Re: [Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996

2016-05-20 Thread David Roberson
This situation seems to be following the theory that the heat is generated 
throughout the volume of the material while it escapes through the surface area 
of that mass.  Volume varies as the cube of the linear dimension while surface 
area is proportional to the square.

With this thought in mind, adding more of the same material is going to lead to 
a higher internal temperature as long as a reaction is taking place inside a 
mass that generates heat.   This type of experiment might actually be the best 
means available to prove that LENR is taking place, assuming the dangers can be 
overcome.

Dave

 

 

 

-Original Message-
From: Jed Rothwell <jedrothw...@gmail.com>
To: vortex-l <vortex-l@eskimo.com>
Sent: Fri, May 20, 2016 9:59 am
Subject: Re: [Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996




H LV <hveeder...@gmail.com> wrote:



2.5 lbs of powered nickel offers a great deal of surface area for heat of 
adsorption. Also the nickel powder had been sitting in a vacuum before the 
hydrogen gas was added so this would further enhance the adsorption of hydrogen.




Yes. This is what I meant by "critical mass issue." Maybe I should call it 
"critical thermal mass."


The large mass may also enhance hydrogen adsorption, as noted. In other words, 
100 g of powder might absorb X amount, where 1000 g absorbs more than 10 times 
X.


- Jed







Re: [Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996

2016-05-20 Thread Jed Rothwell
H LV  wrote:

2.5 lbs of powered nickel offers a great deal of surface area for heat of
> adsorption. Also the nickel powder had been sitting in a vacuum before the
> hydrogen gas was added so this would further enhance the adsorption of
> hydrogen.
>

Yes. This is what I meant by "critical mass issue." Maybe I should call it
"critical thermal mass."

The large mass may also enhance hydrogen adsorption, as noted. In other
words, 100 g of powder might absorb X amount, where 1000 g absorbs more
than 10 times X.

- Jed


Re: [Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996

2016-05-20 Thread Jed Rothwell
Jones Beene  wrote:

> Now that you mention it, and realizing how enticing/dangerous it would be
> to a certain segment of the population . . .
>
We have seen crazy stunts with thermite and other energetic materials on
> YouTube. In a worst case, we are talking about something which could be
> far more energetic than thermite. Yikes.
>
Not just a certain segment of the population -- we need to worry about
ordinary, timid professors as well. Martin Fleischmann strongly recommended
scaling down cold fusion experiments because of incidents like this.

However, there may be a problem with scaling down. Perhaps there is some
sort of critical mass issue. I do not mean with neutrons the way a critical
mass works in a fission reaction. I mean something like the buildup of heat
in a large mass of nickel powder.

- Jed


Re: [Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996

2016-05-20 Thread H LV
2.5 lbs of powered nickel offers a great deal of surface area for heat of
adsorption. Also the nickel powder had been sitting in a vacuum before the
hydrogen gas was added so this would further enhance the adsorption of
hydrogen.

harry

On Thu, May 19, 2016 at 3:39 PM, David Roberson <dlrober...@aol.com> wrote:

