> Possible Causes
>
> The vessel was old and may have had a scratch on the inner surface.
That does not account for the initiating flash under the surface of the
electrolyte.
No, it does not. The event happened in an instant, there is no video, and I do not think Mizuno is fully confident of that visual observation, so he listed other possible causes. He said the flash started at the bottom, and then seemed to fill the whole vessel "in slow motion" and then the vessel flew apart.
(I suspect the slow-motion part may have been caused by his own heightened perception. People in accidents often report this phenomenon. I suspect it is imposed on the short term memory after the fact, but that is getting off the subject.)
The flash was below the surface of the electrolyte.>
> It is possible that the tungsten cathode may have been exposed to the gas
> in the headspace.
Why is this relevant?
Well, Mizuno wrote that document and I just translated it, but my guess is that he is simply listing every likely source of the accident. McKubre commented that any exposed metal can cause a recombination explosion:
". . . I found it is impossible to impress on people just how explosive a stoichiometric mix of H2 and O2 is. Even a few cc's can be dangerous - even deadly. You don't need to search for an ignition source - any metal will do."
The 2K+/H or 2K+/D reactions found by Mills may be present in all these
cells. Why it would act in the reported way is unclear.
Mizuno is unfamiliar with Mills and would not list a hydrino event among the likely causes.
Perhaps glow discharge began at an unusually low voltage, and a glow discharge spark ignited the gas.
But as I said, if it turns out he was still using the funnel, that certainly puts the kibosh on the recombination explosion hypothesis.
- Jed
