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Re: [Phys-l] COLD FUSION



On Jul 11, 2006, at 9:36 PM, Ludwik Kowalski wrote:

Last year I suggested that some of you participate in an experiment
whose purpose was to study the unexplained "excess energy" discovered
by Mizuno et al. in Japan, and later confirmed by scientists in Europe.
I am steel deeply involved in that project, as described at:

http://blake.montclair.edu/~kowalskil/cf/

At first we confirmed the claim, as summarized in unit #300. But
recently we discovered a prosaic effect that might, possibly, be
responsible for the illusion of excess heat. That prosaic effect was
not taken under consideration when thermal energy released was
evaluated. This is described in units #301 and #302. Our motivation
is to solve the puzzle, one way or another. We now know what kind of
easy experiments must be performed to get a definite answer.
Comments would be appreciated.

P.S.
The Little's-type test, described at the beginning of unit #301, for
boiling electrolyte, is suitable for a student project. Keep this in
mind if you have students looking for projects. We can use their
findings; write to me if they are willing to help us.

Our salt was potassium carbonate, K2CO3. The energy balance was made
on the assumption that what comes out from the beaker is pure steam.
Latent heat of water is L=2260 J/g. Thermal energy released was
calculated as L*m + C, where m is the mass lost (presumably pure steam)
and C is the energy lost via convection and radiation. An
overestimation of m, for example, by 10%, would be the cause of 10% of
"excess heat." Note that no "energy balancing" is performed in a
Little-type test. We would be interested in the percentage of salty
droplets in the "wet steam" for a beaker with boiling electrolyte. An
ordinary hot plate, or a common immersion heater, can be used to
sustain boiling. How does this percentage depend on the intensity of
boiling? Splashing (production of visible droplets) must be prevented
by a set of buffers above the surface. My suggestion is to use a
one-liter beaker, containing about 400 cc of salty water. Some method
of condensing wet steam must be invented by students.

P.S.
I expect emission of tiny droplets during common ohmic heating (with an immersion heater) to be much less intense than during the high voltage electrolysis, at the same electric wattage. Be aware that experimenting with high voltage electrolysis (~300 V and ~2 A) is dangerous. That is why I am not recommending it for students, unless their work is closely supervised by a qualified person.

Ludwik Kowalski
Let the perfect not be the enemy of the good.