I've been looking at my old electrospark experiment reports for
evidence of blue-green glow effects as opposed to electrospark
effects. Experiment #15 below gave me quite a bit of excitement when
I realized a high COP (i.e 1.27) was just being achieved during
conditioning when, at time 20 minutes, I blindly and stupidly (not
knowing at the time what the glow regime was really all about)
punched the current up from 0.0571 amps to 0.2110 amps to achieve the
electrospark regime. The data was manually recorded, so at the time
of the experiment I did not know what the COP was.
I found a significant problem that damped my recent excitement.
Something missing in the typed report for Experiment #15, but in the
lab book, is that 74.22 g out of an initial 417.98 g initial
electrolyte weight boiled off. The energy from this 74.22 g boil off
was distributed across *all* the data points by putting it in the
cell tare. There was no means utilized to keep track of actual boil
off on a per minute basis. The cell was weighed before and after
only. This means the corrected power out "Cor p out" estimates in
the first low power part of the run (time 4-20) are probably too
high, and in the second high current part, too low. (THIS MAKES THE
BLUE GLOW SECTION LOOK TOO GOOD.) The only way to do this right is to
run in the glow range for the entire experiment. At any rate, at
this point I don't know that there is anything unusual going on. I
suppose the tare could be adjusted by prorating the total boil off by
the power in numbers. That too would be misleading in that the
waveform in the blue glow regime, as drawn in the lab book,
exhibited a much lower power factor in the glow phase than in the
electrospark regime, but unfortunately I did not record the phase
shift number for the glow regime, nor even recognize it as a possible
power producing regime. Too bad also the spread sheet and the cell
setup are long gone.
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Na2SiO3 Experiment #15 - 12/29/1997
The purpose of this experiment was to test a 0.5 g/l Na2SiO3 with Zr
electrodes using the new boiloff protocol. The total COP derived for
this run was 1.00, with Ein = 196548 J, and Eout = 196798 J. No
compensation was made for H2 + O2 creation energy, nor for Zr
electrode oxidation, nor for a phase difference of 25.92 deg. (power
factor .899). What is most interesting about this test is that the
COP is 1.11 if the power factor is taken into account.
The protocol and foam box used were as described in Exp. #14.
The electrodes were Zr.. The electrode weights in grams were:
Electrode Before After
1 4.72 7.72
2 4.08 4.04
Despite the lack of increase in electrode weight, a thick white
coating appeared on the electrodes. One of the electrodes (2) was
left in distilled weater overnight and re-weighed. It weighed 4.03 g
after sitting overnight, indicating the coating on the electrodes is
not very water soluble. A small amount of black powder or
precipitate was noted on the bottom of the cell after the run. It
may have been zirconium compound.
"Vol." is only known at the begining and end of the experiment, so a
(not very well) weighted average of volume consumption (steam
generation) was spread across the time of the experiment to permit an
estimate of COP per measurement interval. The measurement intervals
were chosen so as to keep a good estimate of input power.
At the start of the experiment the sparks did not turn on immediately
despite the long prior conditioning of the electrodes, and the high
starting electrolyte temperature (100 C). This may be partially due
to the very high insulatng quality of the film. It appeared that,
from the z-y plot on the TDS200 scope that the breakdown voltage
(either positive or negative) was initially 320 V dropping eventually
to about 280 V. Current lead voltage on the y-t plot by 2 msec
initially, then settled down to 1.2 msec during the high power
portion of the run. This gives a minimum phase angle of 25.92 deg.
(power factor .899). However, the x-y I vs V curve was very
distorted. It was basically a Z shape, with some hysteresis on top
from the capacitance. Kind of like so:
/|
/ /
----------/ /
/ /---------/
/ /
|/
Any assesment of overunity (or not) depends on determining the true
input power in this wave form.
The electrodes glittered during the high power portion of the run,
and clearly most of the steam was generated then.
The basic data follows:
Time V rms I rms Temp. C P in P out Tare Amb.
