At 07:02 PM 10/29/2009, Michel Jullian wrote:
2009/10/29 Abd ul-Rahman Lomax <a...@lomaxdesign.com>:
> What I meant by my comment was that
> measuring elevated temperature of a cathode is an *indicator* of excess
> heat. But the possibility would remain that some condition in the
> electrolyte close to the cathode raises the resistance there, so the Joule
> heat would be dissipated there, thus making the cathode appear
hotter. But I
> think it unlikely. Shanahan might disagree. But, remember, my
goal is not to
> prove that cold fusion is real, but to demonstrate it and detect its
> signatures. A hot cathode is one.
No it isn't. A hot cathode means the global reaction at the cathode is
exothermic, nothing else.
Sigh. A signature isn't a proof, it's a characteristic. There may be
fraudulent signatures, but most signatures are not fraudulent.
A hot cathode means that energy is being released at the cathode.
Joule heating would normally be generated in the electrolyte,
probably rather evenly (but I don't know that, if the resistance of
the electrolyte is higher near the cathode and/or anode, and it might
be, then I'd expect more heat to be generated there. The behavior of
controls with CuCl2 should provide some clue.
In any case, if it is found that cathodes with no other NAE signs are
cooler than those with NAE signs, then we have found a signature.
Pops can come from all kinds of things, but if we find that a
particular kind of pop, certain frequency, is much more common when
we are getting excess heat, or radiation, then we have found a
signature. Etc. Do not confuse a signature with a proof.
That I see a voltage gauge drop on a generator could be due to lots
of causes, but routinely I'd suspect a problem with the generator or
voltage regulator! That an old light meter would read a low level
might mean that the batteries were going dead or that something was
blocking the photodetector, but routinely I'd take photos according
to the reading.
For more rapid engineering, finding convenient signatures can be highly useful.
Palladium hydride formation is exothermic
(it releases around 11 kJ/mol heat for a loading factor of 0.8), so a
hot cathode is to be expected, correct me someone if I am wrong.
I think you are right, but I also think that with a codeposition
cell, that energy is very slowly released. Good point, though. That
would be a source of heat at the cathode. Odd that it would be in
small spots, with a fully loaded cathode with no more buildup of
deuterium. I think that at this point the deuterium is being evolved
for the most part, no longer being absorbed. Which points out that it
might be of interest to monitor the rate of gas evolution. I'll have
to think about that. A bubbler with a photodetector on it? I've got
spare channels in the data acquisition system I'm planning on buying....
