I wrote: There is a detail in the middle of the description that was unclear -- the > patent seems to be saying that there is an energy release through mass > defect *before* the proton is ejected, as though the electrons in the H- > ion are somehow being consumed. I'm not sure what Piantelli has in mind, > here. >
I have just read through a US patent application filed in April 2012 by Piantelli and published in April 2014, which goes into more detail: http://www.google.com/patents/US20140098917 In this patent application Piantelli seeks to get more energy out of his earlier invention by surrounding the active primary material with a secondary material that has a high proton-capture cross section. The fast protons emitted by the active core react with such materials as lithium, boron, thorium 232, uranium 236, and others, to amplify the energy released by the active core. The application is encumbered by Piantelli's theory of H- ion orbital capture by the substrate atoms. Here is where the application resolves the question raised above: there are two interactions that Piantelli believes to be taking place in the active core. First, there is the expulsion of a proton from the substrate atom after the H- ion is captured. Inexplicably, the proton emitted in this event is believed to have 6.7 MeV of energy. This is hard to understand, because it's not clear why 6.7 MeV wouldn't be needed to draw the proton in that close in the first place and where that amount of extra energy is coming from. Second, there is an occasional proton capture by the nucleus following upon the proposed orbital capture of the H- ion and the release of the usual amount of energy for a nickel proton-capture reaction, along the lines of Rossi's early explanation. Piantelli's H- orbital capture theory aside, what is clear is that he believes that a significant amount of fast protons are being emitted by his active core, and the point of the invention is to make use of their energy by having them react with the secondary material (lithium, boron, thorium, etc.). A number of reactions with the protons and nickel and with the protons and the secondary material are enumerated. These are the proton-capture reactions mentioned in connection with the nickel atoms in the primary material: - 1H + 58Ni → 59Cu + 3.417 MeV - 1H + 60Ni → 61Cu + 4.796 MeV - 1H + 61Ni → 62Cu + 5.866 MeV - 1H + 62Ni → 63Cu + 6.122 MeV - 1H + 64Ni → 65Cu + 7.453 MeV Another indication that Piantelli believes there to be a significant number of fast protons is that the application mentions using lead as a shield to protect from harmful radiation. Eric
