Update from the Latest Cold Fusion Conference

Scientific summary of International Conferences on Cold Fusion 15 (ICCF15) by David Nagel (11 page pdf)

The library of ICCF15 presentations is here

Gas Loading

* Arata and Zhang (Osaka University) have performed gas loading of Pd nanoparticles in recent years. Their report dealt with the production of energy and helium in two types of materials—nanopowder ZrO2Pd35 and powder ZrO2Ni30Pd5. Specifics on the particle sizes were not given. Large samples (about 16 grams) and high pressures (near 15 atmospheres) were employed.

19 page pdf : Production of Helium and Energy in the “Solid Fusion”

(1)Either excess energy or helium of the ZrNiPd powder is always about ten times higher than that of the ZrPd powder.

(2)By using the weight 16 [g] of the ZrNiPd powder, the excess power 4 [watt] lasted stably for one hour, only less than one gram palladium was consumed. Its cost is lower than the ZrPd powder. We choose the ZrNiPd powder as a good material for the solid fusion.

(3)The concentration of helium was very successful. These results indicate that the reacted gas of “solid nuclear fusion” can serve as a source of helium production.

* Gas loading experiments similar to Arata and Zhang’s are being performed by a collaboration between Kobe University and Technova. Ten nanometer particles of Pd are being used. Sasaki (Kobe University) gave the first of their two reports. Two parallel experiments, one with hydrogen and the other with deuterium, use nano-sized powders of Pd and Zr oxides. The D2 gas gave 20-90% excess heat. Excess heats near 2
kJ/gm were obtained with deuterium gas, while the outputs were near zero for hydrogen gas.

71 page pdf: Anomalous Heat Generation in Charging of Pd Powders with High Density Hydrogen Isotopes(II) Discussions on Experimental Results and Underlying Physics

* Toyota Central Research and Development Laboratories and Tokohu University, is also studying gas loading. Pd particles with diameters of 10-20 nm is similar to loading into bulk Pd, that is, the H or D to Pd ratios are 0.74 to 0.78. Smaller Pd particles with sizes in the 2 to 5 nm range gave remarkable apparent loading values of 2.6 to 3.2.

* Kidwell and his colleagues (Naval Research Laboratory) prepared Pd particles about 1 nanometer in size in an aluminosilicate matrix. They performed hundreds of loading
and deloading experiments with H and D gas. Use of D produced eight-fold more heat than the use of H.

* Celani (Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati) and many collaborators from Italy have been doing gas loading with samples having a more complex geometry. They coat 50 micrometer wires of Pd that are 60 to 70 cm long with a layer 1 to 3 micrometers thick of Pd-based nanomaterials. The group reported that they have found “a procedure that can be, in principle, the starting point for a CMNS high temperature engine.”

Celani presentation (38 page pdf) Towards a high temperature CMNS reactor: nano-coated Pd wires with D2 at high pressures. Identification of main control parameters, development of simple tests about quality of coating.

1) Improved measurements on “Washington type” reactor (P60 atmospheres) with hydrogen gas in the presence of a metal catalyst produced heat. Heat generation of up to 100 W was observed for several hours. The experiment is reproducible, but the heat production is not stable. Both X- and gamma radiations were observed, with a “weak” but “reasonably significant correlation between heat generation and radiation emission.”

* Zhang (Chinese Academy of Science) had been studying excess power production in the Pd and heavy water system during recent years. At this conference, he gave two conditions necessary for heat generation: (1) pretreatment of the Pd at high temperatures and (2) using temperature increases during the experiment. He observed that noise on the cell voltage decreased during excess heat generation in galvanostatic experiments.

Materials Challenges

Materials are at the heart of efforts to produce LENR reliably and to scale up their output to levels needed for various applications. But, materials have multiple problems. The most basic challenges are their production, modification and characterization, that is, the measurement of materials composition and structure before, during and after experiments.

Theory

Role of Cluster Formation in the LENR Process by Edmund Storms

• Neutrons are not involved in transmutation.
• Protons do not produce the full range of transmutation products.
• At least 10 deuterons can make a cluster and enter the nucleus of palladium or nickel.

Question: What role do clusters play in producing fusion of d to make 4He and where does this reaction occur?