Jed,
Regarding quote from John Fisher’s letter to DR Rossi below I would encourage both Fisher and Rossi To consider Casimir effect on the hydrogen. Increasing the pressure would push the atoms into tighter confinement Changing the distance between the grains of nickel powder and therefore changing the Casimir force / fractional orbit of the atom. My posit is that diatomic hydrogen opposes change to a fractional orbits but disassociated atoms translate freely. Rossi’s change in pressure will move fractional atoms freely but will be opposed by fractional diatoms in a Casimir field. Best Regards Fran [quote]Flow of heat in nickel powder permeated by hydrogen is carried from particle to particle largely by hydrogen molecules across the gaps between particles. Direct flow via metal-to-metal contact is small owing to the small areas of contact. If the space between particles is shorter than the hydrogen mean free path, thermal conductivity of the powder is roughly proportional to pressure. When pressure is increased thermal conductivity is increased, and energy flows more rapidly out of the nickel powder to the calorimeter. By continually adjusting the pressure, the power to the calorimeter can be stabilized and held constant for a period of time until the energy initially present in the powder has been depleted. It is understandable that you could come to believe that hydrogen pressure was responsible for increasing the rate of a nuclear reaction; that output energy to the calorimeter was equal in magnitude to the nuclear energy being generated; and that in consequence startup energy could be neglected when making an energy balance. However I believe that you are mistaken in this belief, and that output energy is simply withdrawal of startup energy. [/quote]
