I was thinking about the PAPP engine and had a couple of interesting ideas to pass on. When I look at the design of the device I see that it has some similar features of a cross field system. The magnetrons that generate large amounts of RF at high efficiency are one type of cross field design. Notice that the PAPP structure has a large electric field at one end generated by the spark gaps and also contains a axial magnetic field due to the outer coil. These fields are at right angles over a portion of their spatial common region and hence the comparison.
I would expect the large electric field and the current that flows because of it to ionize the noble gasses to various degrees, depending upon the location of the gas during the process. Helium has an interesting characteristic if it has one electron stripped from its neutral atom. In this case the helium very much resembles hydrogen except that it has a single unmatched charge remaining. If hydrinos are a real fact of nature, then why would not helium with one electron exhibit behavior that compares? It might even be capable of releasing much more energy as the electron becomes ever closer to the nucleus. With this line of thinking in mind, perhaps the other noble gasses are blended into the mix to catalyze this stored energy release process. I have not followed Mills' technology well enough to know if this is possible, but someone else can help with that understanding. Now, since I am suggesting that the helium that is active has one electron removed then it would be propelled down the axis of the cylinder toward the piston by the positively charged spark gap electrodes at the sealed end. Electrons that are stripped from their atoms would be attracted toward the gap, but follow a helical path due to interaction with the magnetic field. This total process appears to separate the positive from the negative charges and thus produces an electric current that is not balanced within the cylinder. The piston is located within the unbalanced region as well and I suspect is conductive. Ultimately the helium ion must find an additional electron to fill its shell and balance its charge. I wonder if the force that is generated in the piston is caused by Lenz's law as a result of the rapidly changing current flows. The gas pressure would not be the driving force in this scenario, but would result in some cooling on expansion. I would expect the cooling to reverse as the piston returned to its nominal starting position. Perhaps the energy released by the helium ion being subject to hydrino type effects would tend to speed up the trapped positive ions, thereby increasing their speed and effective current. Recall that helium comes in a monotonic form at room temperatures, unlike hydrogen which pairs. This allows the ionization energy to be directed toward removing electrons only and not to break apart bonds between atoms. A nice feature of a machine that operates with noble gasses is that they do not form chemical bonds with the impurities that needs to be often removed. These thoughts might not be new to the field as I have just recently began to give the PAPP engine attention so I apologize if I am repeating the postings of other members with these unusual ideas. I am currently operating under the assumption that the engine is real, of which I have doubts, and my thoughts flow freely with little constraint. We could all remain skeptics on the sidelines and get nothing accomplished or spend energy with our minds as we attempt to make sense of such a wild system. I do not want to cease to create new designs and concepts just because I fail to understand what others claim to observe. Our field, LENR, has been subjected to the same insane prejudice for far too long. I have never seen a meteorite crash to ground but I believe they exist because of the information supplied by others. If these systems are a physical reality, then we must not neglect them due to our skeptic normal tendencies. Being a skeptic is easy. One can come up with an infinite number of reasons why something might not be possible, but only a few where it is. You can always dismiss the work of others as being sloppy and useless. Not long ago we had these skeptic types hanging around like vultures on telephone lines. They would deny that LENR devices generate excess heat even if one was stuck up their butts cooking them from the inside out. Dave
