I originally proposed the following reactions as justifying the Rossi
results:
58Ni28 + p* --> 59Cu29 * --> 59Ni28 + neutrino
58Ni28 + 2 p* --> 60Zn30 * --> 60Ni28 + 2 neutrinos
60Ni28 + p* --> 61Cu29 * --> 61Ni28 + neutrino
61Ni28 + p* --> 62Cu29 * --> 62Ni28 + neutrino
62Ni28 + p* --> 63Cu29
64Ni28 + p* --> 65Cu29
This has the now obvious problem of producing radioactive 59Ni, via
the first reaction. Is there any potential reason only the second
reaction should be probable? Yes. The reason is the same reason
behind my suggestion that nuclear catalytic reactions may be
responsible for the bulk of D+D-->4He (net) reactions in Pd, as
described here:
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/dfRpt
in association with reports C and D. Since few people read linked
references, here is the important part of what is said in regards to
those reports:
Quote:
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Report C, including 288 reactions in 20 pages, 44 kB, demonstrates 3-
body nuclear catalytic LENR reactions, which can more simply just be
be called “nuclear catalytic reactions”, or NCRs, a new class of LENR
reaction proposed by this author. This class of reaction may provide
a fundamental new understanding of how hydrogen fusion most often
occurs in a lattice, by use of the lattice heavy element nuclei as
catalysts. A given hydrogen atom is much closer to lattice element
nuclei than to any other hydrogen atom in the lattice. If a hydrogen
nucleus is in the deflated state, it is much more probable it will
tunnel to a lattice nucleus than to the site of another hydrogen
nucleus which is much further away. Tunneling distance is in an
exponential term of the tunneling probability. The lattice nucleus
can thus act as a catalyst for multiple simultaneous deuteron
reactions which would otherwise not be feasible under less than
extreme loading conditions. In that magnetic gradients are necessary
to the tunneling of deflated state nuclei, and thus heavy element
LENR, it is therefore also true that magnetic gradients are important
to n-body heavy element catalytic LENR. High magnetic fields are also
important to deflation fusion because it tends to spin align the
deflated nucleus and thus improve spin coupling binding energy. While
only 3-body reactions of the type:
X + 2 D* --> X + Y
were selected for Report C, it is also true that many more (n+1)-body
catalytic reactions of the form:
X + n D* --> X + Y
can be found in Report A, and reactions solely of that type are in
Report D. It is likely that 3-body catalytic reactions, rather than n-
body reactions, n > 3, dominate heavy element catalyzed LENR, so
Report C was created to show only those reactions, though it is very
boring as they are all exactly of the form:
X + 2 D* --> X + 4He2 + 23.847 MeV
What notably changes is the energy deficit due to deflated electrons.
It appears elements heavier than tin can be expected to be capable of
weak reactions and heavy element transmutation LENR.
It is especially notable that no equivalent report is feasible for
the strong force catalytic reactions:
X + 2 p* ---> X + Z
because no such reactions are feasible producing stable Z, because pp
is not a stable particle. This makes for a significant difference
between light water and heavy water experiments. Light water
experiments are not capable of heavy element catalytic LENR unless
weak reactions follow the creation of the compound nucleus. This
makes such reactions rare. It is feasible for X + n p* --> X + Z
heavy element transmutation reactions to occur via strong force
reactions, but only in the cases n > 2, or the cases of reactions of
the form X + 2 p* --> Y + H. It is important to note that
X + 2 p* --> Y + H
is energetically not the same as:
X + p* --> Y
because the negative energy due to the two catalytic electrons in the
former greatly exceeds the negative energy provided by the single
catalytic electron in the later reaction. Further, two additional
bodies are available to carry off kinetic energy. For example,
consider the two reactions:
26Mg12 + p* --> 27Al13 + 8.271 MeV [3.663 MeV]
26Mg12 + 2 p* --> 27Al13 + 1H1 + 8.271 MeV [-1.593 MeV]
The trapping energy of the extra deflated electron provides a strong
catalytic influence due to the initial negative reaction energy, i.e.
due to deflated electron binding energy immediaely post fusion.
Report D, 136 kB, including 2,016 reactions in 94 pages, provides all
the energetically feasible X + n D* --> X + Z Reactions, for n = 1 to
4. These are in the set of all n-body heavy element nuclear catalytic
LENR reactions, a new class of reaction. Note the preponderance of
negative energies in brackets for the heaviest lattice elements. This
indicates good prospects for subsequent weak reactions when these
heavy elements are in the lattice.
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end quote
Report C is found at:
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/RptC
In addition to the above reasons for 3 nucleus catalytic reactions,
is the prospect a lattice is made of atoms with nominal nuclear
magnetic moments, or highly shielded (by orbital electrons) magnetic
moments. In these cases, it is magnetically and energetically far
better that two deflated hydrogen atoms, which have very high
magnetic moments due to their electrons, tunnel simultaneously.
Given the close proximity of hydrogen to lattice nuclei, this makes
nuclear catalytic action, especially in the absence of high tunneling
rates, the most likely pathway for D+D-->He fusion (net).
It is notable the above comments do not take into account potential
follow-on weak reactions.
Similar comments apply to absorbed protium in Ni. The Ni nucleus is
magnetically shielded by its orbital electrons. This might restrict
nickel-protium reactions to the form Ni + 2 p* --> X.
It is well known that LENR does not form radioactive nuclei. The
presence of two protons and two electrons in the new compound nucleus
provides multiple pathways required to make this feasible. Dropping
to the lowest energy level feasible, in the presence of a large
energy deficit, makes formation of non-radioactive products likely.
Now, to review the Ni-H reactions, as originally proposed, in this
light:
58Ni28 + p* --> 59Cu29 * --> 59Ni28 + neutrino
58Ni28 + 2 p* --> 60Zn30 * --> 60Ni28 + 2 neutrinos
60Ni28 + p* --> 61Cu29 * --> 61Ni28 + neutrino
61Ni28 + p* --> 62Cu29 * --> 62Ni28 + neutrino
62Ni28 + p* --> 63Cu29
64Ni28 + p* --> 65Cu29
What is feasible within the newly proposed reaction rules are:
58Ni28 (68.0769 ) + 2 p* --> 60Zn30 * --> 60Ni28 + 2 neutrinos
60Ni28 (26.2231 ) + 2 p* --> 62Zn30 * --> 62Ni28 + 2 neutrinos
61Ni28 (1.1399 ) + 2 p* --> 63Zn30 * --> 63Cu29 + neutrino
62Ni28 (3.6345 ) + 2 p* --> 64Zn30
64Ni28 (0.9256 ) + 2 p* --> 66Zn30
Natural abundances are shown in parentheses. The last three reactions
are the "money" reactions, producing large enthalpy. It is notable
that only the third reaction produces copper, and that is 63Cu only.
This does not match the stated experimental results that ordinary
copper abundances were found in the ash. Also, a small amount of zinc
should have been observed. The Ni abundances should have shifted
upward in atomic mass.
Best regards,
Horace Heffner
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/