Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 104 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
Sci Tech    H4'ed 10/13/14

Low Energy Nuclear Reaction passes big test in Switzerland

Message Christopher Calder
E-Cat being tested in Switzerland
E-Cat being tested in Switzerland
(Image by Giuseppe Levi)
  Details   DMCA
>
Has the impossible now become possible? Many old school physicists do not want to admit that they have been wrong all these years, and are still trying to block what is perhaps the most important scientific discovery of the 21st century. The censorship conducted by our entrenched scientific establishment is much like the repression Galileo faced when he declared that the Earth revolved around the sun, not vice versa.
Twenty-five years of international research after the Fleischmann-Pons experiments of 1989 have shown that the atom is much more malleable than traditional physics taught, especially when atoms are loaded into a metal lattice. Low Energy Nuclear Reaction (LENR, a.k.a. Cold Fusion) is no longer just a laboratory oddity, but closing in on a commercially viable product with the potential to replace the use of all fossil fuels for energy production.
On October 8th, 2014, a test report of Andrea Rossi's designed E-Cat LENR reactor was released by respected scientists from three different universities. The tests were conducted in Switzerland at an independent laboratory to minimize the risk of fraud. The results showed that the E-Cat reactor produces large amounts of excess heat that cannot be explained by any known chemical process. Analysis of the fuel before and after the test showed isotopic changes that can only be explained by some form of nuclear reaction. The fuel is nickel powder and hydrogen, with a compound of lithium hydride, possibly lithium aluminum hydride, used as a catalyst and to supply the needed hydrogen. No radioactive materials were used in the reactor and no radiation was detected from the reactor during operation. Almost everything in the reactor and fuel is recyclable.
Quoted from the report
"The reactor operating point was set to about 1260 C in the first half of the run, and at about 1400 C in the second half. The measured energy balance between input and output heat yielded a COP [coefficient of performance] factor of about 3.2 and 3.6 for the 1260 C and 1400 C runs, respectively. The total net energy obtained during the 32 days run was about 1.5 Mwh [=1500 KW-hours]."
"A sample of the fuel was carefully examined with respect to its isotopic composition before the run and after the run, using several standard methods: XPS, EDS, SIMS, ICP-MS and ICP-AES. The isotope composition in Lithium and Nickel was found to agree with the natural composition before the run, while after the run it was found to have changed substantially. Nuclear reactions are therefore indicated to be present in the run process, which however is hard to reconcile with the fact that no radioactivity was detected outside the reactor during the run."
The E-Cat reactor was run in a low efficiency test mode designed for the most accurate energy input and heat output measurements, and thus was not run in the normal commercially useful self-sustain mode which produces much higher energy efficiency. If the reactor had been set up in its normal high efficiency self-sustain mode, it would have likely outputted between 8 and 12 times energy input, a personal estimate I derive from previous test results of earlier generation E-Cats. No official efficiency numbers have yet been claimed for the newest generation of E-Cat, but even the earliest, unrefined versions produced 6 times energy input in self-sustain mode. Testing in self-sustain mode would be more difficult because energy input would be turned on 25% of the time and turned off 75% of the time. The scientists wanted an easy test to prove the basic principle, not determine the highest possible energy efficiency, so they kept the energy input turned on 100% of the time, which lowered the energy output to 3.6 times the energy input.
Andrea Rossi claims to have had a low cost, home heating LENR reactor ready for sale in 2013, which he planned to sell through home improvement stores. Unfortunately, he could not get safety certification because the certifying agency would not allow a nuclear reactor for home use without years of safe industrial operation first. Rossi was at an impasse, so he sold all of his E-Cat secrets and potential patent rights to an environmentally conscious company called Industrial Heat, LLC, which was formed by Cherokee Investment Partners, an adamantly pro-environment investment company. Industrial Heat conducted their own exhaustive tests and determined that the E-Cat worked just as Andrea Rossi had promised.
Industrial Heat, LLC now owns all of Andrea Rossi's E-Cat technology. It was Industrial Heat, not Andrea Rossi, that manufactured the E-Cat reactor tested in Switzerland. It should also be noted that despite many false internet rumors, it was members of the independent testing committee, not Andrea Rossi, that physically inserted and removed the fuel from the test reactor. Rossi had no opportunity at any time to rig the independent third party tests.
Industrial Heat has installed a commercially operating one megawatt E-Cat reactor at a customer's factory and is conducting a year long real-world operational test of the reactor performing useful work, producing heat for an industrial process. At some point in the near future tours of the factory installed E-Cat will be allowed and a statement by the industrial customer will be made.
Cherokee Investment Partners started Industrial Heat for the express purpose of reducing air pollution. Cherokee's CEO, passionate environmentalist Tom Darden, said "Our company is called Industrial Heat. Our job is to make industrial heat and industrial heat is made by coal" We don't think any energy should be made by coal, so that's why I'm doing this. This could be a way to eliminate the use of coal."
There are many companies now racing to bring Low Energy Nuclear Reaction products to the marketplace. One notable company is Solar Hydrogen Trends, which claims to have accidentally discovered a way to use LENR to produce hydrogen gas from water at the energy equivalent of producing pollution free oil for about $5.00 a barrel. Their hydrogen gas producing reactor has been independently tested by two well known companies, AirKinetics, Inc. and TRC Solutions. Both companies found that the reactor works as promised, and the TRC Solutions PDF report is quite shocking. Solar Hydrogen Trends claims that their technology can be scaled down to power automobiles or scaled up to power jet aircraft, ships, and entire cities.
Another company of interest is Defkalion Green Technologies, which has a high efficiency spark activated LENR reactor that is in the process of being certified for safe industrial use. Defkalion has intentionally "gone dark" (secretive) until their reactor design is ready for the marketplace. Companies involved in LENR research are often accused of being too secretive, but one should remember that they often have to face unjustified criticisms, insults, and even potential sabotage from old school scientists and business competitors. Theft of hard earned technical secrets is a big problem because no LENR company has adequate patent protection. The United States Patent Office, in its great wisdom, has put up a bureaucratic blockage of any LENR related patent applications. This could be solved by one phone call from President Obama, but pleas for help have been ignored by the Administration.
What is publicly known about LENR research is just the tip of the iceberg. Many big-name companies are involved, including Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, Volvo, and many more, as well as government and military organizations, such as the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). LENR research is not all about one man or one company; It is a global search for scientific truth and a practical way to solve the global energy crisis.
LENR produced energy will be so low in cost that subsidies and mandates for using pollution free LENR products will be totally unnecessary. Finding a low cost, reliable replacement for fossil fuels is the only foreseeable positive economic force that can bring back the American dream. Only nuclear power has the high energy density and 24-7-365 reliability needed to replace fossil fuels. There is just no other choice.
Must Read 1   Well Said 1   News 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Christopher Calder Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Christopher Calder is an advocate for world food supply security with no financial interest in any energy related business.
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

The Zeller-Nikolov climate discovery may turn the world upside down.

What if Low Energy Nuclear Reaction (LENR) really works?

Low Energy Nuclear Reaction passes big test in Switzerland

The Fusion Revolution

Revolutionary Thorium Reactor - The most environmentally beneficial power source on earth

Skinny Bob -The Forgotten Extraterrestrial

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend