A great deal of discussion has been generated by the Rossi test. I
would liker to add my contribution.
Rossi has demonstrated two very important behaviors of the effect.
First, the effect can be initiated and sustained for a significant
time at temperatures above 800° C. This means the NAE once formed is
very stable. This degree of stability severely limits the theories
that can be applied and eliminates most of the ones presently being
explored.
Second, he has shown that the effect can be effectively controlled by
temperature. This means that one rate-controlling part of the process
is endothermic. I have previously proposed that this part involves
diffusion of H or D into the NAE. This suggestion is based on simple
logic. The rate of the nuclear reaction is determined by how rapidly
the reactants can assemble, which would be controlled by diffusion. Of
course, once the reactants are assembled, the nucear reaction would be
very fast and not be subject to control.
To effectively solve the control problem, Rossi has maximized thermal
contact between the NAE in the Ni and a source of temperature, which
is the heaters. He has to apply power because the NAE in the NI has to
cool rapidly once the LENR process tries to grow in intensity by
getting hotter as a result of its own heat production. In other words,
the effect involves two rate controlling processes, one is exothermic
and the other is endothermic. Control requires a balance be created
between the two. This balance uses diffusion as the control mechanism.
He heats the material to a temperature that allows the heat producing
rate in the NAE to start to self-heat. He then turns off the external
heat source and the resulting temperature, which allows the diffusion
rate to drop enough to starve the fusion process of reactant and cool.
This process is repeated. A waveform of applied power is chosen to
make this process as efficient as possible.
Regardless of which theory a person wishes to apply, this description
must be acknowledged because it is based on engineering principles,
not on a theory of LENR.
Ed Storms
