[I have been telling people they should try this
experiment. I send them this document to explain the reasons why]
Gas loaded nanoparticle cold fusion
I recommend that researchers attempt to replicate
an experiment with gas loaded nanoparticle cold
fusion. With this method, deuterium gas is loaded
into a fine powder made of pure palladium
nanoparticles or palladium nanoparticles
suspended in some other material. This method was
developed by Arata and Zhang [1, 2], and replicated by Kitamura et al. [3]
Several methods of achieving cold fusion have
been developed, but I feel that this one has the
most promise. Other methods range from the
original Fleischmann and Pons electrochemical
method with bulk palladium, to glow discharge,
ion beam loading, and gas loading. The original
electrochemical method is the most popular and
best documented. But it has drawbacks: it is
difficult to do, and it requires close attention
to the materials and extensive pretesting of
materials which can take months using manual
techniques. [4] The success rate has improved
since 1989 but it remains problematic. Output
power fluctuates. Gas loading with nanoparticles
has the following advantages over other methods:
1. There is no input electricity, only
output heat. This simplifies calorimetry, and it
means that if the reaction can be scaled up, it
would be easier to make into a practical source
of energy. Electrochemical cold fusion has also
produced this effect in heat after death, but it
is difficult to generate and control, and it does not last as long.
2. The material loads with within 20 minutes
and the effect turns on after that, at full
strength. Bulk palladium cathodes sometimes take
a week or two to load, and the effect turns on and ramps up gradually
3. The heat is more stable than previous
techniques, producing steady output heat for weeks, only gradually attenuating.
4. Reports indicate that the experiment has
succeeded in every test done so far at Osaka U. and Kobe U.
5. A gas cell would be more practical and
rugged for other engineering reasons: it can be
used at high temperatures without the pressure
vessel needed to keep a liquid cell from boiling.
It can be shaken or turned in any orientation in
gravity, whereas an electrochemical cell may
undergo recombination as oxygen bubbles touch the cathode.
A variety of nanoparticle gas loading methods
have been developed and improved over the years.
The most promising material is powder made from
zirconium oxide with nanoparticles of palladium
in it, developed by Arata and Yamaura. [5] In
previous versions of this experiment, Arata used
pure palladium nanoparticles (palladium black),
which worked well for a while but gradually
degraded because the particles clumped together,
reducing surface area. Suspending particles far
apart from one another in a zirconium matrix
reduces this problem. Industrial hydrogenation
nanoparticle catalysts have been used
successfully by Case and McKubre. [6, 7] These
are made with palladium particles suspended in a
naturally occurring matrix: baked coconut shell.
The Case experiment proved very difficult to
replicate, because the material breaks down and
perhaps because of the high level of contaminants
and variation in coconut shells. As of June 2009
the zirconium material is the most promising.
The material used by Arata was manufactured by
Fukuda Fine Metal Powder Corp., Kyoto, Japan. The
material used by Kitamura was made by Santoku
Corp., Kobe, Japan. The Arata group and the
Fukuda Corp. have not cooperated with other
researchers and they declined requests to provide
sample material. Both the Kitamura group and
Santoku had provided samples of the powder
material to researchers in the US, and expressed
willingness to cooperate more in the future.
Takahashi, who is working with Kitamura, reported
that the Santoku material is somewhat different
from the Fukuda material: it has 10 nm grain-size
palladium nanoparticles dispersed in ZrO2 flakes,
whereas the Fukuda material has a 5-nm grain
size. The fact that both samples produced heat
indicates that there is no tight specification
for the required material and a broad range of
similar nanoparticle powders might also work.
Tests of the Santoku material are now underway in
the US. I encourage others to fabricate and test similar material.
References
1. Arata, Y. and Y.C. Zhang. "Cold"
Fusion in a Complex Cathode. in Third
International Conference on Cold Fusion,
"Frontiers of Cold Fusion". 1992. Nagoya Japan:
Universal Academy Press, Inc., Tokyo, Japan.
2. Arata, Y. and Y. Zhang, The
Establishment of Solid Nuclear Fusion Reactor. J.
High Temp. Soc., 2008. 34(2): p. 85.
3. Kitamura, A., et al. CMNS Research
Progressing in Kobe University -Deuterium
Permeation and Absorption-. in The 9th Meeting of
Japan CF-Research Society. 2009. Shizuoka, Japan.
4. Storms, E., How to produce the
Pons-Fleischmann effect. Fusion Technol., 1996. 29: p. 261.
5. Yamaura, S., et al., Hydrogen
absorption of nanoscale Pd particles embedded in
ZrO2 matrix prepared from ZrPd amorphous alloys.
J. Mater. Res., 2002. 17(6): p. 1329.
6. Case, L.C. Catalytic Fusion of
Deuterium into Helium-4. in The Seventh
International Conference on Cold Fusion. 1998.
Vancouver, Canada: ENECO, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT.
7. McKubre, M.C.H., et al. The Emergence
of a Coherent Explanation for Anomalies Observed
in D/Pd and H/Pd System: Evidence for 4He and 3He
Production. in 8th International Conference on
Cold Fusion. 2000. Lerici (La Spezia), Italy:
Italian Physical Society, Bologna, Italy.
