Well, Jones, I hate to keep bringing up that Holmlid and Mills are nearly opposite apples and oranges. Holmlid's technology involves creation of high potential energy *multi-atom clusters* in the Rydberg state (electron in a high energy state that is nearly ionized), and somehow (thermodynamic improbability) catalyzing these large high energy clusters into a higher energy compact form (UDD/UDH). As you well know, Vavra/Mills/Paillet-Muelenberg are proposing that *single atoms* are shrunken to a state below the classic ground level by *removing* energy from the electron via evanescent means (non-photon exchange), resulting in a very *low energy* compacted *single atom* of small physical size. What a magic material it would be to enhance the formation of both types of exotic matter.
On Mon, Jun 19, 2017 at 10:58 AM, Jones Beene <jone...@pacbell.net> wrote: > Hi Bob, > > Yes - good observation and I should have brought this up earlier (but the > posting was too long to begin with). A mechano-alloy would never be uniform > and would be an admixture of grains. > > The fact that nickel and silver are mutually insoluble means that one > would have to abandon any hope of D+D fusion in a matrix as the main > operative mechanism for gain. But of course, that is a given when you do > not use deuterium - and thus, anything related to Ni-H has already > abandoned the possibility of fusion resulting in helium. > > It would be an insurmountable problem if the criterion for success of a > metal matrix were to be only the inter-atomic spacing of the alloy and the > strengthening against cracks. Thus the analogy to Type A Pd (when compared > to Ni-Ag) is not strong unless there is more going-on than fusion. In fact > it is a weak analogy if we do not accept a compound process which involves > "densification". > > In the end, what I am proposing is that silver is special for its nuclear > properties - and anything else is simply a bonus. That would imply that the > fact that it works well with palladium could be twofold, and involves not > only fusion but more. I hate to keep bringing up Holmlid, but his findings > are the key to both Ni-H and Pd-D, from my perspective. > > In both cases (Pd-D or Ni-H) - anomalous thermal gain is explained as a > two-step process, which must first involve the conversion of the normal > hydrogen molecule into the dense atomic form. With Pd-D, this would mean > that UDD (aka "pychno") is a necessary first step -- following which which > UDD can fuse or it can react in other ways. But with Ni-H... where the > nickel is a mechano-alloy with silver, with crude spacing and dirty grains, > the operative reaction would be very different and probably involves the > "quasi-neutron." > > Importantly, silver could promote densification. We see this possibility > most clearly in the Mills SunCell. Mills goes to great lengths in his most > recent patent application to explain how silver does this, since the > element was not one of his original catalysts and was avoided for many > years. > > This probably means that the delay which Mills BLP seems to be currently > experiencing (in a meaningful public demo, and in the rumor mill) relates > to gamma radiation following silver activation. The activation in not due > to a real neutron, but to UDH (hydrino) as a surrogate neutron. > > On 6/19/2017 8:23 AM, Bob Higgins wrote: > > Jones, As you have discussed, the Type A Pd that appears to be LENR > active is an actual alloy. In an alloy you expect an atomic level crystal > lattice alteration - the lattice constants of the alloy are uniform and > different than with Pd alone. However, what you describe as a "mechanical > alloy" is unlikely to be anything other than an admixture of grains of Ag > with grains of Ni. An "alloy" and a "mechanical alloy" are two vastly > different things. It is sort of like the nickel silver not having any > silver - the mechanical alloy has no alloy. > > True alloying would alter the lattice constants by creating a new crystal > structure incorporating the alloy metal at the basic atomic > crystallographic level; hopefully in a way that allows more H to enter the > lattice. Also, forming a true alloy would potentially lower the vacancy > formation energy of the Ni; which, in some theories would raise the LENR > rate. OTOH, if a "mechanical alloy" is formed, the only difference > achieved will be creation of dirty grain boundaries between solid grains of > Ni and Ag. It is possible that effects could occur at such grain > boundaries, so it can't hurt to try. It is just hard to envision what > would promote LENR by creating a "mechanical alloy". > > On Sun, Jun 18, 2017 at 6:10 PM, Jones Beene <jone...@pacbell.net> wrote: > >> >> One further detail about the possible advantage of using silver alloyed >> with nickel in LENR, instead of pure nickel - with hydrogen as the gaseous >> reactant, instead of deuterium. >> >> If this were to work for LENR gain, the identity of the nuclear reaction >> is not the same. Obviously, such an alloy as Ni-Ag (assuming it is made via >> mechanical alloying)... would be unlikely to produce helium from fusion, as >> happens in Pd-D... since there is no deuterium (although a alpha emission >> following proton nuclear tunneling is not ruled out.) But there is an ideal >> alternative reaction. >> >> First - a detail which you may not be aware of is the composition of >> control rods in nuclear fission reactors going back 50 years. As it turns >> out - silver has been commonly used as an alloy in