At 02:11 PM 8/20/2012, ChemE Stewart wrote:
They were probably both guilty of ignorance of what the reaction actually was/is and its potential although Papp had an idea. Unfortunately more injury may result until the reaction(s) are nailed down. There is a reason Plasmerg/Rohners maintain Lexan bullet proof glass around their devices, they have no &%&^%! idea how to control it from self-destructing the devices.
I don't think anyone knows what the reaction is, if it's real. The work has not been done. However, Bob Rohner demonstrated his popper behind that glass. He doesn't use it in his own shop/lab, see the video. The popper is highly unlikely to explode, unless one runs it outside the known safe envelope.
If someone is building the Plasmerg popper, I'd suggest building it so that if a reaction results in unexpectedly high pressure, it will fail in a specific way, such as blowing a large relief valve. If the piston is plastic, score the plastic so that high pressure will blow the side off the piston in a certain direction, away from the operator/observer. It's not likely.
The only explosion I know of from a Papp Engine was the Feynman affair, where the engine was running continuously at relatively high RPM and the controls were shut off. (As far as we know.) The "cannon" was designed as such, made to explode. It was a bit more powerful than designed, perhaps, but nobody was hurt because they expected an explosion.
Simple enough, though, to operate the popper behind a piece of Lexan. The obvious use of the popper is to explore the fuel and the effect.
This is real research, and the demand for an operating engine is distraction, important for investors, sure, but not for science.
John Rohner knows that he's taking a major step by offering his popper kit. I've called this an end game. It may be that it is encouraging additional investment, PESN has reported one new investor who may have been impressed by Inteligentry plans for the popper, in part. But people *will* buy and test that kit. It's a big planet. We will see what falls out of this.
If the reports start coming in that the kits don't work, John will be scrambling, and if he doesn't fix that, and fast, it's over.
Folks, if you are not prepared to lose $350, plus more (for the fuel and to actually build a piston/cylinder) don't buy one of those kits. There is a high risk, from the history of this field. Caveat emptor.
