me356: Reactor parameters [part 1]

    Thanks for the comments.


    I have really lot of ideas in my head. I am targetting the most simple solution that will just work. Not endlessly, but at least for few days.
    Obviously it is possible to get excess heat without any special material.


    Important is, that it is easily replicable and it can be built with low budget.


    As we can see in the latest Russian report, it can be made from a stainless steel tube and it can work probably well.
    It was also used by Rossi. Of course it is not ideal, but we have to determine its limitations.
    Hopefully tommorow I will find some time to do a tests.


    My idea is to create reactor, that you can built really quickly and should last for at least few tests and especially can be easily opened and then quickly sealed if needed - without tinkering with a cements, epoxy, etc. Now we are moving to better part of research, because we know at least basics about this thing so we can satisfy always basic requirements - for example a proper sealing that will work always.


    Also I want to improve fuel loading process so it is as safe as possible yet with the good results.

    • Official Post

    @me356


    Louis DeCharios news could be most interesting for you! You should read it.


    "We have run materials simulations (also known as Density Functional Theory simulations) on our best guess of Rossi’s alloy material. It satisfies all the conditions given above, while pure Nickel does not."


    "Hopefully, we will be able to get all the details of this material released for publication to the general public over the next few weeks."


    It seems like instead of pure Nickel only certain alloys of Nickel and other elements act as LENR catalysts.


    From the Lugano report, we know that Rossi preprocessed 5 micron COTS nickel particles with lithium to produce 100 micron sintered nickel particles whose surface was coated with lithium. The surface of these 100 micron fuel particles were processed to form a lithium nickel alloy that completely saturated the surface of the nickel with lithium. Because of saturation, when the LNH decomposed during the test run, no additional lithium alloying occurred.

    Today I have tested new reactor made from a stainless steel that is made from two tubes. One as body and second as a fuel container. Fuel container can be replaced by any other fuel capsule.
    Important is, that at the end of main SS tube, temperature is only around 50°C while at the center there is 850°C. This mean I can connect manometer without any problem, body is pretty rigid and should handle a lot of cycles.


    We will see how lithium inside will behave, but even it will penetrate it, it is not a problem as the capsule is not touching main tube.
    Also heat transfer is faster to the fuel then with alumina, so it may be good solution for temperatures under 900°C.


    SS tube will handle much higher pressures, so I am very curios about tests with Lithium.
    I will also try pure iron tubes as fuel container. These are very cheap so later I can load for example 10 tubes.


    Good thing is, that the design can be used for calorimetry/heating system very well as the fuel container can be hermetically closed while water can flow directly around it.


    Temperatures under 800°C are enough for LiH composition and decomposition and very likely for getting excess heat as well.

    Fuel container is separate and is closed with two bolts.
    Reactor tube is 29cm long, 10mm OD, 8mm ID.
    Fuel container is 8cm long, 6mm OD, 4mm ID.
    At one end manometer is connected.


    Stainless steel has relatively low thermal conductivity. Actually it is lower than Alumina in low temperatures, but increases slightly with higher temperature.
    The design can be still very similar to Parkhomov, but because SS is strong enough, you can use thicker tube thus more space inside for the fuel and other stuff.
    For the fuel any kind of container can be used, but sealing can be done just in the main tube.


    I use Swagelok fittings which are just perfect for SS.

    I read that carbon is corroded by lithium, but as always the devil is in the details.


    http://www.sciencedirect.com/s…cle/pii/S0008622313009998


    Quote:


    " Microstructural analysis of the samples revealed the poor corrosion resistance of high density and low density graphite and severe attack was observed at several places on the surface. On the other hand, glassy carbon and pyrolytic graphite were relatively inert, while pyrolytic graphite showed the best corrosion resistance"


    pyrolytic graphite is deposited using high temperature disposition of a hydrocarbon gas on a substrate.


    http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/607829.pdf


    THE DEPOSITION OF PYROLYTIC GRAPHITE


    Candle soot is pyrolytic graphite


    http://phys.org/news/2015-10-c…thium-batteries.html#nRlv


    New research shows candle soot can power the lithium batteries in electric cars


    The soot from candles will repel just about any liquid. It will be used in lithium car batteries to protect the anode from lithium corrosion.