control rods, along with >> boron. Part of the explanation is here but there is more to it than meets >> the eye. Silver is like a magnet for neutrons more so than any other >> element across the entire spectrum. >> >> http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2011/ph241/grayson1/ >> >> In short, silver has a high cross section for neutrons of all energies >> whereas boron and cadmium and other absorbents generally work with neutrons >> of a narrow energy range. Silver wants them all and this could imply more, >> if Ag works with nickel. >> >> But where are the neutrons to being with? - oops - there are none, or so >> it seems. >> >> But lets broaden this suggestion to include Holmlid's results. Holmlid >> shows that UDH can be made simply by flowing hydrogen over a catalyst. If >> so then we could end up with a neutron substitute, which is the so-called >> "quasi-neutron". >> >> This presumed particle is larger than a neutron, but otherwise could be a >> substitute. This quasi-neutron could also be what Widom and Larsen are >> claiming as an active particle of LENR. >> >> The crux of the issue is this. Silver has a high cross-section for >> neutrons of all energies and the quasi neutron could also favor silver - >> but this is not proved. If it happens, the energy of the gamma should be >> less, since the mass-energy of UDH is less. Also the half-life following >> activation is very short and there is little or no residual radioactivity. >> >> Jones >> >> >> Much has been said about Type A palladium and its special reactivity with >>> hydrogen, some of which is due to the alloy being one fourth silver. Since >>> pure palladium doesn't work as well, it might be said that most of the >>> reactivity seen in cold fusion has been due to the special properties of >>> the alloy, which is a 3:1 ratio (75% Pd 25% Ag). >>> >>> In many ways, nickel can be considered to be a surrogate of palladium. >>> Nickel resides directly under Pd in the Periodic table, and has an >>> identical valence electron structure. This leads one to wonder about an >>> alloy of nickel and silver, based on transposing the results of cold fusion >>> to protium, instead of deuterium. >>> >>> Unfortunately, in the historical context - and going back 300 years in >>> metallurgy, the term "nickel silver" refers to a well known alloy of >>> copper, nickel and zinc which contains zero silver. Essentially, nickel >>> silver is a brass alloy that looks like much like the more expensive silver >>> and is much stronger and more durable - making it a great substitute for >>> most common uses. >>> >>> This old alloy was created to serve exactly the same purpose as silver >>> for attractive shinny flatware but not as prohibitively expensive - about >>> 20 times less expensive per unit of weight than silver. This semantic >>> confusion did not lead to neglect of finding a real alloy of nickel and >>> silver since these two metals are indeed mutually insoluble. They do not >>> mix. That kind of insolubility is somewhat unusual in itself for metals so >>> similar - but basically the two metals do NOT alloy by melting together as >>> is commonly done. >>> >>> However, this proposed LENR alloy which I will call "Type A Nickel" in >>> the 3:1 ratio has been studied in another context - and found to have >>> exceptional properties for water splitting. To accomplish this they had to >>> go to extraordinary lengths to achieve an alloy. There are very few papers >>> on this because of the lack of a commercial alloy which can be purchased. >>> >>> BUT ... there is a strong suspicion that "Type A Nickel" could be >>> special for replacing pure nickel in LENR. This assumes that silver is >>> reactive in its own right for a nuclear reaction, such as in the >>> protonation reaction Robin mentioned in another thread. >>> >>> BTW - In the paper "Nickel–silver alloy electrocatalysts for hydrogen >>> evolution and oxidation in an alkaline electrolyte" Tang and others showed >>> that the NiAg alloy is an excellent catalyst for the hydrogen evolution >>> reaction. Based on the free energy of adsorbed hydrogen, theory predicts >>> that alloys of nickel and silver are very active for these type of hydride >>> reactions and they are. The alloy is just hard to make or else you would >>> have heard about it before now. >>> >>> Basically - the Type A Nickel could work better for NiH reactions than >>> nickel, since it is twice as reactive for water splitting (as defined in >>> their test) which needs to be proven out. This testing has been neglected >>> in the past - due to the lack of electrodes... for which there is a >>> work-around. That is what I propose to add: an easy work around at least >>> for some experiments. >>> >>> My suggestion to anyone contemplating a gas phase reaction is to try >>> mixing nickel-black and silver-black in a high speed ball mill, in a ratio >>> of 3:1 --- where mechanical alloying is expected. Then, use this composite >>> powder instead of nickel. Mechanical alloying is special in its own way and >>> could add something akin to surface treatment. >>> >>> Electrolysis reactions would be more difficult to accomplish with powder >>> - and since this proposed work-around for silver/nickel insolubility >>> involves metal powders and mechanical alloying a different geometry would >>> be needed for the cell. However, powder has been used for electrolysis >>> electrodes before (as a colloid) - and it could be worth the effort. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> > >
