Comments and corrections appreciated -- either through vortex or directly
Abstract
The issue of Steam Quality greatly impacts the calculations on the actual excess energy.This issue is extensively analyzed by Steven B. Krivit in New Energy Times Issue 37
In particular, Appendix 9: NASA Electrical-Power-Only Steam Analysis reviews the performance of the eCat in relation to an Temperature-Entropy diagram, and states that the Steam quality could be any value between 0 and 1, so that the total output power could be anywhere between 770 watts (NO excess energy), to slightly above Rossi's claimed value of 4900 Watts.
This article shows that NASA's analysis omits significant facts about the behaviour of steam.
First, we review some basic facts about steam, particularly the concept of steam quality, and the use of a temperature-enthalpy diagram. We then consider the detailed behavior of boiling water in a "Kettle" boiler and a "Tube" boiler.
In a tube boiler, such as the eCat, the distribution of liquid water and water vapour depends directly on the Steam quality. As steam quality increases from 0 to 1 the flow changes in stages from pure liquid, bubbly liquid, plugs of steam/slugs of water to an annular arrangement of liquid water and vapour containing droplets. At a specific steam quality a "Dryout" occurs : there is no more liquid water in the output. Any remaining water will then be carried as droplets in the water vapour. This "Dryout Point" is estimated by the author to be between 75% dry and 80% dry.
If the eCat is operating with a steam quality BELOW the dryout point then liquid water will eventually fill the chimney and flow out of the outlet hose. If the eCat has steam quality ABOVE the dryout point, then the chimney will empty, and there will be no liquid water in the outlet hose.
The author believes that the experiments show that the chimney is NOT full of water, and that significant amounts of liquid water are NOT in the outlet stream.
The MINIMUM steam quality is thus ABOVE the dryout point, which means that the steam quality is above 75% Dry, and the total power is over 4300 watts, much larger than the electrical input of 770 Watts.
Note 1 : this is a working draft. Some of these calculations have been "eyeballed", and will be replaced with more accurate numbers. Check back frequently for updates.
Note 2 : when researching "dryout" be sure to distinguish between "local dryout" (Leidenfrost), and "total dryout", when there is no more water.
