At 12:55 AM 11/2/2009, Horace Heffner wrote:
See white dots and color gradients in Figure 1 (b):
http://www.lenr-canr.org/acrobat/SzpakSlenrresear.pdf
There is also a YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb9V_qFKf2M
SPAWAR states: "The 'hot spots' observed in the infrared imaging
experiments are suggestive of 'miniexplosions' (Figure 1b7). To
verify this, the Ag electrode on a piezoelectric transducer was used
as the substrate for the Pd/D co-deposition. If a mini-explosion
occurred, the resulting shock wave would compress the crystal. The
shock wave would be followed by a heat pulse that would cause the
crystal to expand. In these experiments, sharp downward spikes
followed by broader upward spikes were observed in the piezoelectric
crystal response. The downward spikes were indicative of crystal
compression while the broader upward spikes are attributed to the
heat pulse and the consequent crystal expansion following the
explosion."
I'm hoping that these signals will propagate through the electrolyte
and the acrylic cell wall. I think that with appropriate filtering it
might be possible to pick them up with a contact piezo sensor, I've
purchased several of them, they are very cheap, very high bandwidth.
In the SPAWAR publication of the shock wave oscillographs, the
"downward spikes" are very fast, I wish they had captured these at a
much higher sweep rate. So that's what I'm going to do. I've decided
to buy a Chinese digital oscilloscope, cheap, a Rigol DS1052E, 60 MHz
bandwidth, 2 channel, 1 GS/sec max sample rate. Should be under $400
or so. I could get a USB oscilloscope with that sample rate for less,
and maybe that's what I'll supply to people who want to buy or lease
the equipment for replications, but I want to be able to fiddle with
it and not worry about the computer.... Old fashioned, I suppose, cut
my electronics teeth with real-time scopes. I'll be using a Labjack
for instrumentation, to capture temperature from two or three probes,
as well as to record cell voltage. It's all coming together nicely,
and I've been offered a donation adequate to cover all the equipment
I'll need at this point.
Final kit instrumentation protocol won't be fixed until I have done a
few experiments, at least, and have feedback from others.
I want to see and hear those explosions, and to show that neutrons
are being generated.
This is similar to what I observed when experimenting with the
electrospark phenomenon, including audible noise. It was difficult to
tell if the noise was due to cavitation instead of an "explosion",
but it seemed likely. I got the impression that a small arc would
expand and heat and partially ionize a gas bubble, and then the
bubble would collapse (I used pulsed DC), but the gas compressed
would already be heated and would quickly ionize in the compression
cycle. I think the noise became more intense when I put a small HV
capacitor across the anode and cathode. The noise effect on the anode
struck me as electrochemically initiated, probably just an unusually
initiated form of cavitation, not the result of an explosion per se.
SPAWAR's low voltage induced cathode spots must be a different
phenomenon, but still the pattern looks so oddly familiar.
At high voltages, other effects become possible. While I certainty
can't rule out that you've seen nuclear effects, there are more
non-nuclear possibilities, obviously, at higher voltages. It's also
more dangerous! I doubt that my power supply will be chugging out
more than 20 volts at the maximum current for the protocol and two
cells running in series.
but if the hot spots really occur where deuterium
desorbs, this brings strong support to the DIESECF hypothesis, and
more importantly to the LENR hypothesis in general! This is because,
as I wrote recently, desorption spots _should be cold_ if only
chemistry was at play (deuteride formation being exothermic, release
of deuterium from the palladium lattice must be endothermic).
Do correct me someone if I have got it wrong!
Michel
The SPAWAR effects occur during electrolysis, and the protocol
increases current and doesn't lower it until the end. I don't know
what they show as to heat-after-death, if anything. So the hot spots
are very unlikely to be desorption sites, though I suppose it's
possible that local conditions cause desorption on a small scale.
What does seem to trigger the effect most strongly is departure from
equilibrium; in heat-after-death effects, that would be movement of
deuterium through the lattice as desorption, most likely.
It depends on the source of the hydrogen! As I said earlier, I think
if the hydrogen source is H2 gas and it is pushed through a PD
membrane there is little heating and cooling involved at the
surfaces, with a net heating due to friction. However, in an
electrolyte the source is *not* gas. Hydrated hydrogen is in a lower
energy state and has to be pushed into the metal via an electric
field. The thermal energy released at the interface is primarily
electrical energy. When the hydrogen comes out of the hydride state
at a Pd-hydrogen interface, e.g. at cracks, then the H+H
recombination can provide a net heat to the surface of the cathode,
depending on the structure of that surface. H2 gas is only
spontaneously adsorbed at special (3 atom or more adsorbtion) sites
on a Pd surface. In general it takes energy to push H2 into and
through Pd.
My understanding was that the energy is essentially due to
differential pressure, it's as if empty palladium lattice is a vacuum
as far as H2 or D2 are concerned. So it sucks it up, literally. No
other gas can fit.
However, this clearly has nothing to do with the hot spots SPAWAR
observed. They are said to be sites of periodic "explosions". It
would be interesting to see if the cathode spots tend to flash at the
same sites repeatedly, just as the anode electrospark flashes do.
I think they won't; the SPAWAR flashes are likely due to whatever is
causing local melting and vaporization of palladium, on a scale of
approximately 10 microns, the actual reaction site is probably
substantially smaller, and that site is then gone. So what happens to
the palladium? If it is ejected, and it looks like it is, it should
end up on the bottom of the cell..., it wouldn't be soluble. Or what
would happen? Something to look for, I suppose. If it does go into
solution as a salt, it would re-deposit. Quantities would be small.
