Rossi's 2009 TOF-SIMS analyses digitized (+ theory speculation)

Hello everybody,
You might have noticed I've recently deleted most of my comments. I won't elaborate on that except by saying that I'm sorry for any problem caused and the lost content.

In an attempt to restore some faith on my mental faculties and bring back from the ashes some of the lost information, I decided to post here something special.

Does anybody remember the seemingly indecipherable fuel analysis posted on New Energy Times much time ago here?
http://newenergytimes.com/v2/n…1/37/3726appendixd4.shtml

Thanks to an extremely useful plot digitizing web application (here: http://arohatgi.info/WebPlotDigitizer/app/ ) I've been able to convert these into actual values. I already did something similar in the past, but with this I managed to do it again in very little time and with more accuracy. I've attached a CSV file containing the data in this post:

EDIT: improved version here:
https://drive.google.com/file/…9g5EndG9PX1dqbjZ0WEE/view

The end result will probably be surprising to many. The powders analyzed at that time didn't seem to contain much Nickel at all, except for some traces of it:

(made with the help of http://www.ciaaw.org/isotopic-abundances.htm )

The fuel content showed is consistent with some sort of iron-based Fischer-Tropsch catalyst being used. Fischer-Tropsch catalysts are very good at splitting hydrogen and generally have a significant alkali content. The iron -potassium oxide catalyst used by Leif Holmlid in his Rydberg Matter/Ultra-dense deuterium research is also a Fischer-Tropsch catalyst. These catalysts are also called styrene catalysts, ethylbenzene catalysts, dehydrogenation catalysts, and so on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F…80%93Tropsch_process#Iron

Quote

Fischer Tropsch iron catalysts need alkali promotion to attain high activity and stability (e.g. 0.5 wt.% K2O). Addition of Cu for reduction promotion, addition of SiO2, Al2O3 for structural promotion and maybe some Manganese (Mn) can be applied for selectivity control (e.g. high olefinicity). The working catalyst is only obtained when—after reduction with hydrogen—in the initial period of synthesis several iron carbide phases and elemental carbon are formed whereas iron oxides are still present in addition to some metallic iron.

Sodium (Na) can be used too: http://www.sciencedirect.com/s…cle/pii/S0926860X15300260
In the fuel on these analyses it might have either been used as a replacement for potassium or as a reversible hydrogen getter like lithium in later E-Cat models.

The "after" fuel might have not necessarily been what was claimed. It was probably a different fuel salted with copper, although to be fair copper can be also used in limited quantities in F-T catalysts to enhance their hydrogen dissociation properties.

The bottom line is that Rossi probably didn't use nickel at all in his first E-Cat experiments.

@axil

I didn't know that the oil industry has had overheating problems in certain processes in the past, but I do know that potassium/iron-oxide based catalysts are commonly used in the field for a large number of reactions and refining processes. Rossi very likely had experience with them in the past especially with his Petroldragon and biodiesel refining businesses. The "secret catalyst" whose function was to efficiently split hydrogen (according to Sergio Focardi) was most certainly a variant of these iron oxide catalysts. It's likely that not much else is needed for the effect as Leif Holmlid also shows; what I mean here is that Nickel is probably redundant and has been a red herring all along in Rossi's case (although efficient hydrogen-splitting catalysts can be made with Nickel as well).

The way iron oxide catalysts are prepared causes them to develop a large number of nano-vacancies which should be as effective as the nanoparticles you often mention. This is also in part the reason why they work so well as catalysts.

I suppose that in the case of Nickel one could use some variation of Raney or Urushibara Nickel, which both have catalytic/nano-vacancy properties.

With plain Nickel powder it is probably a matter of luck as it has limited catalytic/hydrogen splitting properties. Hydride-forming transition metals cause hydrogen molecules to split upon adsorption, and a surface free of impurities increases this capability. Performing deep vacuum cycles like Piantelli recommends should increase this property, but this alone might not be enough. Hydrogen atoms need to actively desorb from the active material's surface (hence the need for an active flux of hydrogen on/through the material), and said surface should have a low work function, which is promoted by the addition of alkali or earth alkaline metals... or again sheer luck inducing proper surface conditions over time.

Quote from I Inventzilla

What info did ecco delete? I'd like see it if its been restored.Why did he do it was he pissed off about something?

Most of what I previously posted here and much of what I did in other venues. I had my own reasons for doing so which I'm not willing to disclose, but it's not like I was pissed off about something or someone. Either way, that might have admittedly not been a very wise thing to do. It's not been restored and it most probably won't.

I'll try reposting in the coming weeks the most relevant info I've previously written in a more condensed/refined form.
These 2009 Rossi analyses (which I never previously posted on LENR-Forum) and some of what I've written today in reply to axil here and others in different threads are part of that deleted info.

@Gerard McEk : Thanks.

@Chuck: in this case iron (together with other elements and in a certain form) is literally the catalyst. It should not be consumed in the process (although it might deteriorate over time) and is according to my interpretation (actually, Leif Holmlid's) needed to generate Rydberg Matter hydrogen when atomic hydrogen desorbs from it, as research by Leif Holmlid and colleagues shows, if you've followed recent news. Holmlid simply uses an iron-potassium oxide catalyst and deuterium gas flowing through it. Activation in his case is performed with a laser, but other methods could be used.