> Jones,
>
> Is it possible to find another source to back up what you are describing
> in this event?   A second written record would be fine if available.
>
> I have not heard of that particular thermal run away reaction that you
> have listed below but would find it interesting to follow up on.  The
> recent negative information that is coming out pertaining to Rossi is
> beginning to concern me and your example seems like just the medicine
> needed to cure that problem.
>
> It has been my intent to continuing standing by with an open mind until
> the year long test data is released by Rossi or IH and analyzed.  This is
> not an easy position to maintain at this point with all the negativity
> being expressed by Jed and others.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dave
>
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Jones Beene <jone...@pacbell.net>
> To: vortex-l <vortex-l@eskimo.com>
> Sent: Thu, May 19, 2016 2:09 pm
> Subject: [Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996
>
> Most observers of the LENR/nickel hydride scene are unaware of the details
> of the Thermacore, Inc. runaway reaction back in 1996.
> Unfortunately, this was the last effort that this company made in the
> field, and the main reason that they dropped LENR. The incident echoes
> other thermal runaways, including P, Mizuno, Mark Snoswell in Australia
> and Ahern. However, it was far more energetic than any of the prior
> incidents.
> This was to have been an powered experiment but they never had time to
> apply input power. This was was a follow-on to a Phase one grant from USAF
> (document in LENR-CANR library) and was simply intended to be an analysis
> the absorption reaction of a large amount of nickel powder and hydrogen
> at modest pressure. Instead, it was likely the most energetic single
> event in the history of LENR.
> Recently, Brian Ahern has been in contact with Nelson Gernert, the chief
> researcher in the new Thermacore (having gone through two changes of
> ownership) who was also in charge of the runaway. None of this has
> appeared in print before.
> Gernert added 2.5 pounds of nickel powder (200 mesh of Ni-200) into a 3
> liter stainless steel Dewar.  The Dewar weighed 300 pounds. It was a
> strong pressure vessel with a hemispherical volume. Thermacore evacuated
> the nickel under vacuum for several days before adding H2 gas at 2
> atmospheres (apparently there was no potassium but this detail needs to
> be verified).
> The most amazing thing happened next. The powder immediately and spontaneously
> heated before external power could be added. The Dewar glowed orange
> (800C) and the engineers ran for cover. No external heat had been used
> and no radiation monitors were running. The nickel had sintered into a
> glob alloyed into the vessel and could not be removed.
> The (then) owner of Thermacore, Yale Eastman was frightened that an
> explosion was imminent and that someone could be killed. He forbade any
> further work on LENR. The incident was not published.
> The Dewar was no longer safe as a pressure vessel and they junked it.
> They did not measure it for radiation. Superficial thermal analysis - 3
> liters of H2 gas at 2 atmosphere will have a heat of combustion of 74
> kilojoules when combined with oxygen (but there was no oxygen in the
> Dewar).
> Heating a 300 lb Stainless vessel to 800C requires 21 megajoules. That is
> ostensibly 289 times the possible chemical energy!
>
> Date: Thu, 19 May 2016 10:44:35 -0400
> Subject: Re: MILLS AND THERMACORE
> From: <na...@gwu.edu>*na...@gwu.edu <na...@gwu.edu>*
> To: <ahern_br...@msn.com>*ahern_br...@msn.com <ahern_br...@msn.com>*
> Thanks, Brian.
> I will try to get a complete copy.
> Dave
> On Thu, May 19, 2016 at 10:41 AM, Brian Ahern < 
> <ahern_br...@msn.com>*ahern_br...@msn.com
> <ahern_br...@msn.com>*> wrote:
> aLL MY COPIES LACK PAGE 4.
>


Re: [Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996

2016-05-20 Thread Alain Sepeda
AFAIK this kind of reaction is regularly observed by accident in various
similar situations.
;-)

most don't know they see LENR. they just see they have to redo all again.


2016-05-19 22:53 GMT+02:00 Jones Beene :

