in the patent and 80 bars is what was used in the demonstration) is placed in metal tube with nano powdered nickel and a heating element (resistor). Somehow the dihydrogen gas is split into atomic hydrogen. When heat is applied the atomic hydrogen reacts with the powdered nickel to produce energy up to 400 times the input energy. Undisclosed catalysts are used to increase the efficiency of the cell.

Andrea Rossi is listed as the inventor. He is also the primary operator of the http://www.journal-of-nuclear-physics.com/ website and forum, where the information about the technology is posted. _PES

See also: Directory:Andrea A. Rossi Cold Fusion Generator in PESWIKI

Brian Wang and Brian Westenhaus are providing some interesting information and viewpoints on the latest cold fusion reports from Italy.

The work is published in the Journal of Nuclear Physics, and presents a novel mechanism for significant heat gain involving a subatomic combination (particle fusion) of nickel to copper.

When hydrogen atoms come in contact with the metal (Ni), they abandon their stationary state as they deposit their electrons in the conductivity band of the metal, and due to their greatly reduced volume, compared to that of their atom, the hydrogen nuclei (naked protons) readily diffuse into the defects of the nickel crystalline structure as well as in tetrahedral or octahedral void spaces of the crystal lattice.

It should be underlined that, in addition to the deposited hydrogen electrons, in the nickel mass included are also electrons of the chemical potential of the metal. Jointly these electrons constitute the conductivity electronic cloud, distributed in energy bands (Fermi), and quasi free to move throughout the metallic mass.

it is conceivable that, for a very short time period (e.g. 10ˆ-18 sec), a series of neutral mini atoms of hydrogen could be formed, in an unstable state, of various size and energy level, distributed within the Fermi band, which is enlarged due to the very short time (Heisenberg).

The neutral mini-atoms of high energy and very short wave length – which is in phase with the “cyclic” orbit (de Broglie) – are statistically captured be the nickel nuclei of the crystal structure with the speed of nuclear reactions (10ˆ-20 sec).

For these mini-atoms to fuse with the nickel nuclei, apart from their neutral character for surpassing the Coulomb barrier, they must have dimensions smaller than 10ˆ-14 m, where nuclear cohesion forces, of high intensity but very short range, are predominant. It is assumed that only a percentage of such atoms satisfy this condition (de Broglie).

The above considerations are based only on an intuitive approach and I trust this phenomenon could be tackled in a systematic and integrated way through the “theory of time dependent perturbations” by employing the appropriate Hamiltonian

The mechanism proposed by Focardi – Rossi, verified by mass spectroscopy data, which predicts transmutation of a nickel nucleus to an unstable copper nucleus (isotope), remains in principle valid. The difference is that inside the unstable copper nucleus, produced from the fusion of a hydrogen mini-atom with a nickel nucleus, is trapped the mini-atom electron (β-), which in my opinion undergoes in-situ annihilation, with the predicted (Focardi-Rossi) decay β+ of the new copper nucleus. _JournalNuclearPhysics_via_BrianWang

The claims will require verification, but researcher-inventors Focardi and Rossi are reportedly already working on plans for scaled up commercial versions of the device.

Watts in: 400 wh/h
Watts out: 15,000 wh/h
Yes, we can turn off the input current, but we prefer to maintain a drive and the reasons are very difficult to explain without violating my confidentiality restraints.
The reaction becomes self sustaining.

1) What is the evidence for copper production?
Answer - the evidence of copper production in past has been found using an atomic microscope in the University of Bologna. The same we will make now: we will bring the sample of the Ni we used to the lab of UNIBO and detect Cu

2) Is there any evidence for isotopic anomalies?

Answer - in the past we found them by means of the secondary ions mass spectrometer of the University of Padua. We will do the same now

3) How is the power switched on and off?
Answer - just [the same process] as [when] you turn on and off your television set

4) Is there evidence of consumption of a fuel?
Answer - yes, by an analysis. To measure the difference of mass you have to use the charge for months, because what you consume in a day is in the order of picograms

How much Ni is in the cell? Answer - In the cell there are several milligrams of Ni

How much total energy, heat and radiation, is produced per hour for a gram of Ni?

To make 10 kWh/h the consume of Ni and H is in the order of several picograms, but considering that not all the Ni in the reactor reacts, the actual consumption, to make 10 kWh/h is of about 0,1 g of Ni and 0,01 g of H

Are some other elements used to facilitate the reactions?

Yes, other elements are used, upon which we have to maintain confidentiality until the patent pending becomes a patent _from press conference as reported by Brian Wang

Videos of a recent device test can be viewed at NextBigFuture

The implications of such a device -- if the claims of an energy gain of 37 to 1 are verified -- are immense. The approach is clearly scalable. Nickel is relatively inexpensive, although other elements involved (presumably as catalysts) are likely to be more expensive.

Faux environmentalists will bemoan this news in private, given their preference for a human dieoff of up to 90% or more of the human population from "resource scarcity". Peak energy religionists would likewise rage against the fading of their great dreams of doom.

It is best to assume that the Italian solution will take many decades to develop, and to carry on with the many alternative approaches to reliable, abundant, and clean energy sources and efficient uses of energy.