From: Bob Cook Does the Li in LiOH become a Li atom with temperature at a lower temperature than it does coming from LiAlH4? Or is it ionic? I still consider that there must be a mechanism for heat transfer to keep local temperatures down and in a good reaction temperature interval. The lower temperature (300 degrees) for the LiOH case may suggest a different sized Ni particle would be desirable to react in resonance with the longer light waves at the lower temperatures. This seems to be in line with the temperatures (500 to 600 degrees C) that Jack saw his reaction occur. What other vapors (heat transfer or electrical conductors) would occur in Jack's reactor at the temperatures he is using? Does his temperature and power profiles indicate a change (reduction) of the heating element electrical circuit resistance? The sudden drops in power suggest to me a partial short in the heater element circuit is occuring.
Bob - we must wait a few weeks for these questions, and others, to be answered. Many of the guys reporting these results are underfunded and have “day” jobs. They never intended to due 100% replications anyway – and what is turning up is only partially based on Parkhomov, and his was not identical to Rossi’s prior work - so they are getting less like the original over time. This is a situation which has good and bad implications. The “good” is when the change makes the experiment safer, or easier, or cheaper, or more gainful. So far there have been what appear to be a number of potentially good changes, which is unusual since design change is not recommended until everything checks out. But since Parkhomov had the initial good result without being 100% faithful, others are increasingly less reluctant to go even further afield. This could mean this reaction is more robust and foolproof than expected - but we are unsure how much of the heat anomaly remains, when the techniques become streamlined… or else things could implode if the high gain disappears. As of now, the beauty of Jack Cole’s partial replication is that gain appears to happen at lower temperature, due to the LiOH substitution, allowing the conductor to be located inside the alumina tube instead of outside. The setup of AlanG uses compression fittings which add another advantage since the sealing process does not take 3-4 days and feedthrough is easier. Combining all of these changes could be synergetic. Sooner or later, one or several participants is going to hit on the optimum design which combines all of the improvements, but without jeopardizing the high thermal gain. Jones
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