In thinking about the large iron oxide particles in the Lugano fuel and what role they may have played, it struck me that they could possibly have created a small thermite reaction (see Wikipedia). The thermite reaction is between the Fe2O3 particle and the liquid aluminum. In this thermite reaction, oxygen exchange between the Fe2O3 and Al form Al2O3 and reduced Fe metal. The reaction is highly exothermic and can reach temperatures of 2500°C. An ignition of this reaction could easily fool someone into believing that LENR had occurred and could cause melting of the ceramic tubes, though the reaction could not produce the claimed amounts of total excess heat by a large margin.
Could Rossi have used the large iron oxide fuel particles as a thermite igniter to add heat to the hotCat on startup? Could such a thermite reaction be used to remove some of the aluminum from the system so as to leave an enriched mix of liquid LiH? Bob Higgins
