Questions and Answers - Brian Ahern

Very valuable and informative post. Thanks to both you, David, and Brian for sharing these questions and answers.

Below find links to materials Brian specified. I cannot yet guarantee that these are accurate.

I hope Brian might chime in and correct if needed.

Hunter Chemical nickel powder

McMaster-Carr Alumina Tubes

Alumina Tube Brian chose

Heating Wire Candidate

Quartz Tube Candidate

Quartz Rod Candidate

Rod for plugs

I will try to edit this post with more links later. Last edit Monday 1-26-2015.

What is the calculated volume of the reactor, Brian? Or, what is the included length? Are you going for the same volume as AGP used?

Will you use a variac or a stove control? Avoiding rectification?

Quartz tube as in a tube furnace? Like this NMR tube?

Is the choice of tube related to your belief that magnetic fields are important to the phenomena?

5-15 micron powder

When I looked at the powders and found the one at your mentioned price, Brian, I was surprised that it was 100 mesh. This seems at odds with the powder size AGP clarified.

The link above seems closer to his chosen powder size.

Am I confused?

The internal volume will be on th eorder of 2ml.

I will use an uncontrolled variac 120 V AC

I am mounting the alumina tube inside a quartz tube and melting it closed with an acetylene torch. It will be hermetic, but capable of a large explosion.. I will do it inside an armored steel box of 1meter3 dimensions.

I think Magentism is important, but it is unrelated to using the quartz tube.

I do not understand the role of magnetism herein.

When do you anticipate starting the test and/or being able to report preliminary results?

Thanks for all your hard work and for taking the time to answer.

Ecco: see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_aluminium_hydride

"...

Thermal decomposition
LAH is metastable at room temperature. During prolonged storage it slowly decomposes to Li3AlH6 and LiH.[12] This process can be accelerated by the presence of catalytic elements, such as titanium, iron or vanadium.

When heated LAH decomposes in a three-step reaction mechanism:[12][13][14]

3 LiAlH4 → Li3AlH6 + 2 Al + 3 H2 (R1)2 Li3AlH6 → 6 LiH + 2 Al + 3 H2 (R2)2 LiH + 2 Al → 2 LiAl + H2 (R3)R1 is usually initiated by the melting of LAH in the temperature range 150–170 °C,[15][16][17] immediately followed by decomposition into solid Li3AlH6, although R1 is known to proceed below the melting point of LiAlH4 as well.[18] At about 200 °C, Li3AlH6 decomposes into LiH (R2)[12][14][17] and Al which subsequently convert into LiAl above 400 °C (R3).[14] Reaction R1 is effectively irreversible. R3 is reversible with an equilibrium pressure of about 0.25 bar at 500 °C. R1 and R2 can occur at room temperature with suitable catalysts.[19]

..."

According to an online calculator here: internal pressure stress calculator it appears if the LAH simply decomposes the quartz tube will burst.

The calculator disallows pressure above 100 psi (approximately 6.89 bar).

So either the hydrogen does something other than pressurizing the vessel, or it leaks out, thereby relieving pressure. Here I mean that in Parkhomov's apparatus either it leaks or it bursts or something else occurs. Since he stated he detected no leaks, and it did not burst, something needs investigating. Something we as yet do not understand.

On a chemistry forum I visit a poster theorized that a Rossi reactor got hot simply because monatomic hydrogen reacted with moisture in the air at the outer surface of the alumina as it leaked out. Long run times and small amounts of available hydrogen seem to rule this out, but for short runs calculations are essential. You might think steam would be easy to see outside the tube. Perhaps.

@brian ahern

Will you rely on the Quartz Tube alone to contain the reactor contents in the sense of this schematic drawing?

So the alumina tube is *not* sealed before placing it inside the quartz tube?

Notes to others viewing this image: The CAD drawing assumes a closed end alumina tube which is commonly sold. The left end of the schematic shows such a tube. The right end of the drawing depicts a cross-section of a melted quartz tube and an open end of an alumina tube. This drawing is proportional in the x-axis but truncated in the y-axis --- to better visualize the ends. I started with a tube length of eight inches and cut out a section in the middle to produce this drawing for convenient posting to this forum.

If Brian is using an open ended alumina tube, just imagine both ends are like the right hand end in the drawing.

Common knowledge, or common interpretation at this time is that the LAH must decompose, where it goes subsequently needs investigation.

You (and others looking to replicate) may try contacting this company
http://kanthal.com/en/products…wire-and-resistance-wire/

Kanthal and Alkrothal FeCrAl alloys*High-resistivity iron-chromium-aluminium alloys for use up to 1400ºC (2550ºF).

I suspect that to reach the phononic level required to run the reaction in the manor that the "dog bone" runs, may require temperatures even above this level. Note the outside temp of the Rossi device was 1200C.

brian ahern

I wonder Brian, if you have received a clarification about the ratio of nickel powder to LAH?

AGP wrote that one gram of nickel powder accompanied 10% LAH.

Does this make the total mass 1.10 grams? Or is it 0.90 grams of nickel and 0.10 grams of LAH?

For experimenters concerned about getting these tiny weights under control, please see my blog - http://ni.comli.com - where a homemade microgram balance makes measuring quick, easy, and cheap.

AGP emailed me:

"1.0 grams nickel plus 0.10 grams LAH. But the high accuracy of a ratio is hardly important."