Here is part of the last message Talbot sent me about the Rossi device. We
talked about this on the phone. I told him I disagreed. We dropped the
subject. After this we only talked about other papers he was working on.
I have deleted some unrelated stuff, and extraneous details.
I feel uneasy about publishing this because Talbot is not here to defend
his position, and because I do not think he had time to think this through
and examine the facts carefully. Not because he kept these views secret. I
believe he was preparing a paper along these lines. However it may be that
in the months following this he changed his views. He never sent me a
finished paper making these claims. Anyway, this was his take soon after
the first demonstrations. This is of historic interest for that reason.
Please do not assume he felt this way recently.
- Jed
- - - - - - - - - - - -
28 Jan 2011
Jed,
Thanks for making me look into the Rossi-Focardi (F-R) process again. I
have modified my thinking based on what you said yesterday. Here is what I
sent yesterday, with a minor word change.
“The Rossi-Focardi process is purely chemical. It depends on sequential
reactions.
Reaction 1: H2 + ½ O2 -> H2O(steam) Heat of Formation = 57.83 kcal/mol
Reaction 2: Ni + H2O(steam) -> NiO + H2 Heat of Formation = 0.00
kcal/mol
Raney Ni catalyst has a more positive Gibbs Free Energy than Ni(metal)
i.e., it is less stable. Therefore the reaction producing crystalline NiO
takes place.”
I accept your statement that the F-R reactor ingredients are completely
isolated from room air. I now envision the reactor as consisting of a
leak-proof stainless steel container within which is an open container
filled with a mix of solid chemicals. The contents filling the open
container are called the reactor bed. The reactor bed and the interfacing
gases, which include steam, are responsible for the heat production. The
nature of the interfaces between the solid components and the embedding gas
are determined by the pre-run protocol used.
In the recent demonstration, the fact that there was immediate heat
production when H2 was added to the embedding gas shows that O2 gas was
present at the start of the heat producing run. Once the initial O2 was
depleted, a new source of O2 was required. My guess is that copper oxide
was the new source of O2, based on the fact that the post-reaction
composition contained Cu. . . .
Talbot
