In reply to Eric Walker's message of Sat, 25 Oct 2014 21:25:44 -0700: Hi, [snip]
Don't forget that only a tiny sample of the ash was measured. It's entirely possible that the sample just happened to be one in which the process was complete. If the reaction wasn't uniform throughout the reactor then there may have been other regions where the reaction wasn't complete, and was still producing energy. >On Sat, Oct 25, 2014 at 3:18 PM, Alan Fletcher <a...@well.com> wrote: > >So maybe the hotcat wasn't running OUT of fuel at 32 days : it had >> completed the Ni isotope conversion (to a greater degree than Rossi >> expected), and was then running at peak efficiency? >> >> This could explain the improvement in efficiency over the first half, when >> the input power could be reduced. >> > >This makes sense in part, as there is probably nothing particularly special >about nickel-7Li neutron stripping reactions. In the case of deuterium, >neutron stripping is exothermic for the large majority of known isotopes. >I suspect something similar happens with 7Li, but for fewer isotopes. So >when the nickel is exhausted through enrichment, other reactions would be >favored. > >The part that I have less of a sense of is what would set of reactions >would kick in at the point of using up the nickel and why they might have >been hindered prior to that. > >Eric Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html