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Take water and potash, add electricity and get - a mystery
The Daily Telegraph ^ | May 18, 2003 | Robert Matthews

Posted on 05/18/2003 4:34:18 PM PDT by bruinbirdman

British researchers believe that they have made a groundbreaking scientific discovery after apparently managing to "create" energy from hydrogen atoms.

In results independently verified at Bristol University, a team from Gardner Watts - an environmental technology company based in Dedham, Essex - show a "thermal energy cell" which appears to produce hundreds of times more energy than that put into it. If the findings are correct and can be reproduced on a commercial scale, the thermal energy cell could become a feature of every home, heating water for a fraction of the cost and cutting fuel bills by at least 90 per cent.

The makers of the cell, which passes an electric current through a liquid between two electrodes, admit that they cannot explain precisely how the invention works. They insist, however, that their cell is not just a repeat of the notorious "cold fusion" debacle of the late 1980s. Then two scientists claimed to have found a way of generating nuclear energy from a similar-looking device at room temperature. The findings were widely challenged and the scientists, Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons, accused of incompetence, fled America to set up labs in France.

"We are absolutely not saying this is cold fusion, or that we have found a way round the law of energy conservation," said Christopher Davies, the managing director of Gardner Watts.

"What we are saying is that the device seems to tap into another, previously unrecognised source of energy."

According to Mr Davies, the cell is the product of research into the fundamental properties of hydrogen, the most common element in the universe. He argues that calculations based on quantum theory, the laws of the sub-atomic world, suggest that hydrogen can exist in a so-called metastable state that harbours a potential source of extra energy.

This theory suggests that if electricity were passed into a mixture of water and a chemical catalyst, the extra energy would be released in the form of heat.

After some experimentation, the team found that a small amount of electricity passed through a mixture of water and potassium carbonate - potash - released an astonishing amount of energy.

"It generates a lot of heat in a very small volume," said Christopher Eccles, the chief scientist at Gardner Watts.

The findings of the Gardner Watts team were tested by Dr Jason Riley of Bristol University, who found energy gains of between three and 26 times what had been put in.

In a written report, Dr Riley concluded: "Using the apparatus supplied by Gardner Watts and the procedure of analysis suggested by the company, there appears to be an energy gain in the system."

In tests performed for The Telegraph, the cell heated water to near-boiling, apparently producing more than three times the amount of energy fed into it.

Scientists admit to being astonished by the sheer size of the energy increase produced by the cell. "I've never seen a claim like this before," said Prof Stephen Smith of the physics department at Essex University.

"In the case of cold fusion, people talked about getting a 10 per cent energy gain or so, which could be explained away quite easily but this is much too big for that."

Prof Smith said he was sceptical about the theory put forward by the company. He conceded, however, that scientists had also been baffled by the source of energy driving radioactivity, as the key equation involved - Einstein's famous E=MC2 - had yet to be discovered.

According to Prof Smith, if there is a flaw in the company's claims, it lies in the measurement of the amount of electrical energy pumped into the cell. It is possible that, as sparks pass between the electrodes, there is an energy surge which would not be picked up by the instruments measuring the electrical input.

Prof Smith said: "This needs to be very carefully checked, as there could be far more energy going in than the makers think."

Prof Smith's views were echoed by Dr Riley, who said: "There's no doubt that there was a heat rise but I'd like to see a more thorough investigation of the electrical energy supplied into the cell."

While many scientists are trying to solve the mystery of the thermal energy cell, its huge commercial potential has already caused interest.

Cambridge Consultants, one of Britain's most prestigious technology consultancies, has teamed up with Mr Davies and his colleagues to develop a working prototype. "We've had a multi-disciplinary team working on this, and we're perplexed," said Duncan Bishop, head of process development at Cambridge Consultants.

"We are offering to risk-share on it, as it will need about £200,000 to prove the principle behind it."

According to the Gardner Watts team, it will take about six months to carry out tests putting the reality of the effect beyond all doubt. The company then plans to develop a prototype capable of turning less than one kilowatt of electrical power into 10 kilowatts of heat.

Mr Davies said: "The technology could be licensed by a company making household boilers for the domestic market. " He added that the plan is to have the first thermal energy cell devices on the market within two years.


TOPICS: Extended News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Technical; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: energy; fraud; hmmmmm; tinfoil
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The latest perpetual motion machine?
1 posted on 05/18/2003 4:34:18 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
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To: bruinbirdman
A machine that creates unlimited quantities of energy for virtually nothing: I'll take a dozen.
2 posted on 05/18/2003 4:37:33 PM PDT by Petronski (I'm not always cranky.)
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To: bruinbirdman
Why does Flubber come to mind?
3 posted on 05/18/2003 4:37:49 PM PDT by Hebrews 11:6 (Look it up!)
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To: Hebrews 11:6
The flux capacitor?
4 posted on 05/18/2003 4:40:42 PM PDT by Mark (Treason doth never prosper, for if it prosper, NONE DARE CALL IT TREASON.)
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To: Petronski
Send them about $320,000 and they will make you rich.

yitbos

5 posted on 05/18/2003 4:42:17 PM PDT by bruinbirdman (Veritas vos liberabit)
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To: PatrickHenry; Physicist; ThinkPlease; RadioAstronomer
crank science/free-energy madness placemarker
6 posted on 05/18/2003 4:43:46 PM PDT by longshadow
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To: bruinbirdman
"water and potash"

Don't drink the bongwater- put it in your perpetual motion machine dude!

