Meltdown might not be such a major concern with the latest design. If Rossi and allies have optimized the geometry in such a manner as to extract heat energy from the device faster than the core can produce it then thermal run away should not occur. That suggests that some finite operating temperature will always exist even if the control system ceases to operate properly.
It does seem possible to reach a temperature that causes permanent damage to the fuel due to melting of the fuel, but we do not know enough about the heat generation process to understand this type of problem. Perhaps the damaged fuel, which has cooled into a different form than ideal, will take much more external heating to bring it back up to operation after a restart of the reactor. There are several miracles that need to be properly researched. But, miracles do happen. Dave -----Original Message----- From: Alan Fletcher <[email protected]> To: vortex-l <[email protected]> Sent: Sat, Oct 18, 2014 1:36 pm Subject: [Vo]:Hotcat melting miracle Taking the report at face value, the hotcat displays several of the "standard" LENR miracles .. Some evidence of nuclear reactions (though incomplete and a tiny sample: Li, Ni -- but no H, He ... examined) No radiation outside an alumina cylinder (though there may be a steel tube inside) No radiation from the ash All happening well below hot fusion levels (coulomb barrier etc) With a surface temperature of 1420C the inside MUST be hotter. But let's stick with 1420. (Non) melting miracle : ALL of the components are likely to melt (or at last malfunction) at this temperature The nickel powder The heating wires The control thermocouple itself! A reader who didn't post it himself, and may wish to remain anonymous, commented in a direct email: Something that no one seems to have mentioned is that the control thermocouple in the reactor is type K (figures 2 and 4 of the Lugano report). This type has a calibrated upper temperature limit of ~1250 C (though wikipedia says probes are available to 1350 C). Chromel melts at around 1420 C. This seems to make type K a poor choice if you expect to operate at temperatures around 1400 C and particularly if the reactor may melt down if not properly controlled. So either the temperature measurement is wrong, or we have another miracle, that seems to take place within the entire interior of the hotcat.
