On Feb 14, 2008, at 11:05 AM, Jones Beene wrote:
--- Ed
The paper you quote is pure
speculation that has no basis
in reality.
I must say that the both the papers, and the visual
images of FF do not convey the same sense of trust of,
say, Stephen Hawking. Looks can be deceiving, however.
A theory paper that calls for procedures (e.g. making cracks) having
abundant examples of failing experimentally, and few to no examples
of succeeding (AFAIK), can't be taken seriously.
There is nothing inconsistent with the expectation that stressed
lattices or even lattice imperfections increase fusion, provided
proper loading ratios can be achieved. The literature is replete
with references that (1) call for loading above 0.9 (or higher), and
(2) recognize the need to avoid cracks because they release hydrogen
and destroy the loading ratio. One of the principal impediments to
achieving high loading and thus high repeatability is widely
recognized to be cracks. If surface treatment can prevent hydrogen
escape from cracks, and thus high loading still achieved, then the
existence of the cracks is essentially moot.
There are some good images of treating Pd in the issue
of NET below, and that info which should be of
particular interest to Horace is down in topic #11 on
ENEA Frascati.
This is a very well-equiped and impressive operation -
and some of the ways that they surface treat Pd are
shown.
http://newenergytimes.com/news/2007/NET25.htm#frisone
Jones
Nothing in the above article (#11) discounts in any way the things
I've been saying. On the contrary, it fully supports my assertions
and conjectures. First note that they only achieved "60 percent
repeatability in our lab and then even higher, 70 percent at SRI by
using ENEA cathodes, so there is a lot of room for improvement.
They recognize the need for high loading: "High loading, or hydrogen/
deuterium absorbtion, has been found to be a threshold requirement to
obtain the sought-after LENR excess heat effect."
They obtain high loading: "Three of Violante's cathodes went to over
0.95 D/Pd (up to 1.02) and one cathode with H went up to H/Pd of 1.1."
They explicitly recognize the need for annealing (a heat process
which closes off cracks and defects and merges small crystals into
larger ones): "Their next step is to bake the Pd foils in an oven for
one day at 900 C. After rolling, annealing is required to rebuild the
grain. The rolling process produces structural defects, and the
annealing reorganizes the grain structure of the metal, making a
suitable grain size distribution for good loading. Unless the
material is rebuilt properly, high loading is difficult to achieve."
Further, Michael McKubre explains: "that the annealing process allows
defects to disappear and instead promotes the growth of stronger,
more consistent palladium crystals."
Further, they even look for defects following runs: "They also
inspect the foils after the experiments, looking for significant
changes in the metallurgy, the introduction of defects or cracks and
possible contamination from the electrolysis."
The additional metal treatment methods I have suggested should not
negatively impact the processes as described in Steve Krivit's
article referenced above, but rather can be used as additional follow
on procedures. I should also mention that increased fusion in
stressed lattices (which thus produce stressed sub-orbitals) is in
fact expected within the deflation fusion model, provided full
loading and simultaneous diffusion are also maintained sufficiently.
The needs for simultaneously providing full loading and maximal
diffusion rate within the context of full loading may seem mutually
contradictory goals. However, they are really goals that require
engineering and extensive research to develop that engineering
capability. To express the goals metaphorically, the need for
simultaneously high fugacity and maximal diffusion is equivalent to a
Fireman's need to put as much water as possible on the third floor of
a burning building. If the hose is cut, the equivalent of a highly
cracked lattice, then the flow (diffusion) is good but no water
reaches the third floor due to lack of pressure (fugacity). If the
flow is substantially blocked by reducing the nozzle size (equivalent
to fully sealing the lattice, say with gold or copper) then little
water flows and again, less than optimal water reaches the third
floor. It takes a careful optimization of all the parameters
affecting cold fusion to maximize the results or even the reliability
of any results. Putting out the metaphorical fire might be achieved
many ways, including one bucket at a time, but the ability to
engineer a fire fighting system may provide a significantly differing
final outcome.
Horace Heffner
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/
