Apocalypse Revealed – The Four Horsemen of Andrea Rossi's E-Cat

I have been following Andrea Rossi's "E-Cat" ('Energy Catalyzer') device for years and really enjoying the bickering between proponents and debunkers of the technology. Now it seems credible evidence has finally come out that supports the theory that cold fusion (or LENR - Low Energy Nuclear Reactions) exists and is reproducible.

In a 54 page report (pdf) released by the Bologna University, Bologna, Italy describes the findings of a 32 day continuous test of the device.

Not only did the recent report show clear and credible evidence of anomalous heat as well as isotopic ratio changes, proving that Andrea Rossi's Energy Catalyzer is a clean nuclear process, with no externally measurable radioactivity involved, but it also divulged some important information that may enable replication.

The E-Cat device has a coefficient of performance (COP) of between 3.2 and 3.8. This means it delivers between 3.2 and 3.8 times the energy it consumes. Furthermore, it uses commonly available substances (lithium, aluminium, iron, hydrogen, nickel, carbon and oxygen) as fuel and releases no detectable amounts of radiation.

Could this mean that we are finally on the brink of producing clean, nearly free and limitless energy?

Source

a reply to: Shadoefax

It's not independent. The flaws of the previous study have not been addressed. If you really want to believe, go ahead, but it has all the hallmarks of a scam.

a reply to: Shadoefax

I've also been following since the beginning and I'm not willing to discount the possibility yet. In fact, I have two household units reserved as soon as they roll them out.

Even if he rolls them out and people are powering their houses on them, skeptics will still say it's impossible. I don't understand the point of saying something is impossible. Rossi will either prove them right or wrong eventually.

originally posted by: GetHyped
a reply to: Shadoefax

The flaws of the previous study have not been addressed.

They are addressed, albeit briefly:

Over the past few years, the E-Cat has been tested repeatedly by Andrea Rossi and other parties. Although a few tests have had issues due to malfunctions – such as possible contamination of fuel – the majority of them were resounding successes.

And not independent? The Bologna University categorically denies any involvement with Andrea Rossi.

In June 2011, I called the University of Bologna P.R. Office to understand what was their relationship with Rossi and the woman who talked to me on the phone she wanted to make it clear the University of Bologna had “nothing to do with the E-cat and Andrea Rossi”.

Apparently Rossi's new dog and pony show has completely changed the very fundamentals it relied on in the beginning. They are no longer using the Nickel/_____ catalyst, supposedly now its lithium and something else. They still don't let anyone inside the black box. They still don't allow independent testing. They still make claims without making an effort to prove those claims.

And now the hallmark of their showboating is the fact that they did a presentation and when they pulled the experiment, magically all the chemical products inside the reactor were fully converted to ash, yet there was no mention of how far along the cycle the experiment was. No mention that it was at the end of the cycle. Just pop open the box and suddenly everything is converted.

Its like the old magic shows in the days of old, why anyone follows it still anymore is beyond my comprehension. Rossi never followed through with the dozens of promises he made, and supposedly he has all these corporate contracts so why does he even bother with the public anymore?

a reply to: boncho

They are no longer using the Nickel/_____ catalyst, supposedly now its lithium and something else.

No, it is still primarily nickle:

We learn that the main constituents of the powder charge are Li (lithium), Al (aluminum), Fe (iron), H (hydrogen), Ni (nickel), C (carbon), and O (oxygen). There are additional small amounts of other elements that are found in the fuel but not the ash that may or may not be contaminants. However, the most abundant element in the fuel is nickel.

He will soon meet the same fate as Mehran Keshe.... BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAA!

originally posted by: Shadoefax
a reply to: boncho

They are no longer using the Nickel/_____ catalyst, supposedly now its lithium and something else.

No, it is still primarily nickle:

We learn that the main constituents of the powder charge are Li (lithium), Al (aluminum), Fe (iron), H (hydrogen), Ni (nickel), C (carbon), and O (oxygen). There are additional small amounts of other elements that are found in the fuel but not the ash that may or may not be contaminants. However, the most abundant element in the fuel is nickel.

