At 10:29 PM 7/11/2012, David Roberson wrote:
A thought occurred to me concerning the drop in equivalent
resistance that this thread covers. It would be quite important if
the drop were due to a reverse voltage generated by the LENR
mechanism that could be improved in such a manner as to act as an
electric source of energy. How wonderful it would be if we would be
so lucky as to discover an electric source of power that directly
converts LENR activity into DC power with a decent efficiency. If I
recall the Patterson Cell used DC input to generate heat
output, maybe this coupling can be reversed in some fashion. This
concept is just open minded dreaming. I will return to reality ASAP!
No problem.
The FPHE almost certainly involves the generation of helium from
deuterium fusion. The helium will very likely end up, regardless of
the mechanism, as positive helium ions. By the nature of this
approach, half of that ionization would end up in the interface
layer. When those ions are formed, the involved electrons are left behind.
The result is a charge imbalance, with the surface layer being
ionized positively, relatively, with respect to the metal.
This is already the normal state. One way to look at this is that the
ionization reduces the work necessary to create that charge
difference, that voltage between the electrolyte and the cathode
metal. I.e., the resistance is reduced.
Now, if the electrolytic voltage could be reduced, but the reaction
sustained, there would remain a voltage induced.
However, the power made available in that way would be tiny compared
to the power released as heat through the FPHE. The efficiency would
be *horrible.*
Consider that if one finds a way to steer the nuclear reaction
involved so that the products have much higher energy as particles,
sure, one could create a power generator. However, one would also
create substantial radiation and radiation byproducts, including
radioactive isotopes, probably.
Not likely to be a useful approach. Thanks for playing Flights-o-Fancy, though.
