From: Bob Higgins
The photo links you supplied appear to be from Fabio Penon's
report of 8/7/2012. In this report, he states that this inner tube is
stainless steel painted with a "black coating, heat resistant to 1200C". He
also says that in this early HotCat, the outer cylinder is painted
stainless.
Yes, I agree that these images are not the December HotCat, but OTOH ... the
main ingredient in black IR coatings is carborundum :-)
Also, it appears that the inner stainless tube is open to
the air (thru) and it is not stated where the ingredients are contained.
The paint appears to be to maximize the emissivity.... In this older HotCat
I surmise that the inner SS tube may actually be comprised of 2 coaxial
tubes with the ingredients between them in a thin layer.
Interesting - why do you think there are two coaxial tubes? What is along
the axis - just a vacuum?
Then the ends are welded closed (hot or cold welded) and it
looks like a single, thick monolithic stainless tube. The Penon report
states that the inner tube is painted on the inside and the outside.
One scenario that fits the circumstances is that the first HotCat did have
stainless tubes painted with carborundum paint, which is the most common
blackbody coating. Whether or not the other ingredients in such a paint
would hinder plasmons or not is unknown, but for whatever reason they
(Rossi) may have decided to use an SiC tube for its greater high temperature
strength in the December HotCat.
... or not. Once again, we have too little information. It is clear to me
that stainless alone is unacceptable at these temperatures without some kind
of support, such as being nested in a ceramic tube and the smart choice
would be SiC.
Did you blow the image up? (thanks to Alan for having all
of this info handy)
I could be wrong, but the tube in question still looks to be
far too thick to be blackened stainless - and there is no sign of metal at
all - it looks black all the way in. Plus there is no sign of the markings
of a hammered-in fitting which would cause metal damage. I think its
thickness and color is consistent with SiC and the stainless capsule has
been removed.
The lack of an end cap (or evidence that one was ever there)
also makes me think that this tube is not steel.
From: Bob Higgins
Jones, I believe you are mistaken. The
bottom picture shows the thick alumina (probably not high purity, but rather
an AlSiMag blend) with the slots for the resistor wires in the middle.
Inside this is only the stainless tube - blackened by the refractory sealant
they put over that whole end in that vintage of HotCat (the ends are
different on the new design of the "Independent Test". Then there is the
outer tube about 4-5mm thick which we are told is SiN (plausible). I don't
think there is anything between the alumina resistor assembly and the
stainless tube.
On Thu, Jul 4, 2013 at 5:10 PM, Jones Beene
<[email protected]> wrote:
From: Jed Rothwell
If Rossi was using corundum,
then carborundum would seem
like an improvement, but it is important to
track down the actual
composition of what was used in the December
test.
I asked about this while
correcting typos in the paper. One
of the authors told me it was "corundum,
corindone in Italian."
Thanks - it is a bit of a surprise. It is
true that the fluted cylinder with
the slots - which holds the resistance wire
could easily be corundum which
is light-colored. Carborundum is blacker
than black.
This picture on Alan's site shows the proper
coloration of corundum
http://lenr.qumbu.com/web_hotcat_pics/130531_penon_07A.png
But this picture, below it - shows a black
cylinder inside the HotCat where
another separate cylinder should be, and it
is not light colored and not
stainless.
http://lenr.qumbu.com/web_hotcat_pics/130531_penon_08A.png
Therefore I am still of the opinion - but
without any real evidence other
than this picture, that the ceramic which
holds the stainless steel capsule
is carborundum or SiC.
Jones
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