From: Bob Higgins * Right. If we use an identically calibrated Optris camera as the Lugano team used and duplicate their infrared measured image using much less input power than was claimed as output, the MFMP dummy test will have provided negative confirmation of the Lugano results.
* HOWEVER ... I just received early information of a dogbone main heater coil test by Ryan Hunt (Hunt Utilities Group, MFMP). The test showed an external temp (thermocouple measured) of 900C with 1107 watts electrical input…. This data says that it will take a lot more heat (than 1107W) to get the dogbone to 1200C or 1400C external temperature. The 900C was after 15 minutes. Maybe it would have stabilized a little hotter after a longer time. Or… perhaps the dog-bone was just short of a threshold. One provocative “unknown” here, from the perspective of SPP (being an operative mechanism) is the threshold IR level for formation of plasmon polaritons. The contact interface between Kanthal and ceramic can be a zone where SPP would be expected to form - and a threshold of IR photons could be necessary. This assumes that SPP can produce some kind of gain based on interaction with a “hidden” reactant which is present, even in a “dummy” reactor. This could include air, since the water vapor in air will supply a small level of hydrogen to a hot reactor. Both the dog-bone and the insert were exposed to air but the insert seems to have gotten hotter with less input. This could be related to geometry and exposure to air. May I suggest that they test and compare the insert - in humid vs. dry conditions? In short, even if this possibility is remote - there does seem to be a minimum level in reported results above 1000C for SPP formation, so it is possible that the insert achieved that threshold level but the dog-bone has not gotten there yet. But there is no authoritative study on the minimum level for SPP, and there is no evidence of gain due to SPP in air, but neither can they be ruled out. The Lugano reactor would have been exposed to orders of magnitude more hydrogen from water vapor in air than from the paltry amount of hydride which was supplied in the initial fill. In the event that further testing reveals a non-linearity in the slope of the heating curve, indicative of a threshold - then this issue of SPP could become more important. It does look like MFMP are progressing rapidly, so many questions could be answered shortly.
