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

[SpaceBar]

If your rant is flipped, replacing “skeptics” with “cheerleaders”, and excoriating the proponents of these cold fusion “demonstration” threads instead of those tired of Rossi’s secrecy and dubious past as a con artist, your argument still holds.

[count-your-change]

I wonder if mods would allow an “e-cat caucus”?

[muawiyah]

An earlier discussion noted that Rossi appears to have gone for the juggular ~ rather than try to develop a device that produces high pressure dry steam for use in turbines he's produced low pressure wet steam for use in factory, office, school and public building HEATING SYSTEMS.

That's a huge market by itself, and probably much more doable in the near term than the far more difficult to control high pressure dry steam system so many imagine.

With factories quickly moving from expensive fluorescent lighting systems to far more capital intensive LED lighting more on site heating will need to be provided with separate systems. LEDs just aren't all that hot.

Computer controls have also made machinery much more efficient and that, too, has cut way down on surplus heat.

I imagine there are folks out there working on higher energy and hotter running LENR devices that can provide higher energy steam for turbines ~ they may end up working on them for decades!

[muawiyah]

Look, let's advance the discussion a few paces ~ tell us who is the world's foremost expert in Weak Force nuclear physics. Just get it over with ~ we can watch for his name.

It's pretty obvious that the "new aspect" in this process isn't high energy physics using the Strong Nuclear Force.

[muawiyah]

Electro-Weak Force ~ in the search for the Unified Theory these were the first two off the rack. There's a lot on the Electromagnetic part ~ it's called chemistry, electricity and electronics ~ common household stuff. There's very little on the Weak Force part.

I'm not sure any of this stuff can be discussed without knowing about the Weak Force.

[DoughtyOne]

Okay Johnny, then continue to regurgitate on the forum with nothing to back it up if that makes sense to you. Others will see it for what it is though.

[DoughtyOne]

Please point out the definitive posts on this thread that state Rossie has without doubt proven his process to be legit, without disclaimers.

I don’t think he has. I doubt anyone else here thinks he has. His device has a long way to go to be proven successful without a doubt, and I think everyone here knows that.

Is the process worthy of reporting on? Sure. Beyond that, we just don’t know whether this device is legit or not. I share skepticism, but what’s the point of voicing that on thread after thread after thread after thread...

I wouldn’t voice support of the device in that manner either.

[Lx]

So, 100 grams of Nickel and maybe 300 grams of hydrogen, generates 100 times more energy than a battery of its size, lasts 20 times longer. That’s a significant development. Who cares if it ain’t nuclear?

I may be way off on base with this since I took chem 30 years ago but he's claiming that he's adding a proton to nickel and getting copper, that's a fusion reaction not a chemical one.

Since it's supposed to be a fusion reaction, e=MC2 comes into play and when you work out the math, you get a hell of a lot of energy released. I forgot where I heard this so take it with a truck load of salt but the bombs dropped on Japan only converted a dime's worth of matter to energy.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boy

The weapon was developed by the Manhattan Project during World War II. It derived its explosive power from the nuclear fission of uranium 235. The Hiroshima bombing was the second artificial nuclear explosion in history, after the Trinity test, and the first uranium-based detonation. Approximately 600 to 860 milligrams of matter in the bomb was converted into the active energy of heat and radiation (see mass-energy equivalence for detail). It exploded with an energy between 13 and 18 kilotons of TNT (54 and 75 TJ) (estimates vary). It has been estimated that 130,000 to 150,000 persons had died by the end of December 1945.[4] Its design was not tested in advance, unlike the more complex plutonium bomb (Fat Man). The available supply of enriched uranium was very small at that time, and it was felt that the simple design of a uranium "gun" type bomb was so sure to work that there was no need to test it at full scale.

Very cool periodic table of the elements.

http://www.webelements.com/

I still think it's a hoax but this is one place I'd love to be wrong. The other thing that is weird is Rossi did build the thing, I'm sure the replacement of the nickel is feasible in cartridge form when there's a production unit if that ever happens.

I think Rossi is his worst enemy. I also hope he's got a patent in the U.S for it; I don't think he does. Even so, say it was GE who bought it, they make a minor change and re-patent it as a different use for the device. If people think a business wouldn't do this in a heartbeat they don't have a clue about human nature or business

I'm not bothered by the glitches though, it is a prototype so if it leaked, big deal. Look what it took Mazda to create a reliable rotary engine even though Felix Wankle had it patented in 1929 got it running in 1950-60?? and still, it took years before Mazda got it reliable from NSU's license.

