It is apparent that a lot of energy is required to initiate the nuclear
reaction in ECAT type devices. This problem is always a sticking point for the
skeptical point of view and certainly makes the process seem less likely to
most of us in the other camp. I proposed the possibility of cosmic rays acting
as the trigger for the reactions since they are known to be very energetic and
always present.
If you think about explosives in general, it is evident that they could in
theory self explode under the right circumstances. Nitroglycerin comes
immediately to mind when I think of a really nasty substance to play with. A
drop of this material hitting a surface from a short fall will explode
violently. This is an example of a triggered explosion which must have
interesting characteristics in order to occur.
Plain old fashioned black gunpowder is another example of a triggered explosive
material that is quite stable under normal circumstances. You can place a
match onto a small pile of the powder and it will just lay there and burn for a
while until the entire mass of material erupts rapidly with a bright flash.
The initiation process for these two materials must depend upon the geometry
and energy release characteristics. I am not an expert on explosives but have
given consideration to the process that I assume leads to a mass explosive
event. In the case of the gunpowder, I consider the reaction to be started by
the application of heat energy to a small region of the material. The heat
energy is sufficient to cause a tiny portion of the powder to ignite and
release additional heat. This relatively large heat energy must escape the
small volume through the surface area surrounding it. If the burn is to
continue, then the heat escaping the initial volume must be sufficient to
ignite more material at the surface to continue the process.
If there is insufficient heat to ignite the new material then the burn would
die out and there would be no explosion. This model that I have envisioned
would tend to suggest that there would be a minimum volume of initial burning
material required in order to achieve an explosive event. Heat is generated
throughout the volume while it escapes through the surface area. This is where
the story might get interesting. Chemical energy released by burning of a
material such as black powder is many thousands if not millions of times less
than that released by a fusion reaction and I would expect the differences to
show up clearly.
One of the main differences I would expect is for the initiated volume to be
many times smaller in the case of fusion than that seen with chemical
reactions. Also, the energy required to initiate a fusion reaction could be
concentrated into the region occupied by the nickel atom and the adjacent
hydrogen nuclei and might be available in the form of cosmic ray interactions.
I suspect that we all would agree that there is sufficient energy contained
within a cosmic ray to overcome the coulomb repulsion barrier.
If the fusion of a nickel atom and a hydrogen nucleus is possible as a result
of the interaction of a cosmic ray, then it seems that we have achieved a
trigger that might result in additional reactions if sufficient energy is
released. The time domain release nature of the induced energy as well as the
form it takes could be the reason for continued reactions. Most of the
information available suggests that heat is the major form of energy outputted
during the LENR events and that this is released after a short delay period
instead of instantaneously after the proton is acquired. This delay is
fortunate; otherwise an explosion of the entire structure might occur.
The pictures of damage to electrodes by pitting suggest that the fusion
reaction once initiated prorogates fairly rapidly throughout a significant
amount of material before being quenched. There is no need for an
instantaneous energy release, but instead it needs to be fast enough to result
in metal melting or vaporization that is sufficient to expel material. The
hydrogen loading could come into play by being subject to a threshold amount
that does not allow adequate heat generation and propagation unless satisfied.
I suggest that a trigger mechanism in the form of cosmic rays is available
which can initiate a limited number of fusion reactions. The question is
whether or not these reactions can propagate within the material to generate a
substantial effect. Do we observe hot spots of activity occurring within the
nickel that can pinpoint any such behavior?
Dave