October 11, 2014 – Cold fusion has once again entered the conversation with the release of an independent test of Andrea Rossi’s E-Cat cold fusion device. The results appear in a paper entitled, Observation of abundant heat production from a reactor device and of isotopic changes in the fuel.
I have described the pursuit of cold fusion in the past as an unsuccessful adventure into alchemy, the transmutation of elements that was pursued in Medieval times. I have commented frequently on the lack of independent verification of the energy output of cold fusion devices, particularly those promoted by Andrea Rossi, the Italian inventor of the E-Cat seen in the picture below.
Rossi’s behavior has been secretive. On numerous occasions his E-Cat reactor when demonstrated has been hidden in a black box. His justification, a fear of losing his competitive advantage. Tests run with his device have produced anomalous heat but sufficient and consistent enough for commercial application? Not necessarily. When Rossi has applied for patents in Europe and the United States, his applications have been rejected. Announcements of commercial agreements have been made and about imminent product shipments of E-Cats capable of replacing home furnaces and the like. But no commercial E-Cat has ever been shipped. You can read some of the past history on this blog site by typing “cold fusion” in the search window.
This latest paper, however, sheds new light on cold fusion and although I remain a skeptic, should reignite the conversation and controversy. The testers included participants from Bologna University (who have been involved in past demonstrations of the E-Cat), Uppsala University and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
In this test of an E-Cat containing “hydrogen-loaded nickel power plus some additives, mainly lithium” and conducted over 32 days beginning in March of this year, the reactor ran at temperatures between 1,260 and 1,400 Celsius (2,300 and 2,552 Fahrenheit) degrees. The measured energy input to output yielded a COP factor of between 3.13 and 3.74. If you are unfamiliar with COP, it stands for coefficient of performance, comparing the amount of power input to output. Compare the E-Cat results to conventional air conditioning and heat pump systems which yield COP values of between 2 and 4 and have theoretical efficiency of up to 32.9 based on maximum ranges in temperature between outside and inside air. At the COP ranges produced the E-Cat results lie within a reasonable range of output performance related to energy input. Over the full 32 days of testing the E-Cat generated about 1.5 Megawatt hours of electricity.
The researchers noted that the E-Cat they tested in this experiment appeared “quite different from the ones used in the tests held in past years.” You can see below a picture of it being weighed by the researchers.
The graph below provides a plot of the net power output of the E-Cat through a 32-day time span with each segment representing a 2-day period. Net power is the difference between total watts produced versus watts consumed to generate output. As you can see E-Cat output varies but this can be explained by power consumption throughout the test which follows a similar curve, i.e., when the E-Cat temperature was raised. COP results are also consistent with power input increases. The more power in, the higher the COP ratio, with the highest results occurring in the last few days of the test period.
The researchers note that the COP values obtained only “refer to the performance of the reactor running at the capacity selected by us, not at its maximum potential” They continue stating, “we do not know what the limits of the current technology are, in terms of performance and life span of the charges.”
The researchers did a fuel analysis looking at the powder and concluded the “large amount of heat is…way beyond what can be expected from chemical burning.” They could not reject the notion that some form of fusion reaction was happening within the reactor but no radiation was detected.
Which brings us to an analysis of the fuel containing nickel powder containing hydrogen and combined with lithium, aluminum, iron, carbon and oxygen. In their analysis they found the quantities of these elements varied from grain to grain within the powder. That may speak to a lack of uniform mixing of the fuel in the production process.
Further analysis of the fuel after the test noted a depletion in lithium and changes to nickel composition. The conclusion, a nuclear reaction had taken place. The researchers stated it was very hard to comprehend how a fusion process could take place at the low levels of energy involved in the E-Cat’s operations, but nevertheless observed an isotope shift in both lithium and nickel.
One caveat in their conclusions. They could analyze the fuel but lacked detailed information on “the internal components of the reactor, and of the methods by which the reaction is primed.”
In summation the report states:
“The performance of the E-Cat reactor is remarkable. We have a device giving heat energy compatible with nuclear transformations, but it operates at low energy and gives neither nuclear radioactive waste nor emits radiation. From basic general knowledge in nuclear physics this should not be possible. Nevertheless we have to relate to the fact that the experimental results from our test show heat production beyond chemical burning, and that the E-Cat fuel undergoes nuclear transformations. It is certainly most unsatisfying that these results so far have no convincing theoretical explanation, but the experimental results cannot be dismissed or ignored just because of lack of theoretical understanding.”
So there you have it. What should happen next? Many more independent studies akin to this one I would think. The corroboration of similar results. And a drill down on the internal components of the reactor and the priming system to ensure a better understanding of its workings. Such testing using rigorous scientific protocols should validate Rossi’s invention. And then maybe we will finally have a commercially viable working E-Cat.
In any event, the cold fusion pot got warmer with the release of this report.
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