> Dave,
>
> You are not alone – few know of this incident. But it’s not a sensible
> choice to base anything regarding the validity of LENR on Rossi’s
> problems with IH. The technology will survive, but Rossi’s lack of
> credibility could taint the field and impede progress for years.
>
> The Thermacore runaway, as impressive as it was, has not previously been
> reported. To put it (the runaway) into context, there had already been a
> fatality at SRI a few years before (unrelated). It was not known back
> then, in the mid-nineties, whether the reaction was safe or not especially
> when drastically scaled up (2-3 orders of magnitude). The Thermacore
> incident was not reported for any number of legal and liability reasons, not
> to mention OSHA - and the project was canceled immediately.
>
> The Company was only interested in the scale-up potential of it, so it
> was nixed. Ahern’s sources of information on this are impeccable.
>
> BTW – to my knowledge, no one since then has tried an experiment with a
> similarly large mass of potentially active material but it could easily
> be the case that there is a “critical mass” equivalent, even if that term
> is shoehorned into QM (or CQM).
>
> There are in fact, a number of scientific papers on “entanglement mass”
> which would be the corollary. I’m glad they weren’t  using deuterium.
>
> *From:* David Roberson
>
> Jones,
>
>
>
> Is it possible to find another source to back up what you are describing
> in this event?   A second written record would be fine if available.
>
>
>
> I have not heard of that particular thermal run away reaction that you
> have listed below but would find it interesting to follow up on.  The
> recent negative information that is coming out pertaining to Rossi is
> beginning to concern me and your example seems like just the medicine
> needed to cure that problem.
>
>


Re: [Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996

2016-05-20 Thread Jack Cole
Yes, all good reasons to carefully consider the safety of such an
experiment.

On Thu, May 19, 2016 at 8:52 PM Jones Beene  wrote:

> Now that you mention it, and realizing how enticing/dangerous it would be
> to a certain segment of the population, the hope is that no one gets hurt
> trying it.
>
> We have seen crazy stunts with thermite and other energetic materials on
> YouTube. In a worst case, we are talking about something which could be
> far more energetic than thermite. Yikes.
>
> *From:* Jack Cole
>
> Very interesting account.  I have occasionally had the fantasy of
> modifying a pressure cooker, adding 10 pounds of nickel powder, and adding
> hydrogen (after degassing).
>
> Most observers of the LENR/nickel hydride scene are unaware of the details
> of the Thermacore, Inc. runaway reaction back in 1996.
>
> Unfortunately, this was the last effort that this company made in the
> field, and the main reason that they dropped LENR
>


RE: [Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996

2016-05-19 Thread Jones Beene
Now that you mention it, and realizing how enticing/dangerous it would be to a 
certain segment of the population, the hope is that no one gets hurt trying it. 

We have seen crazy stunts with thermite and other energetic materials on 
YouTube. In a worst case, we are talking about something which could be far 
more energetic than thermite. Yikes.

From: Jack Cole 

Very interesting account.  I have occasionally had the fantasy of modifying a 
pressure cooker, adding 10 pounds of nickel powder, and adding hydrogen (after 
degassing).  
Most observers of the LENR/nickel hydride scene are unaware of the details of 
the Thermacore, Inc. runaway reaction back in 1996. 
Unfortunately, this was the last effort that this company made in the field, 
and the main reason that they dropped LENR


Re: [Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996

2016-05-19 Thread Jack Cole
Jones,

Very interesting account.  I have occasionally had the fantasy of modifying
a pressure cooker, adding 10 pounds of nickel powder, and adding hydrogen
(after degassing).

On Thu, May 19, 2016 at 1:09 PM Jones Beene  wrote:

> Most observers of the LENR/nickel hydride scene are unaware of the details
> of the Thermacore, Inc. runaway reaction back in 1996.
>
> Unfortunately, this was the last effort that this company made in the
> field, and the main reason that they dropped LENR. The incident echoes
> other thermal runaways, including P, Mizuno, Mark Snoswell in Australia
> and Ahern. However, it was far more energetic than any of the prior
> incidents.
>
>
>
>


Re: [Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996

2016-05-19 Thread Stephen Cooke
Wow so this triggered at room temperature? I wish we new more about this test 
and its products, especially with the hindsight of all that's been learnt in 
the 20 years since.

It's an interesting topic much needed now. I miss reading these scientific 
discussions on vortex-l.

Has any one tried to repeat the test? Maybe in a more controlled and safe 
environment?


