Dave--
I thought it was reported that Rossi cut the end of the reactor with a diamond
saw. There would have been no plugged charging hole to contend with.
I do not think the temperature in the reactor was high enough to melt the Ni or
Ni alloy nano particles. As I suggested the energy of reaction was released as
radiant energy and did not raise the temperature of the reactants
significantly. The Li metal vapor would have acted to remove heat to the wall
of the reactor, if the nano particles of Ni (alloy) got to hot. It is my
assumption that the temperature of the vapor (maybe plasma) was fairly uniform
within the reactor vessel (alumina containment).
It may be that the isotopes of Ni below 62 were indeed depleted and not seen in
the ash.
Bob Cook
----- Original Message -----
From: David Roberson
To: vortex-l@eskimo.com
Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2014 5:28 PM
Subject: Re: [Vo]:temperature of the resistor wire.
Bob, how would we explain the appearance of the ash material that was
extracted from the tube? According to the testers the device can operate at
higher powers than they experienced which would certainly lead to complete
melting of the nickel. What are the chances that some of the other materials
in the fuel mix might result in 'slag' that prevents the Nickel crystals from
growing very large.
It would seem likely for the condensing nickel to form a blockage of the
small interior channel into which the fuel was inserted. If that happened, the
amount of material that could be analyzed would be quite limited. That might
explain the large amount of Ni62 if the sample were constricted to the material
near the end cap and not an average.
I asked about the amount of material that was collected as ash from which the
samples were drawn and do not recall getting an answer.
One last comment. If the true temperature of the fuel reached the level that
the IR measurements suggested then I would be very surprised to find that a
gram was extracted after the test was completed. Local melting and
crystallization would very likely plug up the charging hole in several
locations.
Just my thoughts.
Dave
-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Higgins <rj.bob.higg...@gmail.com>
To: vortex-l <vortex-l@eskimo.com>
Sent: Thu, Oct 16, 2014 6:29 pm
Subject: Re: [Vo]:temperature of the resistor wire.
One thing we can be pretty sure of is that any Ni in this reactor at
1300-1400C will have no nano-features. The nano-scale portions melt at about
half the temperature of the bulk material. So what would happen is that if
there was Ni with nano-scale features, these features would melt before the
bulk and cease to be nano. Long before you get to 1000C, Ni particles (if that
is what he used) would sinter themselves together and to the wall of the
reactor.
I do suspect that nano-features are still required for the reaction. In
order for them to exist at these temperatures, Rossi must have substituted a
new metal, perhaps zirconium. Previously he said he had experimented with
other materials, but they didn't work as well as Ni. Well, in his quest to get
the temperature hotter, he may have switched to one of these alternate
formulations. This switch caused the hotCat to work at a higher temperature,
but probably with a lower COP than his original recipe, colder eCats.
Zirconium is a refractory metal which melts (bulk) at 1855C. This is still
borderline for maintaining any nano-scale features at the Lugano hotCat
temperatures. Rossi may have put the catalyzed zirconium particles in a
ceramic washcoat inside the inner ceramic tube as is done for catalytic
converters. The washcoat may prevent proton conduction just by itself, and
will hold the zirconium particles close to the wall for best lowest thermal
resistance. When you open the reactor to take out the "ash" there won't be any
active material that comes out.
The heater wire is probably Kanthal Super or the like which is good to over
1500C when encapsulated in a ceramic coating to prevent air from reaching the
wire.
On Thu, Oct 16, 2014 at 3:13 PM, Bob Cook <frobertc...@hotmail.com> wrote:
Axil, David etal--
I would have guessed that a vapor of Li metal (I am not sure a plasma would
occur) may be a fairly good heat transfer agent, much like He works as a
cooling fluid. I would be surprised if there were a 200 degree delta T between
the edge of the reactor and its center.
Delta T across the alumina vessel may be that 200 degrees, if the energy
transfer is by photons generated by the reaction directly, rather than by
lattice stimulation of the reacting material with its IR radiation, most of the
heat may deposited in the reactor vessel (alumina) or escape through the vessel
to the outside surroundings. Maybe Dave's calculation would be able to say
what the delta T across the alumina would be with a given heat flux assuming
published heat transfer coeff's for alumina.
Helium gas is a good heat transfer agent and Li, being of low mass, would
be almost as good.
My thought about the reactor design is as follows:
1. The reactive material, Ni or some alloy of Ni is free in the vessel
along with Li metal.
2. The external energy supply is an inductance heater as well as supplying
an oscillating magnetic field--which is controlled to effect resonant
conditions.
3. The reactants, Li and Ni nano particles, reach a temperature where the
LENR happens when the magnetic field is appropriate and resonances match.
4. The reaction causes the release of photons of determined energy (a
function of the magnetic field) with a change in the nuclear structure of the
Li and the Ni isotopes reacting. These photons are relatively low energy and
not gammas seen in classical nuclear transitions associated with high kinetic
energy reactions or transitions of excited radioactive isotopes.
5. The temperature, or the combination of temperature and magnetic field
strength, in the Ni nano particles control the rate of the reaction via a
negative temperature coeff. much like a water cooled, U fueled, fission
reactor.
6. As the free reactants are used up or become "glued" to the reactor
vessel so that free mixing of the Ni and the Li is no longer possible, the LENR
stops.
7. The electrical leads are not inconel, but are tungsten or other high
temperature electrical conductor. I would not expect that corrosion is an
issue with the alumina or the reactants. The wire conductors would have to
hold up in a Li, nano Ni hot gas environment, however. Free O would be a
problem for corrosion and may change the Ni so as to become non-reactive.