7 posted on 05/18/2003 4:44:28 PM PDT by mrsmith
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To: bruinbirdman
Governor Doofus of Kalifornia may be interested in this.....an "all or nothing" last play.
8 posted on 05/18/2003 4:44:32 PM PDT by Mark (Treason doth never prosper, for if it prosper, NONE DARE CALL IT TREASON.)
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To: bruinbirdman
There is such a thing as being too skeptical. These guys are being pretty cautious in their claims, and they seem more than willing to stand up to peer review. The money they are requesting could easily be raised from private sources who would be fully appraised of the risks. I say let them have a go at it, and let the world see the results.
9 posted on 05/18/2003 4:45:39 PM PDT by Billy_bob_bob ("He who will not reason is a bigot;He who cannot is a fool;He who dares not is a slave." W. Drummond)
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To: Hebrews 11:6
Hebrews 11:6 (look it up!) ok,

But without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that cometh to Jesus must believe that God is, and that Jesus is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

10 posted on 05/18/2003 4:45:53 PM PDT by 2timothy3.16
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To: Petronski
As I recall, potash is potassium hydroxide, not potassium carbonate.
11 posted on 05/18/2003 4:47:51 PM PDT by bert (Don't Panic !)
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To: bruinbirdman
I can do better than that.. With only a couple watts I produce several hundred BTUs instantly. Fire crackers anyone?

12 posted on 05/18/2003 4:51:10 PM PDT by aSkeptic (Hi)
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To: longshadow
Count me in.
13 posted on 05/18/2003 4:51:29 PM PDT by PatrickHenry (Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.)
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To: bruinbirdman
According to Prof Smith, if there is a flaw in the company's claims, it lies in the measurement of the amount of electrical energy pumped into the cell. It is possible that, as sparks pass between the electrodes, there is an energy surge which would not be picked up by the instruments measuring the electrical input.

Prof Smith said: "This needs to be very carefully checked, as there could be far more energy going in than the makers think."

Prof Smith's views were echoed by Dr Riley, who said: "There's no doubt that there was a heat rise but I'd like to see a more thorough investigation of the electrical energy supplied into the cell."

Not hard to prove, use batteries, feed the device with one 12 volt deep cycle battery rated at 220 amp hours. take the energy out of the unit charging three 12 volt deep cycle battteries of the same type and brand as the one feeding the project with. You will know very quickly if you are producing more or less energy than you are feeding the device.

14 posted on 05/18/2003 4:52:17 PM PDT by 2timothy3.16
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To: bruinbirdman; RightWhale
I'm selling all my oil stocks tomorrow. <>
15 posted on 05/18/2003 4:52:46 PM PDT by blam
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To: bruinbirdman
"In results independently verified at Bristol University, a team from Gardner Watts - an environmental technology company based in Dedham, Essex - show a "thermal energy cell" which appears to produce (hundreds) of times more energy than that put into it. "

"In tests performed for The Telegraph, the cell heated water to near-boiling, apparently producing (more than three times) the amount of energy fed into it.

Big difference between "hundreds" and "more than three times"

16 posted on 05/18/2003 4:52:49 PM PDT by lstanle
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To: bert
Potassium carbonate.... K2CO3...or...

Synonyms: Carbonic acid, dipotassium salt; Pearl ash; Salt of tartar; Potash; salt of wormwood; Dipotassium carbonate; Carbonate of Potash.

Actually, potash can be made from potassium hydroxide (KOH).

17 posted on 05/18/2003 4:53:38 PM PDT by SAJ
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Comment #18 Removed by Moderator

To: bruinbirdman
Combine that with the earlier story on Discover.com about someone coming up with a way to recycle organic garbage into fuel.

Does all this coincide with the realization that things in Iraq are simply not going as smoothly as we had hoped and the vision of a stable, pro-American, Iraqi client state is years away at best if ever ? That maybe the Arab world is unsalvageable and will simply have to be reduced to penury by destroying their one and only livelihood ?
19 posted on 05/18/2003 4:55:23 PM PDT by Tokhtamish
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To: bruinbirdman; wardaddy
LMAO........Along the same lines ....when I drop a piece of buttered bread it falls butter side down every time. When I throw my neighbors kitty cat back over their fence it lands on it's feet every time.

Now my question is this.....If I tape a piece of buttered bread to the back of my neighbors kitty cat will the combination defy gravity ?

Stay Safe !

20 posted on 05/18/2003 4:58:13 PM PDT by Squantos (Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt.)
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