> On 19 mei 2016, at 20:09, Jones Beene  wrote:
> 
> Most observers of the LENR/nickel hydride scene are unaware of the details of 
> the Thermacore, Inc. runaway reaction back in 1996.
> 
> Unfortunately, this was the last effort that this company made in the field, 
> and the main reason that they dropped LENR. The incident echoes other thermal 
> runaways, including P, Mizuno, Mark Snoswell in Australia and Ahern. 
> However, it was far more energetic than any of the prior incidents.
> 
> This was to have been an powered experiment but they never had time to apply 
> input power. This was was a follow-on to a Phase one grant from USAF 
> (document in LENR-CANR library) and was simply intended to be an analysis the 
> absorption reaction of a large amount of nickel powder and hydrogen at modest 
> pressure. Instead, it was likely the most energetic single event in the 
> history of LENR.
> 
> Recently, Brian Ahern has been in contact with Nelson Gernert, the chief 
> researcher in the new Thermacore (having gone through two changes of 
> ownership) who was also in charge of the runaway. None of this has appeared 
> in print before.
> 
> Gernert added 2.5 pounds of nickel powder (200 mesh of Ni-200) into a 3 liter 
> stainless steel Dewar.  The Dewar weighed 300 pounds. It was a strong 
> pressure vessel with a hemispherical volume. Thermacore evacuated the nickel 
> under vacuum for several days before adding H2 gas at 2 atmospheres 
> (apparently there was no potassium but this detail needs to be verified).
> 
> 
> The most amazing thing happened next. The powder immediately and 
> spontaneously heated before external power could be added. The Dewar glowed 
> orange (800C) and the engineers ran for cover. No external heat had been used 
> and no radiation monitors were running. The nickel had sintered into a glob 
> alloyed into the vessel and could not be removed.
> 
> 
> The (then) owner of Thermacore, Yale Eastman was frightened that an explosion 
> was imminent and that someone could be killed. He forbade any further work on 
> LENR. The incident was not published.
> 
> The Dewar was no longer safe as a pressure vessel and they junked it. They 
> did not measure it for radiation. Superficial thermal analysis - 3 liters of 
> H2 gas at 2 atmosphere will have a heat of combustion of 74 kilojoules when 
> combined with oxygen (but there was no oxygen in the Dewar).  
> 
> 
> Heating a 300 lb Stainless vessel to 800C requires 21 megajoules. That is 
> ostensibly 289 times the possible chemical energy!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Date: Thu, 19 May 2016 10:44:35 -0400
> Subject: Re: MILLS AND THERMACORE
> From: na...@gwu.edu
> To: ahern_br...@msn.com
> 
> Thanks, Brian.
> 
> I will try to get a complete copy.
> 
> Dave
> 
> 
> On Thu, May 19, 2016 at 10:41 AM, Brian Ahern  wrote:
> 
> aLL MY COPIES LACK PAGE 4.
> 


Re: [Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996

2016-05-19 Thread Jed Rothwell
Jones Beene  wrote:

> You are not alone – few know of this incident. But it’s not a sensible
> choice to base anything regarding the validity of LENR on Rossi’s
> problems with IH.
>
Yes, there is hardly any connection.

To put it (the runaway) into context, there had already been a fatality at
> SRI a few years before (unrelated).
>
This was entirely explained by chemistry. The cause was never a mystery. It
was caused by a terrible failure of several safety mechanisms at the same
time. See:

http://lenr-canr.org/acrobat/IkegamiHthirdinter.pdf#page=147

- Jed


Re: [Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996

2016-05-19 Thread Bob Cook
Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996Jones etal--

Also most observers of the LENR scene are unaware of the details of a British 
1956 patent describing what may be a LENR.   Hank Mills has written a good 
summary of the invention on E Cat World I believe. 

It got by me as a reactor designer in the early 1960’s

http://www.lookingforheat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/A-new-apparatus-for-producing-an-electric-current.pdf

Bob Cook

From: Jones Beene 
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2016 11:08 AM
To: vortex-l@eskimo.com 
Subject: [Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996

Most observers of the LENR/nickel hydride scene are unaware of the details of 
the Thermacore, Inc. runaway reaction back in 1996. 

