The observant experimenter (or reader) involved with LENR has
likely noticed the persistent problem with "scale-up".
Any number of significant energy anomalies have been discovered in
the past decade and before - in small powered experiments - from
fractional watts upwards to several tens of watts... BUT catch-22
... the energy anomaly resists all attempts to scale it up to
higher (usable) power - and even worse - it will often disappear
altogether at even moderately higher power input.
This odd phenomenon has been seen in simple electrolysis which is
more efficient in smaller units - and in both cold fusion and
hydrino experiments, and in magnetic anomalies, and even to a
degree in ICF-style hot fusion.
As far back as the early '50s, Gow at LBNL found that the
surprisingly high level of neutrons in his lower energy
experiments (about the power of a television set) did NOT increase
with added power. This was totally unlike anything previously seen
in nuclear energy - where in general "bigger is better." As it
turns out - Gow was probably dealing with "stripping neutrons"
(the Oppenheimer Phillips effect) which is a quantum mechanical
effect and which is ultimately dependent on "probability."
"Probability" is the key word. Many have made the assertion that
all of LENR is a just an enhanced QM effect, and therefore is
governed by quantum probability, but yet how many experimenters
really take this to heart and go for "smaller is better" ?
"At its core, quantum mechanics can be regarded as a non-classical
probability calculus resting upon a non-classical propositional
logic". This according to an abstruse but important website which
I am trying to digest and ultimately to bring down to earth ...
this for the benefit of any LENR experimenters who might want to
test the limits of an anomaly which they have discovered - but
have been unable to scale-up. This site can be found at:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qt-quantlog/
A quick read-through this site - and you will probably be grateful
for anyone brave (or foolish) enough to attempt to apply this
difficult material to LENR. It is not easy to understand, but it
could be very relevant if quantum probability is the limiting
factor or LENR.
Any input, even anecdotal, relating to "reverse economy of scale"
will be appreciated in this endeavor.
Jones
BTW, for the pessimist who might opine that if QM probability is
limiting the implementation of LENR - then the commercial
situation will be ultimately hopeless - let me remind them that a
change of "mindset" is the first requirement.
For instance, the computer which they are using is an example of a
valuable mass produced item which only operates because QM
probability has been mastered (in the CPU). From the Pentium on,
all modern CPUs have depended on quantum tunneling of electrons -
a QM effect governed by enhancing (normally low) QM probability.
In a direct analogy to this, the futurist might even suspect that
the "LENR device of the next decade" will be based on numerous
small cells - or even miniature factories - which are composed of
tiny cells and accompanying robotics, controlled by an advanced
computer. This is even a little beyond what Jed Rothwell has
contemplated in his book.
I say miniature robotic "factories" because there is evidence that
ongoing structural modification of the electrodes in each cell
will be required to create the active interfacial sites (Storm's
nuclear active sites). This can be both automated (robotically)
and miniaturized.
Plus, this miniaturization will (hopefully) also be subject to the
price/performance constraints of Moore's Law - which is the way
that one 'combats' reverse-economy-of-scale - which is to say
instead of progress being determined by "bigger-is-better," or the
evil temptation to "super-size-it" ... instead you aim for
smaller-but-Moore ;-)
For a close analogy - consider that we are just now seeing the
beginning of small but relatively complicated energy devices of
this type - with the introduction of small methanol fuel cells
(DMEC) designed for cell phones and laptops:
http://www.fctec.com/fctec_types_dmfc.asp
Imagine - taking the next (giant) step beyond the DMEC - what your
home-power unit in the year 2020 will look like... first-off it
will be no larger than a present day "heat pump" and perhaps
costing as much as the average luxury automobile (perhaps it will
be a combined auto/home power unit - charging the car's batteries
at night) consisting of several hundred small electrolytic type
cells (using Ti rather than Pd) - each about the size of the DMEC
but using heavy water instead of methanol, and each with a
miniature robotic factory to periodically open-up and reactivate
(remanufacture) the electrodes of any cell which starts to
degenerate. It will be thermoelectric with the water heat used to
heat hot water or the home in winter.
This is doable... all it takes is political willpower (but first,
a change in "mindset" - and isn't that (the meme-factory function)
is the ultimate purpose of newsgroups like vortex ?