Hints from many sources have been pointing all along that they key for obtaining excess heat (whether you believe that Rydberg Matter is involved or not) is, simply put, generating as much atomic hydrogen as possible. In the early days of the E-Cat saga (2011-2012) it was often mentioned that Rossi used certain undisclosed catalysts to make this task much easier and obtain kilowatts instead of milliwatts-watts of heat. It turns out it was indeed the case. The active material, at least from these analyses, is a hydrogen splitting/dehydrogenation catalyst commonly used in the oil industry. The exotic form of atomic hydrogen produced under specific conditions (which might include a good starting vacuum, controlled and cyclic hydrogen flux on the catalyst, purity of internal gases, specific triggering steps) is what causes LENR and ultimately excess heat.

As a side note, Rossi's Fluid Heater patent also mentions that nickel is the catalyst. By the wording and the steps involved it's hinted that it's not just plain nickel powder, but some sort of processed catalytic nickel powder such as Raney Nickel or Urushibara Nickel. Patent attorney David French from ColdFusionNow also somewhat agrees with this interpretation. Catalytic Ni powder would be better suited at splitting hydrogen than ordinary Ni powder.

@Chuck: I'm not an expert either, I'm just collating the information I've been finding so far. I believe we are closer to that goal, or at least to a better understanding. In my non-expert opinion, LENR is a catalytic, surface phenomenon which can occur when atomic hydrogen desorbs from the active material, not when is ad/absorbed as commonly thought. A nanostructured catalytic material with a low surface work function is preferably needed. Potassium-promoted iron oxide catalysts such as the ones highlighted in this thread seem to be ideal, but different ones could be used as well. Alkali (potassium/potassium oxide in this case) promotion enhances catalytic activity and is most likely also instrumental in decreasing the work function of the material's surface.

@LENR Calender: actually it's almost 6 years old data!

@axil: I think it's best to leave Lugano alone for now. I believe at some point we will find out that it worked in a completely different way than previously thought, like for example that the active material was the ceramic tube itself (à la Nernst Lamp) and not the powder contained inside of it.

@axil: I'm not saying that the ash has been planted. If the tube walls/the inner surfaces of the ceramic tube are producing Rydberg Matter hydrogen/ultra-dense hydrogen, it can also be expected that the contents of the tube will react with it.

More generally speaking, I'm saying that it's probably best to not read the Lugano report too literally. For example Lithium/LAH will react completely with the alumina as replicators found out after much time and countless efforts, yet according to the report apparently this was perfectly fine in the Lugano reactor. At the very least this means there is more than meets the eye.

Nobody ever said before that Rossi at some point used a Fischer-Tropsch iron dehydrogenation catalyst with no nickel either. Rossi actually told Krivit that the analyses were supposed to show changes in Nickel isotope distribution and copper transmutation.

I'm currently in the process of assembling in a single coherent document most of the information and comments written in this thread and related ones elsewhere (included those I unfortunately deleted). It's not really a scientific paper, but it proposes a hopefully easily testable hypothesis for excess heat production and anomalous radiation emission. Would this abstract make sense to any of you?

Quote

ABSTRACT: Indications are that Andrea Rossi used a Fischer-Tropsch iron oxide catalyst as a “fuel” in early E-Cat experiments. Regardless of this being true or not, reports of anomalous thermal events from hydrogenation beds in the oil industry and hints from various experiments and observations by independent researchers give support to the hypothesis that LENR effects can arise when atomic hydrogen recombines after desorption from efficient dehydrogenation catalysts like those used in oil refining processes. The electronic configuration of the surface of these catalysts probably interferes with the recombination process and eventually causes compact hydrogen species to form (i.e. Rydberg Matter), which can spontaneously engage in nuclear reactions.

@goax: thanks to you but please don't expect a scientific treatise on why LENR occurs. It's really just putting the dots together using existing information.

As for Rossi's analyses the point is that even if they have been completely made up, using a commercially available Fischer-Tropsch iron catalyst would be consistent with the initial claims of using some sort of compound able to readily split molecular hydrogen, more than just plain nickel powder. Even Francesco Celani's nanostructured Constantan wire efforts have been mainly towards achieving that goal (Ni-Cu alloys apparently have good hydrogen dissociation properties). Leif Holmlid's experiments primarily use one of these commercially available potassium/iron oxide dehydrogenation catalysts as well. There is likely more to it (eg alkali metal preferably used as an "electronic promoter"), but I don't think that making one of these experiment work is supposed to be a very complex task - once what is actually needed is understood.

As Rydberg Matter/ultra-dense hydrogen in Leif Holmlid's case is observed on the catalyst and on surfaces on the catalyst's proximity after a stream of molecular hydrogen is admitted through it, for all intents and purposes this can be seen as a "failed" atomic hydrogen recombination producing something else than normally expected. According to Holmlid's research this special form of hydrogen is relatively stable if left undisturbed, which can explain "heat after death" observations in LENR experiments.

"Loading" or absorption appears to be more or less irrelevant if an "active" surface able to produce excess heat is formed or already exists. and actually Edmund Storms also thinks the same according to the conclusions of his recent work he posted on his blog a few days ago (see point 1).

If "loading" is pretty much irrelevant and if something indeed happens during atomic hydrogen recombination from certain surfaces, then this can also explain the need for a flux on hydrogen on the active material which other researchers often recommended (like Piantelli) and that experimenters like me356 found out being possibly important for generating thermal anomalies. Francesco Celani also highlighted this in his ICCF19 paper (see point 9/conclusions).

Overall, my opinion is that if you start seeing LENR as actually (albeit indirectly) occurring as a result of atomic hydrogen recombination and needing specific nanostructured catalytic surfaces you will realize that there are many more things in common among apparently completely different experiments than it looks at first.

(btw, this message was more or less an excuse for writing more ideas to potentially add in the document)