1 MW E-Cat Cold Fusion Device Test Successful

Pure Energy Systems ^ | October 28, 2011 | Hank Mills

[Kevmo]

1 MW E-Cat Cold Fusion Device Test Successful
On October 28, 2011, Andrea Rossi demonstrated his 1 megawatt E-Cat system to his first customer, who had engineers/scientists on hand to test/validate its performance. Due to a glitch, it provided 470 kW of continuous power for 5.5 hours during the self-sustained mode.
Here I am with Andrea Ross after the test of the 1 MW E-Cat plant in the background.

By Sterling D. Allan (who was present), with Hank Mills
Pure Energy Systems News
Well, the big day has come and gone. Andrea Rossi's one-megawatt-capable E-Cat cold fusion device has been tested in Bologna, Italy; and the unknown customer, who ran the test, is apparently happy.


There were some issues, so it couldn't be run at full power in self-looped mode, but what it did do was plenty impressive.


It ran for 5.5 hours producing 470 kW, while in self-looped mode. That means no substantial external energy was required to make it run, because it kept itself running, even while producing an excess of nearly half a megawatt. Rossi explained the reasons for this in the presentation he gave, which I videotaped and will be posting later.


That's half the rated capacity, but it is still a major accomplishment for the device that was completed earlier this week -- the first of its kind on the planet.


Early in the day with a glitch showing up, Rossi said that they had to make a decision about whether to go for 1 MW output, not in self-sustain mode, or with self-sustain mode at a lower power level. The customer opted to go for the self-sustain mode. Nothing was said about the prospects of a follow-up test, though I would imagine that the customer will be running many tests to understand this gadget they have purchased, and that information will be conveyed to Rossi.


When I asked him during the Q&A session if the customer was satisfied with the test, Rossi responded, "Yes, I think they are satisfied."

Here is a brief video excerpt highlight from Rossi during his 1-hour reading of the public report from the customer, followed by a question and answer session. I recorded the entire presentation, and we'll post that tomorrow, hopefully along with a transcription. Half the time was in Italian, as he would address each item in Italian as well as English.


In this excerpt, Rossi responds to the question, "So, is this a breakthrough?"

Here's a transcription of the excerpt video:
Mister Sonya has asked me if I think that the test of today is a breakthrough. I think yes, because I think today we have seen enough. No more small five or ten kilowatt units, but now we have overcame the [cannot understand].... disconnected. The basic engineering to make something that....

You know, to go in self sustain mode and make 400 [actually 470] kilowatt hours per hour... To understand that this is a breakthrough...

You can also think that hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent to try to have a COP of 1.1 with nuclear fusion. Today we have made a theoretically endless COP making 470 kilowatt hour per hour of completely free energy, free of fuel. Yes, I think this is a breakthrough.

Of course this is the first step, but it is a very important first step....
Early this year Andrea Rossi announced his plans to construct and test the world's first one megawatt cold fusion plant. The plant would utilize his E-Cat (Energy Catalyzer) technology that utilizes tiny quantities of nickel powder and hydrogen gas as fuel, while producing large amounts of energy in the form of heat. Importantly, the energy is produced without emitting any pollution, utilizing any radioactive materials, or producing any nuclear waste. Simply put, the E-Cat offers the world a source of cheap, safe, and clean energy. Although the exact plans for the launch of the technology were adjusted a few times throughout the course of this year, October 28th, 2011 was settled on for the date of the official test of the one megawatt plant by the first customer.


These first plants will cost around $2,000 per kilowatt to build one at a time, but once they are mass produced, Rossi expects the price to drop to around $100 per kilowatt installed.


Attendance at this test was limited for several reasons. First, the customer does not wish to be known at this time, nor to have its test engineers/scientists identified. I did not inadvertently discover the customer's identify, nor did I try to find out. I gave that group their space and did not probe. Second, the device is a nuclear device, and the regulations for a public demonstration are extremely stringent; so by making the event private, and only bringing one or two at a time to see it was a way to get around the safety requirements.


