Hi Bob, I found a report about Thermacore's measurements that included this picture of their test vessel:
On Sun, Nov 21, 2021 at 4:52 PM bobcook39...@hotmail.com < bobcook39...@hotmail.com> wrote: > Jones— > > > > Higgins raised some good questions. > > > > I assumed from your description of the > > Thermacore test that the reactor was a flanged hemisphere bolted to a > bottom SS plate, not a complete spherical reactor.\ > > > > Do you know of a report or other reference for the test>: > > > > Bob Cook > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Sent from Mail <https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for > Windows > > > > *From: *Jones Beene <jone...@pacbell.net> > *Sent: *Friday, November 19, 2021 1:17 PM > *To: *vortex-l@eskimo.com > *Subject: *Re: [Vo]:The "hero" LENR experiment ? > > > > Hi Bob, > > > > Yes, there are way too many loose ends in this story - not the least of > which is: where is that damaged reactor now? It is almost unconscionable to > have ignored it all these years. > > > > If a nuclear reaction had happened, there should be residual radiation. > Not to mention - most top engineers would want to write this episode up, at > some point. And also - Gene Mallove was apparently going to get involved > before his tragic fate. > > > > Like so many stories in LERN since '89 this is one more mystery which is > full of contrasting doubt and hope. > > > > > > Bob Higgins wrote: > > > > > > Thank you, Jones, for that historical highlight of the Thermacore > experiment. > > > > 2.5 pounds of the Ni would have only amounted to 12% volumetric fill of > the 3L container volume. > > > > When you say the stainless steel pressure vessel had a "hemispherical > volume", what do you mean? Do you mean the pressure vessel was spherical? > Or was it cylindrical with hemispherical top and bottom? > > > > If the vessel was spherical, it would have an inside diameter of about 7" > for an internal volume of 3L. If we then presume that it was 300 pounds of > stainless steel, that is 1034 in^3 that would be in the shell of the > container. This would mean that the wall thickness of the container would > have been 4.9" - extremely thick. This is an unlikely sounding container. > Was it really that thick? For what purpose would such a container have > ever been created? > > > > Jones Beene wrote: > > After all of these decades, the perception of LENR in the general physics > community is still rather 'unflattering,' shall we say. It is not even clear > what > the most convincing experiment (aka - the hero effort) is/was in the field - > since none has yet led to a commercial product. > > Many new observers of the LENR scene are unaware of the details of the > Thermacore, Inc. runaway reaction in 1996. I ran across an old post on that > work recently and decided to re-post it since there is some similarity to > current > work - to wit the Clean Planet effort in Japan. > > Unfortunately, the end result was not (publicly) replicated, but in fact > became > the final effort (and exit). (BTW - Thermacore was a recognized leader in all > aspects of industrial thermochemistry, having inventedthe heat pipe. Had they > kept at it (1996)... who knows? > > Sadly, the reason that they dropped LENR 25 years ago was far from 'no gain' - > instead, it was the risk of deadly explosion. The incident echoes other > thermal > runaways, including P&F, Mizuno, Mark Snoswell in Australia and Brian Ahern. > However, Thermacore's was more energetic than prior incidents and could have > led to high profile fatalities. > > > > This was to have been a powered experiment, but they never had time to apply > > input power. It was was a follow-on to a Phase one grant from USAF > > (document in LENR-CANR library) and was simply intended to be an analysis > > the absorption reaction of a large amount of nickel powder with hydrogen at > > modest pressure. Instead, it was likely to have been the most energetic single > event in the history of LENR. > > > > Years later, Brian Ahern was in contact with Nelson Gernert, the chief > > researcher in the new Thermacore, Inc (having gone through two changes of > > ownership) ... and who was also in charge of the runaway. Brian is absolutely > convinced that this happened as described. > > > > Details: Gernert added 2.5 pounds of nickel powder (200 mesh of Ni-200) into a > 3 liter stainless steel Dewar. The Dewar weighed 300 pounds. It was a strong > > pressure vessel with a hemispherical volume. It would have been an > approximation of a small industrial boiler had things not gone berserk that > day. > > Thermacore evacuated the nickel under vacuum for several days before adding > H2 gas at 2 atmospheres. The most amazing thing happened next. The powder > immediately and spontaneously heated up before external power could even > be added. The Dewar glowed orange (800C) and the engineers ran for cover. > No external heat had been used and radiation monitors were not running. The > nickel had sintered into a glob alloyed into the vessel and could not be > removed. > > > > The (then) owner of Thermacore, Yale Eastman was frightened that an > > explosion was imminent and that someone could be killed. He forbade any > > further work on LENR. The incident was not published. > > Superficial thermal analysis - 3 liters of H2 gas at 2 atmosphere will have a > heat > of combustion of 74 kilojoules if combined with oxygen (but there was no > oxygen > in the Dewar). Heating a 300 lb Stainless vessel to 800C would require 21 > megajoules. That is ostensibly ~289 times the possible chemical energy but can > it be controlled? > > Maybe *Clean Planet *has learned how to control this phenomenon and can > produce a small boiler. Mitsubishi is a major investor, it is said. > > Tesla beware. > > https://www.cleanplanet.co.jp/en/company/ > > > > > > > > > > > > >
