On Nov 7, 2011, at 12:31 AM, John Bresnahan wrote:
Dear Mr. (Dr.?) Heffner,
I've been eagerly following your posting on the Vortex mailing
list, and wish to thank you for the thoughtful analysis you are
providing.
Regarding the small valve in your model of Rossi's E-Cat device
from the October 6th test, could it be that Rossi's "frequency
generator" is used to control and power the valve?
Just a thought.
Sincerely,
John Bresnahan
On Nov 7, 2011, at 3:32 AM, Berke Durak wrote:
You are proposing a theory where a slug of hot iron releases its
stored
energy.
No. I only used that as an initial example for discussion. I am now
looking at, simulating, concrete and other materials, individually or
in combination, as noted in my prior post.
The e-Cats have enough internal volume to store the reported amount
of energy
produced in very hot iron, and it is theoretically possible to
insulate them
using aerogel so that they'll keep their heat for a few hours.
Install a
controllable heat-exchange mechanism, program the software to
emulate a
reactor output, et voilà!
No computer is required. The heat flow can be controlled simply
using the input power profile and a second connection for direct
control, e.g. from the frequency generator input. I looked at
aerogel, but more mundane insulations are likely good enough.
Except that this theory deosn't fly for the "1 MW" demo. About 9.5
GJ was
produced.
There is no credible evidence that 9.5 GJ was produced in my opinion.
The 1 MW demo was disgusting scientifically speaking. It was a major
step backwards in calorimetry method from the prior test. In any case
it is not my subject matter. The 1 MW test was so bad I see no sense
in discussing it.
I've done some layman calculations, and using aerogel, you could go
to 1200 degrees Celsius, and the amount of iron required would be
about 250 kg
per module.
Look at the pictures of the e-Cat. The modules are standing on
pieces of metal
supported by 5 cm x 5 cm angle sections about 5mm thick. I don't
think you can
put 500 - 750 kg over 1.5 m on such angle sections.
Cement has 3 times the specific heat of iron. Also, the heat output
is not substantiated. Neither is the energy input. I will not
respond further to comment regarding the 1 MW test as I see it as
irrelevant and far less credibly executed and reported than the prior
test. However, pure cement thermal output for the 6 Oct test would
peak at time T550, 550 minutes after start of the run, which is too
late, and the peak too little, without combining the cement with
metal slabs or mixtures.
--
Berke durak
On Nov 6, 2011, at 9:34 PM, Horace Heffner wrote:
I continue to plod along on a simulation of prospective E-cat
designs to fit the 6 Oct 2011 Rossi test results. I have simulated
various combinations of materials for thermal storage and have
found that a couple slabs of ordinary Portland cement with a
heating resistor sandwiched between them seems to fit the
properties of the E-cat fairly well in terms of heat storage dynamics.
Call me Horace. I am simply an amateur, not a "Dr.".
I have appended the "ACTIVE CONTROL" and "DYNAMIC FEA SIMULATION"
sections from my review, because they provide some clarification.
I think the fine temperature control exhibited in response to the
very small control current from the "frequency generator", in Graph 3;
http://www.mtaonline.net/%7Ehheffner/Graph3.png
demonstrates the possibility there are two independent, thermally
isolated, slabs of material involved. This is also confirmed
somewhat by the steep power decline curve at the end of the test. It
is also consistent with this assumption that the "frequency
generator" was controlled by a variac.
As I noted in my last post, the material used to produce the
simulation graphs was *Portland cement*, not iron. (BTW that was a
clerical error on my part. The parameters actually shown were those
of fire brick. I simply picked iron as an example for my initial
calculations in the data review paper because iron has a fairly high
specific heat and iron is commonly used in radiators, etc.
The following slab commands show some materials I have briefly
investigated individually or in combinations:
* slab thick spec cond den
* ..... slab description follows slab command ...
*
slab 20 0.46 80.4 7.874
iron
slab 1 0.84 0.01 0.002
aerogel
slab 5 2.30 0.64 0.92
HDPE
slab 5 1.00 1.31 2.40
ceramic
slab 5 0.84 0.166 1.4
asbestos cement
slab 20 0.13 35.3 11.34
lead
slab 20 0.87 255 2.7
aluminum
slab 30 1.05 1.4 2.4
fire brick
slab 120 1.55 0.29 1.506
Portland Cement
ACTIVE CONTROL
To make any sense of the data with a non-nuclear explanation, it
appears the electric heating power must be separated into two parts,
one part which heats the water directly, and one part which heats an
internal mass. In addition, it appears there needs to be an active
control which affects the thermal conductivity between a large
thermal mass and the water, and thus division of the input power into
a third part. This control must produce minimum thermal resistance
between a hot thermal mass and the water when no power is applied to
it. Further, it must be controlled with about 300 mA * 240 V = 7.2
watts of power, because the power from the “frequency generator” must
be enough to regulate the thermal output power. When main heater
power was cut and when the “frequency generator” power was cut, there
was an immediate surge of thermal power out. In both cases, a power
cut to the heater(s), and a power cut to the frequency generator, a
large thermal pulse resulted immediately upon the power cut.
One means of achieving the necessary power control is to use the
actuator from a zone valve to make or release contact between large
area (e.g. 29 cm by 29 cm) slabs of thermal conductors. This can be
accomplished by spring loading the slabs to a closed position and
using the actuator from a zone valve (.e.g. Taco Power Head) to press
the plates apart. A typical US residential zone valve operates in
the appropriate power range, and is activated by about 24 V at less
than 1 A. A 40 VA transformer supplies enough power for 3 Taco zone
valves in normal operation. A partial activation can be obtained
through use of less power, and through use of either AC or DC power.
The power is applied to a resistive material which expands thermally
to open a zone valve. In a hot environment such an actuator could
expand with less than normal power. An alternative to changing slab
separation is to control convective flow of a thermal transfer fluid.
In this case when power is applied then flow must be cut off. Motor
driven zone valves are available in normally open or normally closed
configurations and operate on DC at very low power requirements.
DYNAMIC FEA SIMULATION
A dynamic linear FEA simulation program is being developed to look at
potential thermal storage mechanisms. A sample of some run input
data is located here:
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/RptR4
Some sample graphs of ouput data, corresponding to Graph 2 and Graph
5, are shown here:
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/Graph2S.png
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/Graph5S.png
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/Graph6S.png
Report of the results will be made separately from this review.
Best regards,
Horace Heffner
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/
