From: Foks0904
Interestingly, David French stated at the ICCF18 synthesis panel that the requirements for a viable commercial product are as follows: (1) COP > 6-10 ~ (2) Temperatures exceeding 200F and preferably achieving 600F + to produce economically viable electricity. Any thoughts? Well, yes. I do not know French, but I suspect that he may not be looking deep enough into the possibilities, nor have analyzed Rossi’s tactic here going back several years. He may not understand why the megawatt unit exists, since this is not obvious at first glance. As outlined before, infinite COP is available from nominal COP=2.5 with staged feedback looping of excess heat, which can be stored as the normal salt-based fluid, which is used for thermal storage in many industries; but this only works if the E-Cat responds to a thermal trigger, as Rossi has said it does. The downside of the more complicated design, which essentially is the Big Blue Box, is that it will require many units operating in stages to achieve the advantage of no outside input (which is the definition of infinite COP) and thus a minimum size and cost which is high. This higher overhead, possibly with a low maximum temperature, defines the Rossi system, as it seems to be maturing. But in energy production, as is most obvious in hydroelectric electricity - huge overhead cost (the dam) is secondary to recurrent costs of consumables. Infinite COP means that even low grade steam (or steam substitute), at low efficiency, can be converted into electricity. In fact the organic Rankine cycle (ORC) can produce all the electricity the world will ever need at 18% efficiency, from 300 degree-F heat, so long as the E-Cat COP is infinite. This overlooks the problem of 82% heat rejection into the environment, but the tradeoff is probably favorable to most countries, especially China. After reading some comments about AR and about COP and what level is needed for commercialization, on E-Cat World, it seems that there is some misunderstanding circulating on the subject of minimal COP - and its application to the Rossi effect. Basically, the overriding consideration about COP is this: Are we talking about the requirement for a heat trigger only, or is an electrical trigger required for application of "something" more than heat (such as a small amount magnetism or an electric field) ? If heat alone triggers the Rossi effect, then COP of 2 or even less than 2 is useful. If electricity is required, then it is a different story. Rossi has stated that heat alone is the trigger. Do we believe him? In fact, Rossi said that he was working on a natural gas fired trigger - which seems odd. It seems odd, because if heat alone is adequate, then who cares what the trigger for the first few units in a multi-reactor scheme is? Heck, even a wood-fired stove would suffice on the first round of a multi-unit array :-) Of course, over the years, many have learned to distrust these kinds of pronouncements from Rossi. However, if they are valid and one considers doubling time and the "rule of seventy" then a good argument can be made for the proposition that a COP of 1.7 or even lower, is useful with heat triggering, since the doubling time can be bootstrapped. This is the rationale behind the "BigBlueBox" which is the so-called megawatt unit that looks more like 100 kW or less. It can be shown that with thermal triggering - and an E-Cat COP of only about 1.7, even with some losses due to plumbing, the first 3 reactors powered by natural gas can start two more, which can start a third, so that even with COP significantly less than 2 we can double net thermal energy of NG by bootstrapping in three stages. With COP of slightly over 2, we can start to use the excess energy (over doubling) in feedback looping - going all the way back to the starting demands of the initial stage, and it does not require too many actual units to convert that modest gain of say 2.4 - all the way to what can be called infinite COP (no input required after startup) in a bootstrapping scheme, such as we find in BBB. Think about that: infinite COP. This is part of Rossi's inspired madness and why he is so insistent on sticking with the big box. Bottom line, if we believe Rossi and the thermal trigger - COP of 1.7 is useful, 2 is fabulous, and 2.5 is mind-boggling (infinite COP with bootstrapping). Nevertheless, I must admit that I do not believe Rossi on this point - and think that something more than thermal input is required. But I would love to be wrong on that assessment.