This is proof of concept, isn't the next step to get this to two universities? If this thing is real, this was the equivalent of the Trinity test. Rossi needs a quote like Oppenheimer, "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." But a little more positive.

[dangerdoc]

Since this is the internet and there are no real consequences, I’m posting as if this is a working technology.

Unless he is using solid platinum as a catalyst, I think the price is unreasonable for the output, especially for low quality heat.

Another concern is that that these public demonstrations are for hours and there is no number given for lifetime of a unit. For consumer devices such as a gasoline engine, lifetime should be measured in thousands of hours with uptime of 99%. For commercial uses such a diesel engine in a truck, the lifetime should be measured in tens of thousands of hours with up time more than 99%. For industrial use, such as a steam turbine, lifetime should be measured in the hundreds of thousands of hours and anything less than 100% is measured in dollars of lost money and down time needs to be planned ahead.

If he is going to price it for industrial use, he will be measured by the requirements of industry. If he plans on marketing it for consumer use or if maintenance is more consistent with residential use, it will need repricing accordingly.

[SpaceBar]

They actually do worse than make definitive claims of the unit's authenticity, since they are more clever than that and know such blanket statements can't be made. They do however, ridicule, browbeat, attempt to intimidate, and attack the messenger of those who regularly point out the circus nature of these demonstrations that always raise more questions than they purport to answer, and Rossi's checkered history with similar claims.

but what’s the point of voicing that on thread after thread after thread after thread...

You mean like starting each thread with a reference to seagulls, then continuing to use that meme throughout the thread. You mean that sort of "posting over and over"?

[SpaceBar]

All I want to see is a walnut sized unit with no external connections to the outside world, that can keep my coffee piping hot for a few months, then we’ll talk.

[DoughtyOne]

Once again, you’re just reaffirming what my post touched on. You seem to think you’re the only one who sees any weakness in the claims. Okay, you’ve made your point. It’s a point we all knew, but now you can feel good about yourself until the next thread when you’ll find the need to say something that we all know again.

Who is claiming this process is legit beyond any doubt? Please point them out to me.

[DoughtyOne]

;^)

[SpaceBar]

You seem to think you’re the only one who sees any weakness in the claims...

Where on earth did you get that idea? Scroll up, I'm not alone.

[DoughtyOne]

(Your side)

We all see the weaknesses. Some of us just don’t feel the need to act like we know everything on the topic. You don’t. We don’t.

[SpaceBar]

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 that it is a genuine unique and new method to create energy that was before either unknown or not adequately demonstrated before, or does it mean Rossi convinced someone to open their wallet? Because those are two entirely different things.

[muawiyah]

I think you'd like to talk to the LENR researcher who seems to have come up with a desktop neutron gun. You could probably cook with it, or with enough of them trigger a thermonuclear weapon.

My understanding is the Pakistanis, Chinese and French still use the old fashioned flashbulb system to trigger initiation of the explosive that smacks the fissile materials together, so they might want to step up to the big time with an improved trigger.

Now, about the North Koreans ~ they may well have made a mistake and took a sharp turn down the wrong way and come up with a Weak Force based explosive device. If they could scale it down a bit they might be able to sweep the home appliance markets of the world.

[DoughtyOne]

I agree with that.

If someone had told me in 1990 that someone would come up with a scooter where you stood up on a platform, had steering and controls on a post rising out of that platform, and it would hardly ever toss folks over on their face and it would be easy to control I would have said they were crazy.

Along came the Segway and it was proven it could be done.

I stand back and watch these things develop with interest. That’s basically all we can do. The bickering back and forth isn’t necessary.

In time Rossi will rise or fall, and we’ll take note of it.

[Moonman62]

I may be way off on base with this since I took chem 30 years ago but he's claiming that he's adding a proton to nickel and getting copper, that's a fusion reaction not a chemical one.

According to Rossi's patent application, an unstable isotope of copper beta decays. The resulting positron annihilates an electron releasing a great deal of energy. The problem is that in the same patent application Rossi claims the ecat fuses a stable isotope of nickel with hydrogen resulting in a stable isotope of copper. But a stable isotope of copper won't beta decay, and the fusion that produced the copper isotope uses energy rather than produces it.

[Moonman62]

In time Rossi will rise or fall, and we’ll take note of it.

Tell that to the guy who posts Rossi threads once or twice a night, every night.