    It might be worth an experiment fo see if candle soot can protect and preserve lithium from depletion due to combining with the materials used inside the LENR reactor.


    There was a great deal of carbon in the fuel mix in the Lagano test. Was it soot?

    • Official Post

    Hello @David Fojt
    Please, feel free to start your own thread where you tell more about your setup, we have a category for replication and many of us are curious.



    Quote from David Fojt

    @me356
    i'm going to replicate alose; my main idea has always beeb as Rossi to use SS.
    I'm agree it's easier for a lot things..i think it's similar or little better for conductivity than alumina, better is nickel container as Shongseng.
    About my understanding, your fuel container is:8cm long, 6mm OD, 4mm ID how do you close it , also by bolts ? no alumina rods inside ?

    I've been thinking a bit about the role of Lithium in these experiments in light of AlanG's findings and existing information in the literature that it can corrode nickel metal severely (see his comment on ECW).



    I believe that in addition of having the role of a quickly reversible hydride and possibly lowering the surface work function of existing potentially active particles in the reaction environment, it might have the same penetrating role of hydrogen in the case of Palladium cathodes in Pd-D experiments.


    Palladium metal is sort of special in that in can absorb about 900 times its own volume of hydrogen [source]. This can extensive alter its lattice and eventually form the proper nanovacancies needed for excess heat to be able to appear (whatever its true nature).


    Nickel on the other hand, although will slowly deteriorate and embrittle over long term hydrogen exposure, can't absorb much hydrogen. It's thus expected that unless further treatment is performed, much time would be required for this process to spontaneously occur.


    What if Lithium, as a penetrating corrosive agent (especially in the case of Nickel), is accelerating the embrittlement/corrosion process so that eventually, yet at a quicker rate than normal, the right nanoscale structures can appear on the metal?

    @Ecco


    You said:


    "What if Lithium, as a penetrating corrosive agent (especially in the case of Nickel), is accelerating the embrittlement/corrosion process so that eventually, yet at a quicker rate than normal, the right nanoscale structures can appear on the metal?"


    This is a good observation. This fits in with the fuel preprocessing that Rossi has done as seen in the Lugano test. The 100 micron nickel particle that the preprocess method produces is covered with lithium throughout its entire surface area. During preprocessing, the application of lithium at high temperatures might erode the surface of the nickel particle(S) to form nanocavities as happens in palladium at high hydrogen loading levels. Maybe the crack idea of Ed Storms holds merit.


    Parkhomov uses a low quality powder with lots of carbon on the surface. Lithium processing might erode that carbon and leave nano cavities on the surface of the nickel powder as occurs in palladium at high hydrogen loading. Maybe the Russian nickel powder is good because it is so poor in production. A powder with abundant carbon content might be the best type of powder to use.


    Furthermore, the surface of the nickel powder becomes saturated with lithium to the point where lithium is no longer consumed in nickel alloying. When the reaction begins with LAH, lithium is no longer consumed and remains free and available for the LENR reaction to use.


    Another thing that could be happening in the high carbon surface preprocessing of Russian nickel powder is that lithium carbide is formed on the surface of the powder. This lithium compound might produce both lithium and hydrogen Rydberg matter during the reaction stage through a desorption process at the surface of the particle right where the rydberg matter is most needed.


    However the particle preprocessing step can produce 1 nanometer cavities on the surface of the nickel particles as exists in iron oxide(rust) is good.


    Mizono uses an arc discharge to pit his substrate.


    http://lenr-canr.org/acrobat/MizunoTmethodofco.pdf


    Page 14 shows what nickel looks like after Mizono preprocesses his nickel or palladium surface with arc discharge. A rough and pitted surface is best in a catalyst.

    I have tested the reactor and it holds quite well.
    But it seems that I am still missing something, because LiH decomposition is very hard after it happens for the first time.


    It looks like hydrogen can be released even in very low temperatures very quickly. Today I have achieved hydrogen release of 2 Bars just by little bit faster temperature transition from 430°C to 480°C (in few seconds). But then it was not possible again.
    It is very good, that even at such temperatures it is possible to change the pressure abnormally.


    Stainless steel container survived, but lithium was glued to it so it can't be used again - this was probably caused by using higher temperatures. I think that decomposition was not possible anymore, because Lithium blocked the path and sealed the fuel container.
    Lithium moved from the center of the tube to the one side where the container was open so that hydrogen can escape.
    It found the path probably during fast pressure increase and then it was end.

