On Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 4:40 PM, Stephen A. Lawrence <sa...@pobox.com>wrote:
> ** > > > On 11-11-16 05:32 PM, Mary Yugo wrote: > > > > On Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 11:33 AM, Stephen A. Lawrence <sa...@pobox.com>wrote: > >> There are actually some technical difficulties with a "blank run" in the >> Rossi E-cat. >> >> Wet cold fusion researchers sometimes have used H2O in a "blank" run, and >> compared evolved heat using D2O with the blank output. If the D2O produces >> a heat measurement value higher than the H2O then they can conclude, with >> good certainty, that something interesting happened. That sort of yes/no >> blank comparison run is harder to arrange for the E-Cat. >> >> The trouble is that H2(gas)+Ni(powder) reacts exothermically, as the >> hydrogen is adsorbed onto the nickel. This means that a blank run using, >> say, nitrogen in place of hydrogen can be expected to produce *less* >> *measured* *heat* than the H2 run, even if there's no new chemistry or >> physics taking place in the "loaded" E-Cat. And that leaves you right back >> where you started, trying to do precise calorimetry on the "loaded" run to >> determine exactly how much "excess heat" was produced, and comparing it >> with a theoretical value for heat of adsorption. >> > > I don't really see an exothermic reaction with hydrogen as a problem. The > error would be in favor of Rossi and I am happy to accept it if (and only > if) he runs so long that it's accounted for... > > > Oh get real. You just made my point -- the blank and non-blank runs must > run "long enough" so the excess due to adsorption "is accounted for" -- as > I said, we're right back to square 1, arguing over the calorimetry. > > As I said, it's not a yes/no test -- yes, the signature is higher than the > blank, or no, it's not. > > You have a point, but 2 things: (1) The blank run will also serve as a calibration, so it will be easier to quantify the excess in the non-blank run. (2) The amount of excess due to the added hydrogen will be much less than the amount that has to be considered from hidden fuel inside a 100 kg device. So, it's not just which is higher, but it would still be easier to read.
