The statement made by Dr. Wang about D filling voids in the Pd lattice
is based on an assumption, for which no experimental evidence exists in
the literature as far as I know. A person has to be very careful to
separate such assumptions from what is actually known, based on good
work. Otherwise, we will have a hard time understanding what is actually
causing the fusion reaction.
Ed
Jed Rothwell wrote:
In my first report on the Arata experiment, I made a mistake that upset
Takahashi to no end. The captions in Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 that I sent here
(both English and Japanese) say "D+-jet stream stopped." Based on this,
plus the fact that gas loading stops abruptly, I assumed that the valve
was closed and the flow of gas into the cell terminated. Dr. Wang says
that is incorrect. The gas flow continues, but the material is
apparently saturated, and gas loading into it ends abruptly. Pressure in
the cell begins to rise as additional gas flows in, and this shows up
roughly 5 minutes later in the graphs.
I thought the pressure was rising because the sample was degassing.
Arata told me that they prefer to raise the pressure of the cell
considerably above 1 atm to ensure that any contamination will leak out
of the cell, rather than being sucked into it. Arata also said that
increasing the pressure in the cell after the initial loading phase does
not significantly increase the excess heat.
I think I should change that label on the figures from "D+-jet stream
stopped" to something like "D+ absorption stops" (or "ends" or "sample
stop absorbing D+)". "Stopped" sounds transitive, indicating that
someone stopped it.
I was surprised to learn that absorption can stop so abruptly. I thought
it would taper off gradually. However, Edmund Storms told me:
"Clean, finely powdered Pd will react rapidly with hydrogen and, when
all of the sample has converted to the beta phase, very little
additional hydrogen will appear to be used. Of course, additional
hydrogen will be added as the beta phase increases in composition, but
this amount is small compared to the initial loading. This behavior is
well known and is consistent with what Arata observes."
Dr. Wang also explained to me (my translation):
"[During the initial D+ loading phase] deuterons are pushed into voids
in the lattice (the Octahedrons) in groups of 2 to 4 deuterons. There
they form solid deuterons which, during the "Skirt Fusion zone" phase
gradually undergo a nuclear fusion reaction, which continues for 100
hours or longer. This produces large amounts of helium, as heat
production continues.
During this phase, the D2 gas pressure remains constant."
- Jed
