In reply to a.ashfield's message of Sun, 28 Aug 2016 18:01:40 -0400: Hi, [snip] >Reviewing Lewan's piece, with the videos by the Greenyer, linked below, >he makes a good case for process being basically the swap of a nickel's >electron by a hydrogen ion. >https://animpossibleinvention.com/2016/03/07/finally-this-is-possibly-how-the-e-cat-works/
There are a couple of problems with this explanation as it stands. 1) The H- ion is considerably larger than a Hydrogen atom, and the second electron is only weakly bound to the atom. This would appear to make it unlikely that H- could "descend" through the electron orbitals of heavy atoms. (Shrunken H atom species not considered in this argument.) 2) Quote: "(Why isnt the energy released as high energy gamma radiation? Maybe because the proton is so close to the nucleus that it gets captured, without having a large kinetic energy as in hot fusion. Maybe also because the nickel atom is not free but fixed in a lattice?)" a) Absorption of a neutron can also be thought of as a form of fusion, and there are plenty of neutron absorption reactions where the neutron is slow moving, that nevertheless do produce gamma radiation. So the "slow moving" argument is probably wrong. b) The lattice probably has nothing to do with it, because there are plenty of solid chemicals that do produce gamma radiation from decay reactions. i.e. where radioactive atoms find themselves in a similar situation. 3) Quote: "If the distance is larger than 10-14 m, the proton is expelled from the metal atom through the repelling Coulomb force, with high kinetic energy (from 0 to 6.7 MeV) determined by Piantelli through calculation, and confirmed through cloud chamber experiments. NOTE: Piantelli has observed protons escaping from pre-processed nickel, well after the reaction has stopped." If the measured energy of the proton is 6.7 MeV, then a more likely reaction is: D + 58Ni => 59Ni + 1H + 6.775 MeV with the D being a minor contaminant in ordinary Hydrogen. 58Ni makes up the majority of all Ni atoms. The 59Ni is only very mildly radioactive (ec => neutrino), but produces no significant gamma rays. The proton would carry most of the energy of the initial reaction, which it would lose primarily through ionizing other atoms, resulting mostly in heat. However it would also produce some secondary gammas during a direct hit on a nearby nucleus. That's enough for now. :) Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html
