Arnaud, No there is no "secret sauce," in the sense of a catalyst, if that is what you mean, as this is basically a luminescent cement binder and there could be better ones out there.
In general, since experiments are ongoing - it is preferable to optimize the blend first so as not to add confusion when something better turns up. This blend does seem to seal tighter than the previous cement, yet it is not clear that this cement adds anything other than extra photons. Jack made other changes to the fuel which I am certain he will announce when he gets the gain higher. The working hypothesis is that SPP formation is at the heart of the Parkhomov reaction, and that SPP can be increased at a given temperature by using a luminescent cement which is also a dielectric and can be in direct contact with the conductor. That is the premise. Lime is luminescent but probably would not work alone as it is corrosive. The hope is that a fuel mix containing some CaO will emit photons at the same intensity as Parkhomov but at much lower temperature - hopefully 200-300 degree lower - allowing an internal heater - instead of an external heater. SPP form at the interface of a conductor and a dielectric - get it? There are therefore large advantages to using a nickel based INTERNAL heater at lower temperature and no LAH. That is, if you buy into SPP. OK- so as to make this more transparent to anyone who wants to jump in now - the fuel binder mix is about 32% CaO and 65% alumina. If you want to try something similar from a vendor, look for a cement like "Secar 71." I do not know the proportions of the other ingredients Jack used, but I think he dropped the iron oxide and wished he have used more nickel. He is using Vale255 nickel. Jack is switching the heating wire from Kanthal to nichrome-80 which should be a big improvement and will add nickel at the interface (iron is also a catalyst for f/H, but corrodes easier). Kanthal is mostly iron. It is very possible that greater gain will be had from only adding more nickel, both in the wire and/or as nickel powder in the mix. But go for it now - if you are ready, since any COP greater than one is worth the effort. From: Arnaud Kodeck Hello Jones, Do you want to keep your lime sauce secret? Arnaud