Most of us (around 30 guests total) arrived between 9 and 10 am; and by around 11 am, Rossi began taking people back to see the device while it was in operation, in self-sustained mode. Here's a video I shot, with Rossi's permission, during my 2-3 minute chance to see the unit during operation:

A neighboring facility, coincidentally, is named "Rossi", which is a common name in Italy.



Here I am with Mats Lewan and other Swedish associates.


Here I am with Peter Svensson from the AP

Professor Levi, who was Rossi's right-hand man today, will be heading the Bologna research on the E-Cat. Power for start-up (resistive coils that provided heat to the reaction chambers) was provided by the large and loud genset (was making all the noise) you see that is nearly as large as the small shipping container in which the 1 MW E-Cat plant was arranged. Once the reaction chambers got up to temperature, they were maintained by the heat produced by the reaction. I'm not sure why they kept the generator running after that, but I would guess it was for back-up or safety. I'm sure the engineers testing the system made sure what the power levels were at all times.


There were 100 E-Cat modules, each with 3 reaction chambers in them, for a total of 300 reaction chambers. An additional 20 or so units had been installed on the top of the shipping container, compared to the earlier photos and videos we had seen. Steam was produced by the units and exited through the back in the bottom of the two pipes. The steam was not put to use to run a load but the heat was dumped via two radiators, distilled, and circulated back into the system. When looking inside the plant, I noticed that one of the E-Cat units had a little steam escaping from the front of it.


The top pipe in the back, which was closed, was for emergency cool-down, if needed.

Each unit was run independently through a computerized control. The input and output temperature readings were recorded by computer, and the data will be provided to us probably later this evening or tomorrow morning. When I went by there, I think the input was measuring 19 C, and the output was 109 C.


Radiation measurements were taken by Dr. Bianchini David, from the University of Bologna. He said no extraneous radiation was detected at any time emanating from the reaction chambers, or from the piping, or from the water tanks, or in the vicinity of the apparatus. Apparently, gamma radiation is produced during the reaction, which is shielded by water, iron, lead, and a final coating on the apparatus. David said that he has not measured gamma radiation from the device, because he has not had access to the reaction chamber while it has been unshielded.


None of the units were taken apart following this test, as was the one back on the October 6 test. I asked Rossi whether any radio frequencies were used in the test, and he said "no".


I would estimate that there were about 12 people assisting with the test arrangement, including: 3-4 security guards, 1 caterer, 2 receptionists who checked to make sure everyone was invited and wore the required badges, 3-4 engineers helping take measurements, Foccardi was helping take guests 1-2 at a time back to see the unit.


I especially enjoyed mingling with the other guests, including: Mats Lewan from NyTeknik; Irene Zreick from Focus.it; Peter Svensson, Technology Writer for the Associated Press, NY, who told me that the reason the mainstream press hasn't been covering this is because Rossi has been very picky about who he lets in; Enrico Billi, a nuclear physicist and friend of Rossi's, who is presently living in China and helping to open doors there for this technology; Professor Christos Stremmenos, from the University of Bologna, who told me all about his theory of how the technology works; Pierre Clauzon, nuclear engineering professor from France, who told me about several theoretical physicists trying to understand cold fusion in general and the E-Cat in particular; Uzikova Irina, a nuclear plant designer from Russia; Stefan Heglesson, representing a Swedish interest in the technology; Loris Ferrari, Associate Professor of Condensed Matter Physics from the University of Bologna, who will be one of the five professors to do the two year test of the E-Cat, which hopefully will be funded as a result of today's test. They will study both the "how" and the "why" of the technology.


Mats and I agreed to post our stories at the same time. Peter was going to go first, having been given an exclusive by Rossi, but it's going to be a few days before he gets the necessary info and editorial approvals before he's able to run a story in the Associated Press.

Probably the biggest opening for skeptics will be the continually running genset that is probably rated for 500 kW (my guess), and appears to have been connected by cables to the E-Cat. "Where's the mystery?" So knock yourselves out, skeptics. It's the customer who has to be happy, and apparently this one was satisfied that those cables were not contributing to the 470 kW output during self-sustaining mode.


Here's a video where Rossi talks to us briefly following the test, saying that a report will come shortly; and giving us the reason for why we couldn't go back during the test except 1-2 at a time.

