*From Rossi Q&A April 21, 2011* * *
*[quote]Q: What happens if by some defect the E-Cat during operation is not longer cooled by the water sourrounding it? How much would the temperature of the metal rise? Will the nuclear reaction stop due to high temperatures or will it be enhanced? In this case the E-Cat could melt. Is there a potential danger?* *A:1- we have a secondary emergency cooling system* *2- Confidential* *3- With temperature above the set the reactor is automatically stopped* *4- We melt many times , for testing reasons, the E-Cats. No danger at all, we do not use radioactive materials and we do not leave radioactive waste. During the melting hydrogen intrinsecally burns, without hydrogen no reaction occurs.[/quote]* * * * * *We have been told as follows:* * * *The reaction rate is a function of the heater input, and scales to that input temperature.* * * *There are two sources of heat in the Cat-E* * * *1 – The heat produced by the reaction. The production of this heat increases with temperature so a meltdown is possible. This heat must be kept below a threshold temperature to avoid a meltdown. * * * *2 – Heat from the internal heater. This heat is derived from a resistive electric element in the center of the reaction chamber. This resistive element injects heat into the hydrogen gas that lies between the resistive element and the walls of the reaction chamber which is coated with a layer of depleted nickel oxide powder. Since the hydrogen envelop is pressurized and thick, all heat transfer from the resistive element to the reactor walls are carried by the hydrogen envelope by heat conduction by the hydrogen gas. Heat transfer by infrared radiation does not occur. * * * * * *“With temperature above the set the reactor is automatically stopped”* * * *The temperature at the surface of the reaction vessel is monitored by a thermal sensor connected to the control box. When this surface temperature detects a rise above a set limit, the electric power that drives the internal resistive heater is first reduced as the temperature rises and then it is completely shut off as the temperature continues to rise.* * * *It the temperature continues to rise above another set point, the control box releases the hydrogen gas into the water loop piping though the controlled opening of an electrically controlled valve. This action vents excess heat to the outside environment and serves to depress the reaction. * * * *“How much would the temperature of the metal rise?”* * * *The nickel oxide powder will have a substantial amount of hydrogen stored in the lattice interstices at the surface of the nickel oxide powder where the oxygen has been depleted by the erosive action of hydrogen impingement at the surface or into the surface to some depth of the powder. * * * *When the heat sink of the water coolant is removed, this nuclear reaction in the lattice interstices will continue until the temperature of at the surface of the powder reaches the melting point of nickel. The lattice interstices will begin to close as nickel migrate to these lattice interstices sites displacing the absorbed hydrogen gas. * * * *“Will the nuclear reaction stop due to high temperatures or will it be enhanced?”*** * * *With some number of these heat producing sites disabled, the temperature at the surface of the reaction vessel will stabilize and slowly begin to fall. * * * *After shutdown, the nickel oxide powder may still be operable since new lattice interstices may replace the ones that had been destroyed by the overheating. Clearly, too many of overheating episodes will destroy the activity of the nickel oxide powder. * * * *“In this case the E-Cat could melt. Is there a potential danger?”* * * * * *“We melt many times, for testing reasons, the E-Cats. No danger at all, we do not use radioactive materials and we do not leave radioactive waste. During the melting hydrogen intrinsecally burns, without hydrogen no reaction occurs.”* * * * * * * *Rossi has tested multiple occurrences of reaction vessel overheating to determine the robustness of the failsafe reaction shutdown process. The structure of the reactor does not exceed overheating tolerances.* * * *Unlike a standard nuclear reactor, no radioactive isotopes are included in the catalytic powder.* * * *This leaves open the possibility for the use of thorium in the internal heater. Thorium has been used in vacuum tubes for many years with no radiation danger.* * *
