I' m really grateful for this report of your interesting work. I have to confess that my priority and focus are different- I hope that CF will lead to an energy technology. However I will follow you progress with total empathy and with all my crossable parts crossed. More in my other message. Have now urgent work to do for my employer- UPC Romania- in the US it is Liberty Global a great ISP, I am the editor of their local newsletter. Websearch.
On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 1:27 AM, Abd ul-Rahman Lomax <a...@lomaxdesign.com>wrote: > At 03:52 PM 3/24/2010, Peter Gluck wrote: > >> If I understand you correctly, you are performing experimental work and >> your ideas are based on this. Like exploring parameter space. Can you be so >> kind to tell here or on my personal address, in complete confidentiality >> what are the peak results as excess heat >> and reproducibility you have obtained? Thank you in advance! >> > > I've been very open about what I've done and not done, and my results will > be openly presented as soon as they are available. I have not run cells yet, > and I'm not studying excess heat, having decided that this is not compatible > with my goals, which I'll explain. > > I came across the resurgence of research in cold fusion as an editor of > Wikipedia in January of last year. I had followed the work in 1989-1990, > even buying $10,000 worth of palladium as an investment on the speculation > that it might turn out to be commercially useful. Don't worry, I didn't buy > futures, I could have lost my shirt! I just put $10,000 into a palladium > metal account at Credit Suisse. Basically broke even, unless you count the > lost interest as a loss. > > I had concluded, with nearly everyone else, that it was a bust, > experimental error, a mistake. However, last January, I saw, on Wikipedia, > an instance of administrative abuse, the web site lenr-canr.org was > blacklisted without adequate reason. As I looked at the article, I started > to read the sources, and I do have adequate education to understand most of > what I read. > > I read enough sources to change my mind. And when I tried to bring the > Wikipedia article into compliance with Wikipedia neutrality policy, and to > make a long story short, I was banned from discussing that topic. But at the > same time, a business idea had occurred to me, that could not only assist in > shifting public perception of cold fusion, but that might also make a little > money. Not a lot of money, but enough, I hope, to recover my investment in > time and money. > > The idea was to design kits to reproduce solid cold fusion experiments, > cheaply, so cheaply and so reliably that these could be sold even to high > school students for science fair projects. There is, I'm sure, a market. It > also turns out that the same conditions (cheap, reliable) would make these > kits valuable, as well, to a subclass of researchers in the field. > > I have assembled all the materials, and what is holding me back is only my > own distraction, I'm running a textile business and have other interests as > well. I've designed the experiment, and have discussed it widely. It is > basically a Galileo project replication, I didn't want to try something > truly wild and untested. In case you don't know, the Galileo protocol, > copied by a number of workers, including amateurs, in 2007, was designed by > Pam Boss of SPAWAR, and the goal was to look for radiation, measurement of > heat was not a part of the protocol. > > I began with actual testing by looking at CR-39. For the moment, that was a > blind alley for me, I won't explain why here, but I'm going to be using > LR-115 SSNTDs instead. I expect that I will later move to CR-39. So far, the > only actual experiments I have done have been with commercial makrolon > CR-39, and I essentially found that the material I first tried was not > usable at all, and all that will be documented, I don't want people to > repeat my errors. I don't expect any problems with LR-115, it's very > commonly used for radon measurements, and I have fresh material. (But I'll > test it anyway, soon.) > > I chose the Galileo protocol because it was much better documented (by > Steve Krivit) than any other protocol, down to photographs of assembly and > other details. It is codeposition, which has a reputation of being reliable, > with results sooner than with solid cathode approaches (Fleischmann cells). > > I will not be doing an exact replication, however, and I'm aware of the > risks, and if I don't see results at first, I will assume that some > variation is possibly behind that. However, what I'm varying shouldn't > affect the results, that's why I'm risking it, and there are improvements > that I gain because of these changes. > > 1. Cathode wire will be gold, 0.010 inch diameter. Galileo was silver. Gold > is chosen because later SPAWAR work showed much more neutron evidence with a > gold cathode. I'd say that nobody knows why. But it's neutrons I'll be > looking for. > > 2. The wire will be shortened from the Galileo length. The amount of > palladium chloride in the electrolyte will be proportionally lessened, and > the current will be proportionally lessened, so that current density remains > the same as Galileo. In theory, this should leave local wire conditions > exactly the same, simply reducing the active surface area. As a result, > deuterium oxide consumption should be proportionally reduced as well. The > single most expensive item in one of these cells is the heavy water, I'm > using 99.9% D2O. 25 grams in a cell. That's a little less than what Galileo > used as a starting quantity, but I want to avoid refilling. I expect to > leave the concentration of lithium chloride the same, so that I have the > same conductivity. > > 3. The cathode wire will be stretched across an opening in the polyethylene > cathode support. It will be directly against the plastic (acrylic) cell > wall. I'm not windowing the cell, though I could. It would add complexity. I > might do this later, I have the materials and I even have some cells that > were made for the Galileo project with windows cut in them. But I don't > think it's needed. The anode will be platinum. > > 4. A radiation detector (1x2 cm piece of LR-115) will be placed against the > cell wall on the outside, about half covering the wire, so that I can see > the other half through the cell wall. If neutrons are generated at the > cathode, I expect to see knock-on proton tracks on the detector, similar to > what SPAWAR finds on the back side of wet configuration detectors, and about > the same distance away from the cathode. I may see a few triple-tracks. I > will have a control detector opposite the anode. I expect far fewer tracks > on that. > > 5. A control cell that is identical, except that light water will be > substituted for heavy water, will be operated, electrically in series with > the experimental cell, so that the current profile for each is identical. > > 6. The current profile will follow Galileo/SPAWAR, except for reduction as > described above. > > 7. Then, additional instrumentation: Three thermocouples will monitor cell > temperature in each cells, and ambient temperature. The experimental cell > will be mounted on a modified stage of a Celestron microscope, laid on its > back, so that the cathode can be directly observed under high magnification > and photographed or video recorded. Current is controlled by the protocol > through current regulators, though I may record it. Cell voltage will be > monitored for each cell. Piezoelectric detectors will be mounted to each > cell, and will be monitored by a Rigol digital storage oscilloscope (2 ch, > 50 MHz, 1GS/s). Other than from the piezo detectors, all electrical signals > will be collected and transmitted to a computer for storage by a LabJack USB > interface. > > 8. I could put together ready-to-use kits, including radiation detectors, > ready to go with minimal prep, (like open the vial of electrolyte and pour > it in, and stick the radiation detectors on the sides), and sell them at an > adequate profit for $100, quantity one. Power supply would not be included > for that price, nor any monitoring equipment. I suppose that I could toss in > some NaOH if people really want to develop their own detectors, or I expect > someone will offer a developing service. A light water control cell will be > substantially less. > > All the materials are available for sale now, though nobody has bought > anything. http://lomaxdesign.com/coldfusion > > Kits will not be sold until there has been at least one successful > replication, and even then will be sold with disclaimers (and full > disclosure of the experimental record so far). All those who try this > experiment or similar, whether materials were obtained through me or not, > are encouraged to communicate with the community of those doing so on the > mailing list set up for this project at > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coldfusionproject/?yguid=40611328 > > Discussion here on Vortex is also most welcome. Competition? I'd be > delerious! Just be nice, okay? > > >