And here's a video of a couple of 1 MW generators that were in the room where we were hanging out, which were from an earlier project Rossi was involved with, running on biofuel.

# # #
Links
News:October 28, 2011 Test of the One Megawatt E-Cat (Our index page at PESWiki)
http://db.tt/wu4OLbgk - a link to download a file which contains the report about the test
http://www.nyteknik.se/nyheter/energi_miljo/energi/article3303682.ece - Mat Lewans' story

[Kevmo]

Maybe our disagreement lies in exactly what “successful” constitutes as used in the title. Does it mean the thing has been shown beyond reasonable doubt in the scientific community under rigorous scrutiny
***No. Again there is that high duhh factor, begging the question of why you would choose to hover over such a thread where it is FReeping obvious that the technology is not at that level of maturity.

that it is a genuine unique and new method to create energy that was before either unknown
***It is LENR. The field has been known for 22 years. But lots of pathological skeptics have trouble accepting simple scientific facts, such as that the Pons-Fleischmann effect has been replicated over 14,700 times.

or not adequately demonstrated before,
***Rossi’s contribution is a ‘catalyst’ that makes the reaction easier to replicate.

or does it mean Rossi convinced someone to open their wallet?
***It means that Rossi chose not to try to demonstrate this scientifically but with customers who want to buy product. Trying to convince the scientific world of LENR is like pushing a rope uphill. After he sells the 29th unit, the scientific community will start thinking that maybe it’s time to buy one or two.

Because those are two entirely different things
***Yeah, duhh... It should be incredibly obvious to anyone who reads a little bit on LENR and the Ecat. Why is that not obvious to you?

[Kevmo]

Tell that to the guy who posts Rossi threads once or twice a night, every night.
***And you no doubt are dragged, kicking and screaming, onto these LENR threads...

You know why a seagull’s computer does not have an IGNORE button? Because they wouldn’t use it anyways.

[Kevmo]

It is remarkable to me that so much of this discussion is carried on by people who haven’t even bothered to get the facts.
***Yup. A common behavior trait of the Free Republic species of LENR Seagull.

[Kevmo]

I don’t begrudge funding for research.
***I do. Even 1% of that money could have gone into LENR and we would have been far further down the road 20 years ago. As it is, it left this infant out to fend for itself.

PathoSkeptic: That 3 year old can’t even get past 3rd or 4th place in these horse races.

Rational Skeptic: But it’s a 3 year old HUMAN, not a horse. It looks like it’s doing pretty darned well.

PathoSkeptic: It’s still a 3-year old vs. 3-year olds. It’s a scam.

22 years later....

Rational Skeptic: Looks like that 25 year old beat your 25 year old horse in this last race.

PathoSkeptic: But horse races are supposed to be for 3 year olds.

[Yardstick]

The bickering back and forth isn’t necessary.

The bickering is how we human beings flesh things out. The urge to shove the other guy's face in his wrongness is a huge net positive for everyone because it drives us to cross examine stuff and to tease out the truth. Bickering is fundamental to survival and improvement. Plus, it's fun!

[Windcatcher]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion

Pretty decent treatment of cold fusion IMO (but I only went up to a Master’s in Physics, so I could be wrong, of course /sarc)

For myself, until I see an explanation for overcoming the Coulombic repulsion between Ni and H nuclei (which would be **enormous**), I’m not buying this. This isn’t muon-catalyzed fusion, and anyway the lifetime of a muon is *what* before it decays into an electron??? That’s right...

Put simply, the positive charge of the Ni nucleus would shove the H nucleus to Hell and back if it got too close (even if it was tritium).

[Kevmo]

Let me get this straight.

A businessman with a history of fraud and a fake degree claims to have invented a source of virtually free and limitless energy that contravenes fundamentals of physics,
***No, you do not have it straight. See John Valentine’s comment upthread about folks like you...

>> “It is remarkable to me that so much of this discussion is carried on by people who haven’t even bothered to get the facts.” <<

[Kevmo]

what else would you like to call it.
***I would like to call it High Energy Chemical Exothermic Reactions — HECER. If Pons & Fleishmann had kept to that description, they would have nobel prizes today. Instead they ignited a turf war that they lost.