Unfortunately, this was the last effort that this company made in the field, 
and the main reason that they dropped LENR. The incident echoes other thermal 
runaways, including P, Mizuno, Mark Snoswell in Australia and Ahern. However, 
it was far more energetic than any of the prior incidents.

This was to have been an powered experiment but they never had time to apply 
input power. This was was a follow-on to a Phase one grant from USAF (document 
in LENR-CANR library) and was simply intended to be an analysis the absorption 
reaction of a large amount of nickel powder and hydrogen at modest pressure. 
Instead, it was likely the most energetic single event in the history of LENR.

Recently, Brian Ahern has been in contact with Nelson Gernert, the chief 
researcher in the new Thermacore (having gone through two changes of ownership) 
who was also in charge of the runaway. None of this has appeared in print 
before. 

Gernert added 2.5 pounds of nickel powder (200 mesh of Ni-200) into a 3 liter 
stainless steel Dewar.  The Dewar weighed 300 pounds. It was a strong pressure 
vessel with a hemispherical volume. Thermacore evacuated the nickel under 
vacuum for several days before adding H2 gas at 2 atmospheres (apparently there 
was no potassium but this detail needs to be verified).


The most amazing thing happened next. The powder immediately and spontaneously 
heated before external power could be added. The Dewar glowed orange (800C) and 
the engineers ran for cover. No external heat had been used and no radiation 
monitors were running. The nickel had sintered into a glob alloyed into the 
vessel and could not be removed.


The (then) owner of Thermacore, Yale Eastman was frightened that an explosion 
was imminent and that someone could be killed. He forbade any further work on 
LENR. The incident was not published. 

The Dewar was no longer safe as a pressure vessel and they junked it. They did 
not measure it for radiation. Superficial thermal analysis - 3 liters of H2 gas 
at 2 atmosphere will have a heat of combustion of 74 kilojoules when combined 
with oxygen (but there was no oxygen in the Dewar).  


Heating a 300 lb Stainless vessel to 800C requires 21 megajoules. That is 
ostensibly 289 times the possible chemical energy!











RE: [Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996

2016-05-19 Thread Jones Beene
Dave,

You are not alone – few know of this incident. But it’s not a sensible choice 
to base anything regarding the validity of LENR on Rossi’s problems with IH. 
The technology will survive, but Rossi’s lack of credibility could taint the 
field and impede progress for years.

The Thermacore runaway, as impressive as it was, has not previously been 
reported. To put it (the runaway) into context, there had already been a 
fatality at SRI a few years before (unrelated). It was not known back then, in 
the mid-nineties, whether the reaction was safe or not especially when 
drastically scaled up (2-3 orders of magnitude). The Thermacore incident was 
not reported for any number of legal and liability reasons, not to mention OSHA 
- and the project was canceled immediately. 

The Company was only interested in the scale-up potential of it, so it was 
nixed. Ahern’s sources of information on this are impeccable.

BTW – to my knowledge, no one since then has tried an experiment with a 
similarly large mass of potentially active material but it could easily be the 
case that there is a “critical mass” equivalent, even if that term is 
shoehorned into QM (or CQM). 

There are in fact, a number of scientific papers on “entanglement mass” which 
would be the corollary. I’m glad they weren’t  using deuterium.


From: David Roberson 

Jones,
 
Is it possible to find another source to back up what you are describing in 
this event?   A second written record would be fine if available.
 
I have not heard of that particular thermal run away reaction that you have 
listed below but would find it interesting to follow up on.  The recent 
negative information that is coming out pertaining to Rossi is beginning to 
concern me and your example seems like just the medicine needed to cure that 
problem. 



