Open Power Association: Patent Application for external Neutron Source LENR

It shouldn't be called Open Power Association anymore, altough their work is very important.
But I am glad that they at least patented it before Rossi.

It also confirms my theory with neutrons.

I am sure that they have a working prototype. As I propesed few months ago, neutron generation + neutron capture process must work.
Initial source of neutrons is just external, so they do not have to deal with hydrogen loading process anymore.

Very interesting. I hope they can demonstrate a working device soon. Would be interesting to know what powers (heat and electricity) can be produced with it. This will put more pressure on Andrea Rossi, I am sure. That is a good development.

Neutron source is a kind of a driving power. So you can drive the reaction somehow. It is used for activating the fuel by Neutron activation process.
So DD fusion or other neutron sources are simply replaced. In this way, you do not need any magic stimulations used in Ni-H or other systems.

This depends on the efficiency of neutron activation. But at least neutron flux from the neutron gun can be decreased when it is running.
I believe that it could produce radioactive waste if neutrons can escape. And I believe that it could happen even with Ni-H system (according to Rossi it already happened).
So you have to know what are limitations, else the consequences could be bad.
Limitations of nuclear energy are far beyond current LENR experiments.

It is not that hard to build neutron generator. It can be tiny device in 2x2cm area. Actually we are trying to build such devices for long time with e.g. Parkhomov replication. But neutron flux is so small or is not present, that we are not able to measure it.

There's quite some comparable prior art on this filing. E.g. http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&II=0&ND=3&adjacent=true&locale=en_EP&FT=D&date=20140206&CC=US&NR=2014034116A1&KC=A1

Quote from H-G Branzell

The recipe for this reaction [the proton-proton chain] is high pressure and high temperature in order to overcome the old faithful Coulomb barrier, but just barely.

The proton-proton chain isn't rate-limited by the Coulomb barrier. It depends upon a very occasional weak interaction, where the diproton, during the brief moment of its existence, has a non-negligible probability of decaying to a deuteron. So there are two reactions proceeding in tandem:

• p + p → [pp]* + γ
• [pp]* → d + e+ + ν

While (1) is common, (2) is rare, so deuterium is produced very slowly.

Quote from H-G Branzell

No chain is faster than its slowest link!

We agree in part. I'm saying my step 2, above, involving the beta-plus decay, is the slowest link:

Quote

This first step [of the proton-proton chain] is extremely slow because the beta-plus decay of the diproton to deuterium has a negative Q value and so is extremely rare (the vast majority of the time, the diproton decays back into hydrogen-1 through proton emission).

The Coulomb barrier is not what is slowing down this process; it's the endothermic beta-plus decay that is also required that is doing the rate-limiting.

It takes a lot of fission energy to make americium. It might not be a net energy producing reaction.

Branzell, it seems you think I'm disagreeing that the Coulomb barrier must be overcome. It's a little difficult to see how someone could read this into my statements. I'm saying that the probability of a diproton forming despite mutual Coulomb repulsion is P1, and that the probability of beta-plus decay happening is P2, and that P2 << P1.

• There are a number of inconsistencies in there nuclear equations.
• The input energy free neutron sources they are proposing are not rate controllable other than with shielding.
• I suspect there is no functional device of any use as the last thing they say is "We hope soon more researchers will furtherly develop the exposed ideas"
• I suspect this is a stab in the dark at the obtuse output from Rossi.