The most interesting distinction in all of physics comes into focus with
Ni-H, assuming that it is NOT a nuclear reaction (as normally understood).
There is no proof that Ni-H is primarily nuclear, and many indications that
it is not, and there are also indications that there is some secondary
nuclear activity which cannot account for more than a tiny fraction of the
excess energy seen. If not primarily nuclear, then how does chemistry enter
the picture?
One of the papers in http://www.iscmns.org/work10/Abstracts.pdf says it's "only water" :
Control of excess heat production in Pd-impregnated alumina powder
O. Dmitriyeva, R. Cantwel, M. McConnel, and G. Moddel
Abstract
We carried out an experimental study of excess heat production during deuterium loading of
Pd-impregnated alumina. Earlier studies [1,2] have shown that a hydrogen-deuterium (H/D)
exchange chemical reaction can account for at least some of excess heat observed during
gas-loading experiments. In this work we show that excess heat contributed by H/D exchange
can be eliminated by prebaking the material in vacuum at 390ºC, due to the removal of
residual water from the material. After the material is given the opportunity to reabsorb
water from air the reaction and excess heat production in the presence of deuterium resumes.
Our calculations on the energy available from H/D exchange show that all the excess heat
observed during our experiment can be accounted for by this chemical reaction.
