Testing Edmund Storms Hydroton theory

From exchanges on CMNS, Peter Gluck reports the announce by Edmund Storms of his project to test his theory experimentally :

Quote from Edmund Storms

To interested colleagues,

I'm starting a relatively rare kind of project for this field. I have designed and built a Seebeck type calorimeter for the purpose of testing a theory, in this case my theory. First, an attempt will be made to achieve reproducible heat production by applying my theory to the treatment of palladium-based samples. The treatment will be designed to create cracks in which I propose the LENR process takes place. Once an active sample is obtained, it will be studied as the cathode in an electrolytic cell placed in a calorimeter. A variety of behaviors will be explored including loading behavior, emission of photon radiation, effect of temperature on energy production, and the effect of laser light. The cathode can be rotated with respect to the GM detector and the laser to determine whether the angle of emitted or applied radiation relative to the surface is important.

Based on my theory, I predict that all occasions when LENR is observed, the same mechanism is operating. Therefore, information obtained using PdD would apply to all other materials and isotopes of hydrogen found to produce the same phenomenon. The electrolytic method is chosen for this study because it is the most explored and best understood of the various methods known to initiate LENR. Nevertheless, the calorimeter would permit use of any other methods for initiating the effect, but on a small scale. The size of the sample is not important as long as accuracy of the measurement is sufficient large. The calorimeter used here is designed to have very high accuracy, which will be demonstrated in due course.

The following predictions will be explored:

1. The hydrogen isotope composition achieved by the material only affects the rate of the reaction by affecting the availability of hydrogen to the NAE, with a significant rate being possible at low compositions when the amount of NAE is sufficiently large.
2. The rate of the LENR reaction is affected by temperature only as result of how it effects the diffusion rate of hydrogen through the material.
3. Photon radiation will be emitted when LENR occurs, with a particular relationship between the angle between the surface and the detector.
4. The rate of the LENR reaction already underway can be increased by application of laser light, with an increased reaction rate as the energy of the light is increased. An enhanced effect can be expected when the frequency matches the dimension of an active crack.
5. Generation of excess energy does not require extended electrolysis when the NAE is created in advance.

The results of this study will be submitted to this discussion group periodically. I do this to both educate as as to help me assemble my own thoughts about what I find. Because this work is self-funded, I'm not restrained by a funder who is only interested in making money from the work. Nevertheless, if this work is successful in achieving the stated goals, I would hope to receive significant support to explore the phenomenon in more detail. Also, these reports will make replication easier if someone were so inclined.

To start the process, a description of the apparatus is attached. This report describes the construction and physical layout of the calorimeter. The next report will describe the calibration and the general behavior of the tool, followed by studies of various behaviors of PdD. Because only one person is involved in all aspects of this study -a person has to eat, sleep, and have a life- I will not have time to answer many questions. Hopefully the reports will contain enough detail to make the results understandable.
I hope you will find this effort interesting and useful.
Ed Storms
The description of the calorimeter is attached. We will create a link to it.

Display More

Positive or negative, the result will make LENR theory advance.

as far as I know his organization is
"LENRGY, LLC, Santa Fe, NM, USA,"

LLC probably mean commercial (I'm not a US lawyer).

On the site dedicated to his latest book "LENR Explained" about his theory, Edmund Storms publish this announce with a progress report.

Currently it describe the experimental setup (electrochemical cell in a seebeck calorimeter).
Pictures are missing in the report, but this one in the article give you vision of the setup.

Edmund Storms just said that The calibration of his seebeck calorimeter is done.

Quote

A Seebeck calorimeter uses thermoelectric converters (TEC) to create a voltage proportional to the rate at which heat energy leaves the calorimeter. The present design consists of a water-cooled aluminum box with TEC covering the inside of each surface. Consequently, the amount of heat energy leaving the box is measured regardless of where this loss takes place. A calibration using a known source of heat energy is required to calibrate the device.

If I understand well, it will be able to detect excess heat above 50mW.

Quote

Two different types of uncertainty affect the values of excess power. Accuracy of the absolute value of excess power depends on the care used in measuring the power applied to the calorimeter as current and voltage and the care used in achieving a calibration equation largely independent of random variations in the Seebeck voltage. The second more common uncertainty is created by changes in the reference temperature that cause random fluctuations in the Seebeck voltage. The set value of the reference temperature is not important; only its variation with time has a noticeable effect. These variations create an error band that is most noticeable at low excess power. Both of these potential errors can be evaluated by applying the chosen calibration equation to an electrolytic cell known not to produce any excess. The apparent excess power is shown in Fig. 7 as a function of time after various values of current are applied to the electrolytic cell. The cell takes about 40 minutes to reach equilibrium and maintains a value within about 50 mW of zero excess energy, which is the magnitude of the random uncertainty. Based on this behavior, a claim for excess energy requires an apparent excess energy greater than 50 mW and all individual values for excess energy can be considered uncertain by ±50 mW. A large part of this uncertainty results from random temperature changes in the flowing water used to produce the reference temperature and changes in room temperature.