Re: [Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996

2016-05-19 Thread Jed Rothwell
David Roberson  wrote:

I have not heard of that particular thermal run away reaction that you have
> listed below but would find it interesting to follow up on.
>

I heard about it from Gene Mallove, but no details were forthcoming. It is
tragic that they did not follow up on it. They lost their nerve. That's
understandable, but this is the most important discovery in the history of
technology, so they should have done something to pursue it. Perhaps bring
in a National Lab or try again on a smaller scale. Abandoning it like that
was tragic. This is one of the many failures to follow up in the history of
cold fusion.



> The recent negative information that is coming out pertaining to Rossi is
> beginning to concern me and your example seems like just the medicine
> needed to cure that problem.
>

This event has no bearing on Rossi. Thermacore is an excellent company.
Their presentation at MIT and their papers are far more informative than
anything Rossi ever published. I do not see how a credible experiment from
Thermacore enhances Rossi.

This also does not detract from Srinivasan and others who were not able to
produce heat with Ni-H systems.

I will grant that a positive result in one lab does add credibility to the
report of a positive lab from another lab done with similar techniques and
materials. That is why I gave Rossi the benefit of the doubt despite his
dubious methods. I knew there were other positive reports of Ni-H heat,
although they are sporadic and poorly documented compared to Pd-D. But the
benefit of the doubt can only go so far. In the end, a researcher has to
present a coherent report to be believed. Rossi said he did not want to be
believed. He said the proof would come with a commercial device. I think
that is a fair standard. He has every right to keep secrets from the
public. So I stopped paying attention to him. I did not think much about
him until I.H. announced on March 10 that they disagreed with his analysis.
He did not have to convince the public but he *did* have a contractual
obligation to convince I.H. He failed. That's bad news!

- Jed


Re: [Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996

2016-05-19 Thread David Roberson

Jones,
 
Is it possible to find another source to back up what you are describing in 
this event?   A second written record would be fine if available.
 
I have not heard of that particular thermal run away reaction that you have 
listed below but would find it interesting to follow up on.  The recent 
negative information that is coming out pertaining to Rossi is beginning to 
concern me and your example seems like just the medicine needed to cure that 
problem.

It has been my intent to continuing standing by with an open mind until the 
year long test data is released by Rossi or IH and analyzed.  This is not an 
easy position to maintain at this point with all the negativity being expressed 
by Jed and others.

Thanks,

Dave
 
 
-Original Message-
From: Jones Beene <jone...@pacbell.net>
To: vortex-l <vortex-l@eskimo.com>
Sent: Thu, May 19, 2016 2:09 pm
Subject: [Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway  in 1996



Most observers of the LENR/nickel hydride scene are unaware of the details of 
the Thermacore, Inc. runaway reaction back in 1996. 
Unfortunately, this was the last effort that this company made in the field, 
and the main reason that they dropped LENR. The incident echoes other thermal 
runaways, including P, Mizuno, Mark Snoswell in Australia and Ahern. However, 
it was far more energetic than any of the prior incidents.
This was to have been an powered experiment but they never had time to apply 
input power. This was was a follow-on to a Phase one grant from USAF (document 
in LENR-CANR library) and was simply intended to be an analysis the absorption 
reaction of a large amount of nickel powder and hydrogen at modest pressure. 
Instead, it was likely the most energetic single event in the history of LENR.
Recently, Brian Ahern has been in contact with Nelson Gernert, the chief 
researcher in the new Thermacore (having gone through two changes of ownership) 
who was also in charge of the runaway. None of this has appeared in print 
before. 
Gernert added 2.5 pounds of nickel powder (200 mesh of Ni-200) into a 3 liter 
stainless steel Dewar.  The Dewar weighed 300 pounds. It was a strong pressure 
vessel with a hemispherical volume. Thermacore evacuated the nickel under 
vacuum for several days before adding H2 gas at 2 atmospheres (apparently there 
was no potassium but this detail needs to be verified).

