In reply to OrionWorks's message of Wed, 9 Apr 2008 20:30:55 -0500: Hi, [snip] >I gather it's always been that confounded regenerative step that has >prevented BLP from coming up with an effective path towards commercial >application. [snip] Not really. Most BLP catalysts are ions that become even further ionized during the BLP reaction. E.g. Ar+ -> Ar++. Since this usually takes place in a plasma, there are plenty of free electrons hanging around that the Ar++ can latch on to, to reform Ar+ (or even Ar). IOW in a plasma the catalyst reforms almost instantaneously.
In the case of the solid however I believe they are making a fuss because the solid itself is not actually the catalyst. IOW it only creates the catalyst when heated, and hence special steps need to be taken to reconstitute the solid later. I think what's prevented them before is that so few hydrinos usually form (mostly due to competing reactions), that the energy liberated wasn't enough to pay back the energy investment. (As Mike has already explained). e.g. if you have to create 1000 ions just to get one to undergo the requisite reaction, then your process overall will not be OU, even though it is OU as far as the single H atom involved is concerned. This is the main reason that KH -> K + H should work well. The resultant gas (K + H) has no competing reactions, aside from H + H + H -> H2 + H (a rare three body reaction). Regards, Robin van Spaandonk The shrub is a plant.
