Shane D. ,
The dummy is messed up in Lugano too. Once that gets squared away, there is no basis, within uncertainties and real errors, to claim any COP other than what Nature normally provides.
Consider this little crumb: the camera (spectral in band) emissivity is being argued about endlessly, and yet who has tackled the question of the real Total emissivity from which the output power is finally calculated? No one. Why? Because even if we had perfect thermocouple corroborated IR camera temperatures, no one has any real basis to say what the Total emissivity of the device with ribs, uncertain coatings, uncertain roughness, etc., really is. Oh, sure we can grab a textbook value for that. That should be real close to an object we have ourselves only seen in a few photos (one of which could be the one that broke, not the actual working one.)
How much off does the Total emissivity have to be to eat up the 'excess' 7 to 20% ? Not much.
Higgins' report, as good as it is, has an error which moves his estimate closer to TC's when corrected.
The MFMP version does not deal with the thermal distribution very well, and crashes like a Jato-powered sedan into a cliff wall when dealing with the Dummy.
And TC's version can have that 0.07 (?) excess wiped out with the most minor adjustment to the total emissivity.
LDM's version is more complex, but still has ad-hoc parts put in, like total emissiviy, as is necessary, because acurate information simply does not exist.
All of these agree that COP 2+ did not likely happen. (Let alone COP > 1.3 even). The little bit that that might look like excess can be wiped away in a moment in the noise of the uncertainties. More certainty is not going to be forthcoming. Unless maybe IH leaks out their report on tests with the last Reactor.