It is calibrated through either an electrolytic cell, a resistor in the cell, or quartz light tubes.

Quote

Two different methods are used to apply known heat energy, with several variations involving the electrolytic cell or resistors external to the cell. Electric power can be supplied to the electrolytic cell containing a platinum cathode, which is presumed to produce no excess energy. Or electric power can be applied to a glass covered internal resistor located in the electrolyte, as can be seen in Fig. 1.
The electrolytic cell can be removed and two quartz light bulbs (12 V, 50 watt) can be substituted for the resistive load provided by the electrolytic cell and the internal resistor, as shown in Fig. 2. These sources of heat are totally independent of the electrolytic cell and any chemical reaction that might take place therein. In addition, their use allows the calibration to be extended to higher power than the electrolytic cell permits because boiling of the electrolyte limits the maximum power.

The apparatus is designed to apply power to the internal resistor during electrolysis for the purpose of changing the cathode temperature without changing the current applied to the cathode. This applied power must have the same effect on the Seebeck voltage as do the other sources of applied power, hence requires calibration. The circuit used to switch power to the internal resistor from a separate power supply can be seen in Fig. 3.

Some isoperibolic calorimetry method in the electrolytic cell will be able to confirm the seebeck measurement, but will be less precise.

Quote

When the electrolytic cell is used, another method to measure excess energy becomes available. The difference in temperature between the electrolyte and the surrounding air in the Seebeck box can be used as an isoperibolic calorimeter to obtain a rough measure of power being generated in the cell. Figure 6 shows the relationship between this temperature difference and power applied to the electrolytic cell when using a platinum cathode. Because temperature gradients exist in the electrolyte, this method is suitable only to verify excess energy is being generated as indicated more accurately by the Seebeck method.

Edmund Storms allowed me to publish it here (it will be published too on lenrexplained).
PROGRESS REPORT #2.pdf

Competent people will sure appreciate more.

to appreciate what he have done, some may love to read this student guide to cold fusion :
http://lenr-canr.org/acrobat/StormsEastudentsg.pdf

or his big book
http://www.amazon.com/Science-…mprehensive/dp/9812706208

by the way it may give ideas to replicators... (power and temperature are not the same, but...)

The progress report is published on lenrexplained
http://lenrexplained.com/2015/08/progress-report-2/

nice photo of the cell and calorimeter

Quote

This report describes how a Seebeck calorimeter is calibrated in order to measure the amount of excess power produced by a cathode in an electrolytic cell contained in the calorimeter and the expected uncertainty in this value.

PROGRESS-REPORT-2 (3.5Mb)

A Seebeck calorimeter uses thermoelectric converters (TEC) to create a voltage proportional to the rate at which heat energy leaves the calorimeter. The present design consists of a water-cooled aluminum box with TEC covering the inside of each surface.

Consequently, the amount of heat energy leaving the box is measured regardless of where this loss takes place. A calibration using a known source of heat energy is required to calibrate the device.

Two different methods are used to apply known heat energy, with several variations involving the electrolytic cell or resistors external to the cell. Electric power can be supplied to the electrolytic cell containing a platinum cathode, which is presumed to produce no excess energy. Or electric power can be applied to a glass covered internal resistor located in the electrolyte, as can be seen in Fig. 1.

FIGURE 1. Pyrex electrolytic cell. The electrolytic cell consists of a cathode and anode and the internal resistor consists of a coil of nichrom wire immersed in oil contained in a thin wall Pyrex tube.

FIGURE 2. Picture of the two small quartz light bulbs used for calibration. One is connected to the circuit providing power to the anode and cathode and the other is connected to the circuit supplying power to the resistor contained in the Pyrex cell, which is removed for this test.

Read more in PROGRESS-REPORT-2 (3.5Mb)

Display More

Edmund Storms will publish soon a 3rd progress report on LENRexplained.com

He observed and corrected a calorimeter drift, caused by "curing". It was observed during a routine recalibration. (NB: I see here the fruit of a long experience, I take lessons).
He also worked on PdAg alloy preparation which is not easy (need H2 O2 flame), the activation of the surface (need avoid Cl contamination) and measurement of composition by EDX...

