Posted on 09/25/2013 5:47:55 PM PDT by Kevmo
STMicroelectronics LENR Patent September 23, 2013
Developments in the CF arena may be slow but there are occasional surprises dotted on the way. One such is the revelation of a Patent application by STMicroelectronics. There is no doubt that this is LENR. It is in the title. The application is very specific and unlike AR’s patent apps, is extremely professional. I have only skimmed it to be sure it is worth discussion. It certainly is. Filed in February this year and with a priority date of Feb 2012, it is evident that some quarter of STM (Italian?) has a keen interest in the subject.
Much time is spent in explaining the control mechanism but it goes further than that. This device is described in great detail. It does not seem to be trolling. I did wonder if a small group within the company had been convinced by external events such that they knocked up a ‘just in case’ patent but on reading further, I doubt that is the case. This appears to be a serious attempt at staking a claim on a device they had painstakingly contracted and used to effect. What that effect is, we cannot be sure. I am tempted to conclude that they have built such a device and obtained results worth protecting. As always, however, sober reflection is a canny strategy and I will hold off the knee-jerk reaction until further reading.
I welcome your thoughts. Those qualified to do so, please examine the patent carefully and share your view in the comments section so that we all might learn something.
http://www.google.com/patents/US20130243143
[With thanks to pagnucco at Vortex]
E-cat LENR Bumpety bump bump
Well that’s rather interesting. STMicro would be expected to be doing R&D in the area of microelectronics and fabrication techniques, and this I think is where they are aiming to out-LENR Rossi with this priority claim.
I’m no patent attorney but I’ve got a few and have a good understanding of MEMS - here’s the paydirt IMHO:
“It may be possibile to simultaneously realize, on an inert support, for example a silicon substrate coated with a layer of the respective oxide, heaters and temperature sensors suitable for being used in reaction chambers where the interaction between hydrogen and transition metals for the activation of nuclear reactions occurs at temperatures approximately between 100 and 500 degrees Celsius (° C.). This realization may be attained with relatively reduced costs and in a compact, extremely precise form.”
From the above, this sounds like “LENR in a nutshell” but prefaced by their “for example...” leads me to think they are looking at implementing the LENR reactor with silicon wafer-scale integration, using MEMS fab technology. The art of making microstructures in silicon (including flow channels, sensing elements, micro pumps, micro valves, and reaction surfaces, etc) is well established. It is also easy to make strong yet very small and resilient supporting structures, heating elements, and so forth in MEMS devices. Combine all the above and you’ve got “LENR on a Chip”...think about that....
one further thought - -
this whole concept of “LENR-on-a-chip” implies a degree of scalability I hadn’t considered before when reading about LENR. Suppose that *whatever* is going on that creates excess heat can actually be scaled up and down. It’s a bit mind-boggling to think of an energy source that could go from a AAA battery to a utility-scale power plant based on the same principle, just scaled up or down.
Too bad thermovoltaics are so inefficient, it would be great if there was a way to convert this heat directly into electricity.
The Brazilian group that is working on gravity motors will also be interested in this approach. In addition to scalability, it ought to be possible to fabricate an array of gravity motors on a chip using a variety of orientations. This would permit the chip to generate energy independent of the orientation of the chip in the external gravitational field.
There would only be limited interest in a AAA battery with a label which says, "This end up".
Actually, there is one very small group (two guys) who are working on an approach to converts the LENR energy directly to electricity, bypassing the heat step entirely.
They postulate that once the "fused" nucleus forms, it is in a highly excited state, and it might be possible to "siphon off" that energy directly into a semiconductor conductive band. They have built several very simple, compact working devices and gotten it to generate EMF and a very small current.
I certainly have to give them credit for "thinking outside the box".
No time to chase links right now, but I'll try to post one here later (unless some kind soul beats me to it).
Don’t AA style batteries already come with a “this side up”?
There are lots of applications when you want heat directly. Toaster ovens, space heaters, water heaters, etc.
“LENR on a Chip”...
Small, cheap portable heating units for, for example, heating liquids, food and tents on camping trips?
Office drip coffee maker that uses almost no electricity?
And so forth...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3066198/posts
Be sure to go to the linked reference. Lots of pictures of the gizmos.
They also presented a paper at one of the ICCF conferences.
Wow, now that would be something! Forever batteries and box-sized home power units. You wouldn't have to get off the grid, there eventually might be no grid other than for national defense purposes or some such thing.
However, I suspect that the central planning tax bureaucracies we call governments might be opposed to such devices. :)
I suspect that most critical national defense installations are already "off the grid" or with ready capability to do so on a microseconds notice.
"However, I suspect that the central planning tax bureaucracies we call governments might be opposed to such devices. :)"
That may well be so, but given a proven reality of a practical device, I don't see how they avoid it happening. There are plenty of places in the world with minimal grid and few "intellectual property" scruples that would build and supply them.
Imagine air-dropping a cargo container with all the power, communication, and water purification needs a village might have to remote places, powered by LENR.
If you're a minority, I'm in the same one. I've subscribed to "Backwoods Home" magazine for years.
"A small scale version of a device like this that could power a cabin and some power tools and provide heat would be pretty amazing."
For any free-standing single family home, it would revolutionize energy availability.
"Similarly, the recreational vehicle market would be huge if an affordable small scale device were available."
THAT particular option is one the "I" hope comes to fruition.
Nope. They come with polarity markings to indicate the direction of current flow, but they function regardless of orientation in a gravitational field.
Lead-acid batteries are not so forgiving. Orient them "upside-down" and the acid solution will find its way out of the battery case.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.