Sorry, you missed the point. Now Ni62 and Li6 are the end products. Excuse my first post as I was going off loose memory. The point is that in the originals I think it was copper and and nickel at the end, suggesting an entirely different process.

Lithium was non existent in the first tests as far as I know.

a reply to: boncho

I think they only had a small sample (10mg of 1g) of the ash for analysis for whatever reason. And by "accident" the sample had all of Ni/Li transmutated I guess.

But they are also talking about uneven local "burning" of the powder. Why didn't they pick a partially "burned" sample then?

So yeah, the isotope analysis is kinda sketchy...

I've been waiting for this longer then KFC Colonel Sander's Original Recipe.
I want to know how long from the stove to the table?

a reply to: moebius

I think they only had a small sample (10mg of 1g) of the ash for analysis for whatever reason. And by "accident" the sample had all of Ni/Li transmutated I guess.

I believe you misread that section of the article. They took 10mg of the 'fuel' to analyse before the test began. Then the took an undisclosed amount of the 'ash' after the test was complete. There were two big surprises found in the ash. The first was that much of the nickel in the fuel was converted into Ni62. Nickel naturally occurs in five isotopic configurations: Ni58, Ni60, Ni61, Ni62, and Ni64 and presumably all five existed in the fuel in natural abundance. The concentration of Ni62 measured in the fuel was 3.6%. In the ash is was 98.7%. Ni62 has the highest binding energy per nucleon of any known nuclide (nickel or otherwise) at 8.7945 MeV. That means a tremendous amount of energy is released when one isotope of nickel absorbs one or more neutrons and is converted to Ni62. (By the same token, Ni62 requires a tremendous amount of energy to split its nucleus.) The process through which these isotopes absorbs the neutrons is either unknown or not discussed in the paper.

The second surprise was that the percentage of Lithium-7 was depleted in the ash. Lithium exists in nature in two isotopic forms - Li7 (92.5%) and the rest Li6. The amount of Li7 in the fuel was measured to be 93% (just about the natural abundance expected). But in the ash it was only 7.9%. Some of the energy produced by the E-Cat is apparently attributed to this transformation.

a reply to: Shadoefax

How do you know this report was released by Bologna University? In fact you make it clear in a further post that the university has nothing to do with Rossi and the E-Cat.

The experimental method for the test runs, while not the best, doesn't have any major errors that I could easily spot. It is missing lots of data that should be in there however. While it shouldn't affect results of the report, they should have known that a type k thermocouple isn't suitable for measuring the working range of the device.

The average input power of the device is quite low but three phase operation with 12mm^2 cables in conjunction with the power analyser display shows that it is probably powered by short high power pulses at a low duty cycle, resulting in rapid heating of the resistors to well beyond the average case temperature for short durations. If the device requires these rapid temperature rise times to operate then it would require a significant power supply to keep it running if the device was actually supplying power.

Whilst Rossi hisses and slithers like a snake oil salesman, I still like to think that there is something to LENR.

a reply to: boncho

Really?

I heard it reported that the catalyst wasn't turned to 'ash' but converted to a copper isotope, with clear evidence of a nuclear reaction having taken place.

This coming after just 1g (one gramme) of fuel/catalyst was reacted for a period of 32 days straight, producing a total of +/- 1.5MWh...

That's a lot of energy from a single gramme of fuel continuously putting out energy for over a month.

I would imagine the reason for the length of the test, 32 days, wasn't an arbitrary figure picked out of thin air, it is probably likely that Rossi and his team, know from experience that about a month is how long a single gramme of fuel will power the e-cat, in this case the gramme lasted for 32 days.

We can debate the legitimacy of Rossi, of his e-cat, and LENR in general (and have done) for years, but i I have a hopeful feeling about this technology, if it's a scam that will be revealed in the results in time, if it isn't that will be shown too.