Peter Gluck report more informations from exchange with edmund Storms
http://egooutpeters.blogspot.f…-booksnot-elegy-plus.html

Quote from "Peter Gluck"

PROGRESS REPORT #3.pdf

I have asked Ed for some details and here is his answer (thanks for the permission to share them with the readers):

The report #3 is published on lenrexplained
http://lenrexplained.com/2015/08/progress-report-3/

Quote

1. Calorimeter drift: The calibration of the calorimeter has been found to have changed, probably because the epoxy used to attach the TEC to the aluminum box has cured and now has a slightly different thermal conductivity. This change resulted in what appeared to be excess power being generated by the samples being studied. A routine test of the calorimeter using an inert platinum cathode revealed this change and the resulting error.

This test also revealed an error caused by the rapid variations in cell voltage caused by bubble formation that is not present when a resistor is used to apply energy to the calorimeter. This error was eliminated by inserting a 10,000 mfd capacitor in the voltage circuit to smooth the variations and by increasing the number of measurements that are averaged. These changes produce agreement between the power applied to the electrolytic cell and power applied to a resistor to within 0.02 watt over the range of applied power (0-34 watts) used in this study.

The resulting calibration values are plotted in Fig. 1, to which a quadratic equation is fit.

Display More

Quote

Preparation of samples: The samples are prepared by melting together Pd and Ag using a flame. The initial flame used LP gas and oxygen, which placed significant carbon in the material and caused many blisters to form on the surface after reaction with deuterium. These blisters interfere with making an accurate measurement of thickness.

Fig. 2 shows a large blister on a typical sample. Many of the blisters were too small to detect by eye. In addition, the flame was not hot enough to fully melt the entire sample, leaving an unmelted region where the sample contacted the graphite sheet on which it rested. Consequently, a uniform composition of silver was difficult to achieve.

...

Edmund storms continue his work, and will publish the 4th progress report on lenrexplained.com soon.

He explore the behavior of various PdAg alloys, expansion, loading, Open Circuit Voltage (an indicator of surface state, loading...).

Great job from my point of view... To understand what he does, reading his first book "the science of LENr" is useful.

Here the article about this 4th progress report, on LENR explained :
http://lenrexplained.com/2015/…t-of-important-variables/

the report is there as PDF:
http://lenrexplained.com/wp-co…/08/PROGRESS-REPORT-4.pdf

Quote

The various novel features of the calorimeter are explored in this Progress Report.

These features included measurement of OCV, loading behavior, the effect of temperature on the various behaviors, and the behavior of volume expansion resulting from repeated loading and deloading.

A number of Pd-Ag compositions have been made and subjected to treatments and measurements considered important to this study. These treatments include measurement of the sample volume during various stages in its treatment and subjecting the sample to various methods to improve its reaction with hydrogen.

The relationship between each of these variables and production of excess energy will be established in order to improve the reproducibility of producing this extra energy. The initial results from the study of each of these variables are described and discussed below.

...

Display More

Edmund storms publish on LENRExplained a 5th progress report.
this time ther is some apparent anomalous heat.
The work, as usual for Ed Storms is very cautious, and precision is great compared to the signal observed.

http://lenrexplained.com/2015/09/progress-report-5/
http://lenrexplained.com/wp-co…/09/PROGRESS-REPORT-5.pdf

Quote

Production of excess energy is once again claimed, but this time it is correlated with radiation being generated by the energy-producing process. This correlation is new and provides powerful evidence for the excess energy being real and being caused by a nuclear reaction.

The composition of the PdD is not the most important variable in determining whether excess power will be produced. This study shows that temperature is one of the most important variables, which according to my theory affects the rate at which the D can diffuse to the NAE where the nuclear reaction takes place.

Of course, the NAE must be first created before any excess power will be produced regardless of the temperature. Temperature alone does not create the NAE nor does the composition alone create the NAE.

The ultimate challenge is to discover exactly what does cause the NAE to form. That is the goal of this study.

Display More

The result are signigicant.

For me the best result, is not the excess heat (+360mW compared to +/-20mW, about 9 sigma ) but correlation of heat with mesured radiation.It is well described in section 2, page 4

Quote from Edmund Storms

In this study, a large GM detector is placed within 2 cm of the cell wall and the detected radiation is required to pass through about 1 cm of electrolyte and through 1 mm of Pyrex. A photograph of the arrangement is shown as Fig. 3 in Report #1. The surface of the cathode is parallel to the surface of the GM detector. The normal flux in the absence of any radiation generated by the electrolytic cell is about 70 c/s. A similar GM detector is located about 3 meters from the cell outside of the calorimeter and is used to detect changes in background radiation. No changed in background radiation flux is observed during these studies.