The most amazing thing happened next. The powder immediately and spontaneously 
heated before external power could be added. The Dewar glowed orange (800C) and 
the engineers ran for cover. No external heat had been used and no radiation 
monitors were running. The nickel had sintered into a glob alloyed into the 
vessel and could not be removed.

The (then) owner of Thermacore, Yale Eastman was frightened that an explosion 
was imminent and that someone could be killed. He forbade any further work on 
LENR. The incident was not published. 
The Dewar was no longer safe as a pressure vessel and they junked it. They did 
not measure it for radiation. Superficial thermal analysis - 3 liters of H2 gas 
at 2 atmosphere will have a heat of combustion of 74 kilojoules when combined 
with oxygen (but there was no oxygen in the Dewar).  

Heating a 300 lb Stainless vessel to 800C requires 21 megajoules. That is 
ostensibly 289 times the possible chemical energy!





Date: Thu, 19 May 2016 10:44:35 -0400
Subject: Re: MILLS AND THERMACORE
From: na...@gwu.edu
To: ahern_br...@msn.com
Thanks, Brian.
I will try to get a complete copy.
Dave

On Thu, May 19, 2016 at 10:41 AM, Brian Ahern <ahern_br...@msn.com> wrote:
aLL MY COPIES LACK PAGE 4. 




[Vo]:Details of the Thermacore runaway in 1996

2016-05-19 Thread Jones Beene
Most observers of the LENR/nickel hydride scene are unaware of the details
of the Thermacore, Inc. runaway reaction back in 1996. 

Unfortunately, this was the last effort that this company made in the field,
and the main reason that they dropped LENR. The incident echoes other
thermal runaways, including P, Mizuno, Mark Snoswell in Australia and
Ahern. However, it was far more energetic than any of the prior incidents.

This was to have been an powered experiment but they never had time to apply
input power. This was was a follow-on to a Phase one grant from USAF
(document in LENR-CANR library) and was simply intended to be an analysis
the absorption reaction of a large amount of nickel powder and hydrogen at
modest pressure. Instead, it was likely the most energetic single event in
the history of LENR.

Recently, Brian Ahern has been in contact with Nelson Gernert, the chief
researcher in the new Thermacore (having gone through two changes of
ownership) who was also in charge of the runaway. None of this has appeared
in print before. 

Gernert added 2.5 pounds of nickel powder (200 mesh of Ni-200) into a 3
liter stainless steel Dewar.  The Dewar weighed 300 pounds. It was a strong
pressure vessel with a hemispherical volume. Thermacore evacuated the nickel
under vacuum for several days before adding H2 gas at 2 atmospheres
(apparently there was no potassium but this detail needs to be verified).

The most amazing thing happened next. The powder immediately and
spontaneously heated before external power could be added. The Dewar glowed
orange (800C) and the engineers ran for cover. No external heat had been
used and no radiation monitors were running. The nickel had sintered into a
glob alloyed into the vessel and could not be removed.

The (then) owner of Thermacore, Yale Eastman was frightened that an
explosion was imminent and that someone could be killed. He forbade any
further work on LENR. The incident was not published. 

The Dewar was no longer safe as a pressure vessel and they junked it. They
did not measure it for radiation. Superficial thermal analysis - 3 liters of
H2 gas at 2 atmosphere will have a heat of combustion of 74 kilojoules when
combined with oxygen (but there was no oxygen in the Dewar).  

Heating a 300 lb Stainless vessel to 800C requires 21 megajoules. That is
ostensibly 289 times the possible chemical energy!






Date: Thu, 19 May 2016 10:44:35 -0400
Subject: Re: MILLS AND THERMACORE
From: na...@gwu.edu
To: ahern_br...@msn.com
Thanks, Brian.
I will try to get a complete copy.
Dave

On Thu, May 19, 2016 at 10:41 AM, Brian Ahern  wrote:
aLL MY COPIES LACK PAGE 4.