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Science/Tech See other Science/Tech Articles Title: Nickel-hydrogen cold fusion power production Eng. Andrea A. Rossi and Professor Sergio Focardi of the University of Bologna (one of the oldest universities in the world), have announced to the world that they have a cold fusion device capable of producing more than 10 kilowatts of heat power, while only consuming a fraction of that. On January 14, 2011, they gave the Worlds' first public demonstration of a nickel-hydrogen fusion reactor capable of producing a few kilowatts of thermal energy. At its peak, it is capable of generating 15,000 watts with just 400 watts input required. In a following test the same output was achieved but with only 80 watts of continual input. They don't always use the term "cold fusion" do describe the process, but often refer to it as an amplifier or catalyzer process. Focardi states: "Experimentally, we obtained copper; and we believe that its appearance is due to the fusion of atomic nuclei of nickel and hydrogen, the ingredients that feed our reactor. Since hydrogen and nickel 'weigh' with less, copper must have released a lot of energy, since 'nothing is created or destroyed.' Indeed, the 'Missing Mass' has been transformed into energy, which we have measured: it is in the order of a few kilowatts, two hundred times the energy that was the beginning of the reaction." [1] They also claim to be going into production, with the first units expected to ship by the second half of October of this year, with mass production commencing by the end of 2011. The first units will be used to build a one megawatt plant in Greece. This one megawatt plant will power a factory that will produce 300,000 ten-kilowatt units a year. This would become the world's first commercially-ready "cold fusion" device. Licensees are mentioned, with contracts in the USA and in Europe. Mass production should escalate in 2-3 years. Presently, Rossi says they are manufacturing a 1 megawatt plant composed of 125 modules. These modules should begin shipping by the end of October. On January 31st, 2011, Rossi wrote: "The cost to produce the catalyzer is 1 cent per MWh generated; the life expectancy is 20 years; the cost impact is between 1 and 1.5 cents per MWh." [2] In describing the operation of the device, he said: "To start up the reactor you have just to turn on a switch. The reactor works with enormous margins of safety, so there is no need of a particular skill. Just follow the instructions. The refueling is every 6 months and will be made by our dealers." According to Rossi, the demonstrated device shown on January 14, 2011 is their industrial product that is claimed to be reliable and safe. In normal operation it would produce 8 units of output for every unit of input. Higher levels of output are possible, but can be dangerous. They will soon start serial production of their modules. Combining the modules in series and parallel arrays it is possible to reach every limit of power. The modules are designed to be connected in series and parallels. Rossi also says that they have had one reactor that has run continually for two years, providing heat for a factory. It reduced the electric bill by 90%. Also, the reactors can self sustain by turning off the input, but they prefer to have an input. The device will be scheduled for maintenance every six months. You control it "just as you turn on and off your television set." Convinced they have already adequately proven this to the necessary parties, they are not in a hurry to give demonstrations to curious scientists. On January 21, 2011, Rossi wrote: "Yes there will be a Scientist talking about us, no demo anyway: no more demos before the start up of the 1 MW plant." The Energy Catalyzer works by placing nano to micro sized particles of nickel powder in a reactor along with pressurized hydrogen gas and special undisclosed (for proprietary reasons) catalysts. When the contents of the reactor is heated (using a series of resistors in the reactor) to approximately 400 to 500 degrees Celsius, nuclear reactions start taking place. The strength of the reaction can be changed by varying the pressure of the hydrogen in the reactor. The output energy can be up to 400 times the input energy. No precious metals or radioactive substances is placed in the reactor. After the reactor is turned off the reactor can be opened and no radiation can be detected. The process transmutes nickel into copper and trace amounts of other elements such as zinc. The nickel has also apparently gone through one or more special processes. A few of these special processes are speculated to be: 1) Baking and cleaning to remove oxidation that could "clog" up the reactive sites on the nickel particles. 2) Bathed in acid or another compound to make the particles more porous so they can absorb more hydrogen. 3) Embedded in a membrane or ceramic structure. 4) Loaded with hydrogen via electrolysis or some other method. Doing a lot of digging into Rossi's Journal of Nuclear Physics blog shows that scientists are posting and linking speculation that "hydrinos" (of Blacklight Power fame) or shrunken hydrogen atoms may be involved in this cold fusion and process and their formation may be the source of most of the energy released.
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