...

Although the measured radiation flux is small, it correlates with the amount of power produced. The detected radiation is expected to be a small fraction of that being generated at the cathode and would consist mainly of the high-energy tail. Having samples able to generate more excess power will make possible measurement of the energy. Now that radiation can be detected, use of cells having a thin window is encouraged in order to increase the amount detected. This study will be continued in the future.

another result is the evidence that the local temperature is a key parameter, compared to current density.

Quote from Edmund Storms

The previous interpretation of how applied current affects power production is wrong. The important variable is actually the temperature change caused by the applied current. The composition at the surface produced by the current is apparently not important. Instead, small changes in temperature determine how much power can be produced by the nuclear reaction, which is an amazing realization. Now theory must explain how this effect is possible. Consequently, this behavior has important implications to the creation of an explanation for the LENR process. At the very least any theory proposing to cause LENR at low temperature can be rejected. Now that temperature is found to be the important variable for creating excess energy, use of high-applied current in future studies is no longer required. Several advantages become apparent. Use of a low-applied current will reduce the amount of impurity deposited on the surface and the tendency for the cell to explode when the recombiner fails will be reduced.

in the future he plan to test the effect of Laser light, like other did (Dennis letts ,...)..

Jed Rothwell publish a page on this experiment,
http://lenr-canr.org/wordpress/?p=1714

There is a sub-blog on lenrexplained.com :
http://lenrexplained.com/tag/progress-report/

note that the report have been corrected.
http://lenrexplained.com/wp-co…SS-REPORT-5-corrected.pdf
I remember that there was an error in the count of radiation, in cpm, not cps (per minute, not per second).

Edmund Storms will publish soon a 6th report, which mostly continue like 5th.

One goal was to study the method to make the palladium active.

The calorimeter behave well and suffer from no drift.

It seems the radiation observed (report 5) is (mostly) an artifact, linked to temperature.

Here is the article on Cold Fusion Now

Quote from Cold Fusion Now

This report extends the insights described in Report #5 and shows that several common conclusions about LENR are wrong. These errors have handicapped efforts to achieve reproducibility and have lead several theories in the wrong direction.

PROGRESS-REPORT-6 Additional behavior of pure PdD (1.3Mb)

Temperature plays a significant role in affecting the amount of power produced by LENR. The activation energy for power production is very similar to the activation energy for diffusion of D in PdD. This behavior is consistent with my theory in which temperature is described as helping D reach the NAE by diffusion through the surrounding lattice.

Edmund Storms publish his conclusion, that temperature is the main driving factor.

Quote

...

• The LENR process is not initiated when a sample of Pd is initially loaded to high composition. Additional treatment is required to cause the LENR process to start. Once this additional treatment is successful, LENR will take place over a very wide range of deuterium concentration, even after all D is removed and the sample is again reacted with D.
• Only certain batches of Pd can be activated. One of the requirements for successful activation is lack of significant excess volume formation when the Pd is reacted with D.
• Excess power produced by an activated sample is very reproducible once it is initiated as long as the surface is not removed. This behavior is consistent with the surface being the location of the nuclear reaction based on the behavior of helium release.
• Once the LENR process starts, the amount of current applied as electrolytic current has no effect on the amount of excess power produced. Only the temperature of the active surface has any effect on excess power production, with higher temperatures producing greater excess power. We can assume that once a sample is activated, simply exposing it to D2 gas and heating it would cause excess power production. In other words once the sample of Pd is activated, use of electrolysis is no longer necessary.
• The activation energy for excess power production based on the temperature effect is similar to the value for the activation energy for diffusion of D in PdD. We can assume excess power production is controlled by how fast the D can diffuse from the surrounding lattice to the NAE where the nuclear reaction occurs.
• So called life-after-death will result in eventual destruction of the sample if the temperature is not controlled, as some people have observed. In other words, the system suffers from positive feedback as Rossi has also experienced using the Ni-H2 system. This positive feed back is generally not observed because the amount of power produced relative to the rate at which it can be lost is small.
• Once the role of electrolytic current is understood, the F-P method can be seen to have the same basic behavior as all methods found to initiate LENR, including the Ni-H2 system. In other words, no reasons exists based on observed behavior to consider the Pd-D2 system different from the Ni-H2 system. Only the reacting isotopes are different which naturally would produce different nuclear products.

...