Vol. t
0 293 0.1210 100.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 25.03
418.0 0
2 293 0.1210 100.00 35.10 -0.38 9.15 25.03
418.0 2
4 302 0.0984 100.00 32.26 13.71 9.16 24.85
417.3 2
6 306 0.0860 100.00 27.74 13.71 9.18 24.70
416.5 2
8 309 0.0781 100.00 24.97 13.71 9.19 24.59
415.8 2
10 311 0.0716 100.00 22.97 13.71 9.21 24.49
415.1 2
12 312 0.0683 100.00 21.57 13.71 9.22 24.44
414.4 2
14 312 0.0636 100.00 20.37 13.71 9.22 24.38
413.6 2
16 312 0.0606 100.00 19.18 13.71 9.23 24.33
412.9 2
18 314 0.0588 100.00 18.50 13.71 9.23 24.28
412.2 2
20 315 0.0571 100.00 18.04 13.71 9.24 24.26
411.5 2
21 421 0.2110 100.00 52.87 27.42 9.25 24.15
410.7 1
22 423 0.2050 100.00 86.90 27.42 9.25 24.13
410.0 1
24 418 0.2190 100.00 88.24 83.24 9.26 24.08
405.6 2
26 419 0.2170 100.00 90.32 83.24 9.26 24.09
401.2 2
28 422 0.2100 100.00 88.87 83.24 9.26 24.07
396.8 2
30 424 0.2040 100.00 86.68 83.24 9.27 24.00
392.3 2
32 425 0.2000 100.00 84.89 83.24 9.26 24.24
387.9 2
34 425 0.2000 100.00 84.15 83.24 9.23 24.41
383.5 2
36 424 0.2010 100.00 84.26 83.24 9.21 24.58
379.1 2
38 424 0.2040 100.00 85.00 83.24 9.29 23.16
374.7 2
40 423 0.2090 100.00 86.58 83.24 9.37 23.16
370.3 2
42 421 0.2150 100.00 88.57 83.24 9.37 23.16
365.8 2
44 418 0.2180 100.00 89.91 83.24 9.37 23.16
361.4 2
46 418 0.2220 100.00 91.04 83.24 9.37 23.16
357.0 2
48 416 0.2240 100.00 92.06 83.24 9.37 23.16
352.6 2
50 416 0.2270 100.00 92.87 83.24 9.37 23.16
348.2 2
52 414 0.2300 100.00 93.88 83.24 9.37 23.16
343.8 2
Corrected "P out" and energies follows:
P in P out Tare Amb. Vol. t Cor COP E
in E out
P out
joules joules
0.00 0.00 0.00 25.03 418.0 0 0 0.00
0 0
35.10 -0.38 9.15 25.03 418.0 2 8.77 0.25
4212 1052
32.26 13.71 9.16 24.85 417.3 2 22.87 0.71
8083 3796
27.74 13.71 9.18 24.70 416.5 2 22.89 0.83
11411 6543
24.97 13.71 9.19 24.59 415.8 2 22.90 0.92
14408 9291
22.97 13.71 9.21 24.49 415.1 2 22.92 1.00
17164 12041
21.57 13.71 9.22 24.44 414.4 2 22.92 1.06
19753 14792
20.37 13.71 9.22 24.38 413.6 2 22.93 1.13
22197 17543
19.18 13.71 9.23 24.33 412.9 2 22.94 1.20
24499 20296
18.50 13.71 9.23 24.28 412.2 2 22.94 1.24
26719 23049
18.04 13.71 9.24 24.26 411.5 2 22.95 1.27
28884 25803
52.87 27.42 9.25 24.15 410.7 1 36.67 0.69
32056 28003
86.90 27.42 9.25 24.13 410.0 1 36.67 0.42
37270 30203
88.24 83.24 9.26 24.08 405.6 2 92.50 1.05
47858 41303
90.32 83.24 9.26 24.09 401.2 2 92.50 1.02
58697 52404
88.87 83.24 9.26 24.07 396.8 2 92.50 1.04
69362 63504
86.68 83.24 9.27 24.00 392.3 2 92.51 1.07
79764 74605
84.89 83.24 9.26 24.24 387.9 2 92.50 1.09
89950 85705
84.15 83.24 9.23 24.41 383.5 2 92.47 1.10
100048 96802
84.26 83.24 9.21 24.58 379.1 2 92.45 1.10
110160 107897
85.00 83.24 9.29 23.16 374.7 2 92.53 1.09
120360 119000
86.58 83.24 9.37 23.16 370.3 2 92.62 1.07
130749 130114
88.57 83.24 9.37 23.16 365.8 2 92.62 1.05
141377 141228
89.91 83.24 9.37 23.16 361.4 2 92.62 1.03
152166 152342
91.04 83.24 9.37 23.16 357.0 2 92.62 1.02
163091 163456
92.06 83.24 9.37 23.16 352.6 2 92.62 1.01
174139 174570
92.87 83.24 9.37 23.16 348.2 2 92.62 1.00
185283 185684
93.88 83.24 9.37 23.16 343.8 2 92.62 0.99
196548 196798
1.00
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