    Thanks for the tip. I will try it next time.


    In my another reactor with the heater inside I also plan to replace the nickel with palladium.
    This could be very interesting. The only problem is price. I have already ordered Palladium wire, so hopefully in 2 weeks it could arrive.
    I will also play with Titanium Hydride soon.

    @axil: apparently - although for different reasons - some amount of carbon is also needed on the surface of K/Fe2O3 catalysts (as used by Holmlid) for them to properly work, so you might have a point on russian Ni powder relatively being rich in carbon possibly having a role in this. Having small clusters of carbon on the surface reportedly enhances the capability of the material of desorbing atomic hydrogen from it.


    Also see the analysis of Parkhomov's Ni powder from Kiva Labs (Edmund Storms) here - 6% carbon by weight was seen on the analyzed surface. Holmlid solves this issue by applying a layer of colloidal graphite on the catalyst ("emitter") before running his experiments: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquadag . Perhaps it could be used in these Rossi replications as well.


    Quote from axil

    Try to coat your SS surface with a layer of soot from a candle. Lithium might not penetrate the soot because soot repels liquids of all sorts.


    See my post above on this thread on THE DEPOSITION OF PYROLYTIC GRAPHITE.


    I think heating a hydrocarbon gas such as methane as suggested in the paper might be a more efficient idea than using soot from a candle. Thermal decomposition of the gas above 500-600°C will cause carbon deposits, provided that the initial atmosphere is oxygen-free. Pyrolysis of light hydrocarbons is often employed for the synthesis of filamentous carbon (nanotubes), by the way.


    Quote from me356

    In my another reactor with the heater inside I also plan to replace the nickel with palladium.
    This could be very interesting. The only problem is price. I have already ordered Palladium wire, so hopefully in 2 weeks it could arrive.
    I will also play with Titanium Hydride soon.


    If you are attempting to tackle this the "loading way" it might indeed be more interesting than with pure nickel. You would have to take into account that more hydrogen in the system will be needed.


    I still don't think this is the best approach, though.

    Thanks for the info.


    My latest experiments have shown that in the fuel container small "explosions" are happening during impulsive hydrogen release.
    It look like that the system might operate very well in temperature range of around 180 - 600°C with pure lithium inside.


    But there is a big problem, that during the event of very fast hydrogen release, lithium is blasted from the container in the way where the hydrogen escape.
    If the lithium is not in contact with the fuel, it again mean that this process may not be possible anymore.


    Because of the movement of lithium (and rest of the fuel) the reactor design must be different.
    This phenomenon has to be taken into account so the lithium and rest of the fuel can't escape from the reaction chamber.
    In my case this is happening always so the lithium moves to the colder places when the heater is not present.
    So the lithium becomes inactive.


    It looks like the whole free volume in the reactor must be considered as active and heated as well.
    If not, then sooner or later fuel will escape.


    Because of this, usage of a manometer is more complicated, because you can't heat it.


    As solution it will be necessary to create much better fuel container or to close fuel container hermetically so nothing can't escape.
    This leads to a problem, that you can't use manometer anymore, but everything will stay in the reaction chamber in place.


    It is extremely interesting what is happening inside, Lithium helps Nickel a lot so it can absorb and release big amounts of hydrogen.
    These pressure changes might cause even reactor explosion, so you should be very carefull even you can see very low pressures.

    • Official Post

    @me356 has started it's next experiment in collaboration with MFMP:


    http://lenr-experiment.tk/



    Our Live Chat is open!

    What happens from 2015-10-11 at 13:06 to 13:10 ?
    Is it really an excess heat after several hours of maturation of the powder ?
    Only at 400 °C a slope of temperature of + 15 °C along 6 minutes, without any change in the driving of the experiment !
    After, me356 tries and really can drive and stop the excess heat.
    That is a good result.


    Thanks me356.

Subscribe to our newsletter

It's sent once a month, you can unsubscribe at anytime!

View archive of previous newsletters

* indicates required

Your email address will be used to send you email newsletters only. See our Privacy Policy for more information.

Our Partners

Supporting researchers for over 20 years
Want to Advertise or Sponsor LENR Forum?
CLICK HERE to contact us.