[Kevmo]

We got TANG. We got Moondust. No doubt we got Moonboy from all this as well.

Now that I think of it, yeah, we overpaid. /s

[Kevmo]

I have posted several LENR theory threads. You should check them out.

[aNYCguy]

I'm going to go ahead and call a device that supposedly burns nickel at 517,000 times the energy density of oil while producing isotopically natural copper as the primary waste product a "virtually free and limitless energy source." And so should you, old chap.

[Post Toasties]

Doesn't anyone see this a at least slightly suspicious?

I'll vote for 'it reeks'.

[count-your-change]

Right. Someone ELSE is to be blamed. right.

[SpaceBar]

Let me get this straight.

A businessman with a history of fraud and a fake degree claims to have invented a source of virtually free and limitless energy that contravenes fundamentals of physics, promotes his invention on a personal blog which he misrepresents as a peer-reviewed scientific journal, provides demonstrations of this limitless energy source in which the device runs for short periods of time in view of a small invited audience while connected to an external power source and no inspection of the internals is allowed, makes outlandish claims of having already deployed close to one hundred functional devices to top-secret industrial partners despite other claims of secrecy so encompassing that he plans to booby-trap the devices he sells, claims further to have an operational factory mass-producing his invention for an imminent overseas power plant rollout that does not in fact occur as he predicts, but continues to insist that he will shortly sell his device and drastically alter the course of humanity forever, all pending approval from a single top-secret customer.

And you suggest that this is all on the up and up...

That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

[count-your-change]

Who are you to personally insult anyone?

[count-your-change]

So what?

[Kevmo]

A businessman with a history of fraud and a fake degree claims to have invented a source of virtually free and limitless energy that contravenes fundamentals of physics,
***That’s what you said you wanted to get straight. You threw so much falsehood together into one sentence, old chap, that it’s basically a straw argument.

Rossi does not have a history of fraud. Here is where his history is posted, as acknowledged by even an enemy of Rossi, but the seagulls on FR do not like where it leads.

Andrea Rossi’s Petroldragon Story
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2796280/posts
Friday, October 21, 2011 5:23:59 PM · by Kevmo · 170 replies
New Energy Times ^ | August 20111 | Translation by Alex Passi and Domenico Pozzetti

I have not checked into the accusation of a fake degree. Based upon what I found when I looked into the supposed history of fraud, I expect there to be more than enough reason for the seagulls to flock and disagree with.

LENR does not contravene the laws of physics. Check into the Widom-Larson theory if you want a theory that relies completely on conventional physics. There are other theories that are better descriptions of the observations. If you have a problem with the more than 14,700 times that the Pons-Fleischmann effect has been observed, then there is no reason to discuss theory with you.

Rossi did not invent Ni-H Cold Fusion, he worked with Focardi who had generated some remarkable results with it.

Rossi invented what he calls a ‘catalyst’ that makes the Ni-H reaction more replicable. Up until a few weeks ago, the preferred mode of investigating LENR was D-Pd because it was easier to replicate. Rossi’s invention makes something that was harder to replicate into something that can be commercialized.

[Post Toasties]

Rossi can't tell if it's nuclear or not?

Sounds like he's pegging the BS meter.

[Dagnabitt]

A businessman with a history of fraud and a fake degree claims to have invented a source of virtually free and limitless energy that contravenes fundamentals of physics, promotes his invention on a personal blog which he misrepresents as a peer-reviewed scientific journal, provides demonstrations of this limitless energy source in which the device runs for short periods of time in view of a small invited audience while connected to an external power source and no inspection of the internals is allowed, makes outlandish claims of having already deployed close to one hundred functional devices to top-secret industrial partners despite other claims of secrecy so encompassing that he plans to booby-trap the devices he sells, claims further to have an operational factory mass-producing his invention for an imminent overseas power plant rollout that does not in fact occur as he predicts, but continues to insist that he will shortly sell his device and drastically alter the course of humanity forever, all pending approval from a single top-secret customer.

Bookmarking as The Reference Post on this issue.

[Kevmo]

Got trouble with a suggestion of “maybe you should check them out”? Or is it your lack of reading comprehension that leads you to post such a non-sequitur?