[Vo]: Excess hydrogen without much excess heat

[Jed Rothwell]

One aspect of Mizuno's recent results bothers me. In some cases, he reports significant excess hydrogen without anomalous excess heat, or with only a little excess heat. I do not see how this could be, if the hydrogen comes from pyrolysis. It seems to me that if heat is causing pyrolysis, there must be far more heat than normal, so you would expect to see both excess heat and excess hydrogen.

Assume there is no anomalous excess heat. In that case, because the excess hydrogen carries off enthalpy, the total heat from the reaction should be considerably less than the amount expected from ordinary electrolysis. Yet the heat balance is usually close to the expected level. How could there be just enough anomalous heat to split the water, carry off enthalpy, and reduce overall measurable heat right back down to the level you see with ordinary electrolysis?
 
Actually, another paper reports similar results:
 
Iizumi, K., et al. Heat Measurement During Plasma Electrolysis. in The 12th International Conference on Condensed Matter Nuclear Science. 2005. Yokohama, Japan.
 
Unfortunately, I do not have permission to upload to this, but anyway, the conclusion is:
 
“The energy balances during plasma electrolyses were 100~102% and a clear excess energy could not be detected in the experiments this time.  The current efficiencies during plasma electrolyses were 115~122%.  Furthermore, a small amount of CO2 was also detected during plasma electrolyses by means of Gas Chromatograph. . . .”
 
Assuming these observations are correct, I think they preclude the simple model of excess heat causing excess hydrogen. Some other highly energetic reaction must be occurring, and this fractures the water directly. I cannot imagine what it would be. The explosion experienced by Mizuno during the first minutes of electrolysis is also a complete mystery that does not fit any model or expectation. I have a feeling the two are related.
 
- Jed