The following was submitted to this thread by Mike the Engineer
Warning: long epistle follows. Sorry, but readers will understand my excitement.
The test results are to me quite compelling. I will note the calculated COP includes all the heat loss from the wires supplying the current. Based just on delivery of power to the reactor I get more like a 5.6 number. In real life you won’t design your power supply wires to be glowing red hot. Bigger diameter wires and also you will recover that heat. You wouldn’t have a 5.6 COP due to inefficiencies in delivering power, but it would be greater than the 3.9.
Implications: Eventual energy independence for the USA. Clean non-polluting energy, certainly reducing carbon footprint. Electric bills cut in half, at least. This aids the entire economy. Europe will not have to be extorted by the Russians. I don’t see everyone going off the grid right away, but we will have cheaper electricity (50% cheaper?) and eventually will use less of it. Don’t see this as a replacement for gasoline in cars, just yet. But perhaps conversion to a modern Stanley Steamer some day. No flying cars. Jets and airplanes will still need aviation fuel. Coal, solar and wind will be hardest hit. No new nuclear plants built. Natural gas will still be in demand. Liquid hydrocarbons gradually trend down.
Okay, here is my engineering analysis: It appears you need to maintain electric power to the reactor, not just an initial jump start. This means you have a heavy power system (or else you stay connected to the grid). Efficient but heavy. This limits on aviation and also at least initially on cars.
Certainly can operate up to 1400 C, which is plenty good to extract work efficiently. I see a simple way to convert most of our existing power plants to the e-cat. Use a set of these reactor rods to heat all incoming air to very hot temps, say 2300 F. Hotter if the reactors can take it. Turn off your burners and force circulate this hot air through existing power plant boilers. You’ll make your steam, just like you used to. Steam will go to drive the same turbines to spin them and make electricity to the grid. Additionally, this is now a closed air circuit. You can recirculate this now cooler air back to the front and reheat. No loss of heat to the stack. You might need some natural gas for the superheaters. All your pollution control equipment can be dismantled. This would be a straightforward conversion easily performed by any number of engineering firms. Quick payback on capital investments as well.
With little or no costs for fossil fuel I would estimate your electricity cost might halve? From 14 cents to 7 cents per kilowatt hour. The entire economy would get a boost. Someone could check me on this. Other ways t o extrac t work would be, if it were possible, to weld or bond external jacket around these rods and directly heat your water. If jacket can be made of a material such that jacket can be welded to contain high pressure high temp water, then you have an even more direct transfer of heat. Molten salt would be a third alternative.
For home use I don’t see us going off the grid, you would need a miniature steam plant, unless there is some way to efficiently and directly convert heat to electricity, we don’t have that yet, unless Stirling engines could be used. But right now you would have a high efficiency energy source coupled with a low efficiency engine (Stirling). Needs more research.
However – clearly these reactors could clearly be used for direct heating of homes and office buildings and hot water. That’s non-trivial. Could it be used for air conditioning? Perhaps. There are refrigeration cycles that use heat for A/C. However, they’re inefficient and relatively capital intensive compared to other refrigeration technologies. But … perhaps. Overall effect would be to reduce your electric needs from the grid even more.
Benefits will not be immediate. More research needed. But IH doesn’t have to do all this by themselves. Once they can demonstrate a stable and safe product, they just manufacture the reactor components to sell, and /or license manufacture of reactors to trusted third parties. The American engineering system will figure out everything else. Implementation will take time however.
Engineering Analysis of the E-Cat Test (Mike the Engineer)
The following was submitted to this thread by Mike the Engineer
Warning: long epistle follows. Sorry, but readers will understand my excitement.
The test results are to me quite compelling. I will note the calculated COP includes all the heat loss from the wires supplying the current. Based just on delivery of power to the reactor I get more like a 5.6 number. In real life you won’t design your power supply wires to be glowing red hot. Bigger diameter wires and also you will recover that heat. You wouldn’t have a 5.6 COP due to inefficiencies in delivering power, but it would be greater than the 3.9.
Implications: Eventual energy independence for the USA. Clean non-polluting energy, certainly reducing carbon footprint. Electric bills cut in half, at least. This aids the entire economy. Europe will not have to be extorted by the Russians. I don’t see everyone going off the grid right away, but we will have cheaper electricity (50% cheaper?) and eventually will use less of it. Don’t see this as a replacement for gasoline in cars, just yet. But perhaps conversion to a modern Stanley Steamer some day. No flying cars. Jets and airplanes will still need aviation fuel. Coal, solar and wind will be hardest hit. No new nuclear plants built. Natural gas will still be in demand. Liquid hydrocarbons gradually trend down.
Okay, here is my engineering analysis: It appears you need to maintain electric power to the reactor, not just an initial jump start. This means you have a heavy power system (or else you stay connected to the grid). Efficient but heavy. This limits on aviation and also at least initially on cars.
Certainly can operate up to 1400 C, which is plenty good to extract work efficiently. I see a simple way to convert most of our existing power plants to the e-cat. Use a set of these reactor rods to heat all incoming air to very hot temps, say 2300 F. Hotter if the reactors can take it. Turn off your burners and force circulate this hot air through existing power plant boilers. You’ll make your steam, just like you used to. Steam will go to drive the same turbines to spin them and make electricity to the grid. Additionally, this is now a closed air circuit. You can recirculate this now cooler air back to the front and reheat. No loss of heat to the stack. You might need some natural gas for the superheaters. All your pollution control equipment can be dismantled. This would be a straightforward conversion easily performed by any number of engineering firms. Quick payback on capital investments as well.
With little or no costs for fossil fuel I would estimate your electricity cost might halve? From 14 cents to 7 cents per kilowatt hour. The entire economy would get a boost. Someone could check me on this. Other ways t o extrac t work would be, if it were possible, to weld or bond external jacket around these rods and directly heat your water. If jacket can be made of a material such that jacket can be welded to contain high pressure high temp water, then you have an even more direct transfer of heat. Molten salt would be a third alternative.
For home use I don’t see us going off the grid, you would need a miniature steam plant, unless there is some way to efficiently and directly convert heat to electricity, we don’t have that yet, unless Stirling engines could be used. But right now you would have a high efficiency energy source coupled with a low efficiency engine (Stirling). Needs more research.
However – clearly these reactors could clearly be used for direct heating of homes and office buildings and hot water. That’s non-trivial. Could it be used for air conditioning? Perhaps. There are refrigeration cycles that use heat for A/C. However, they’re inefficient and relatively capital intensive compared to other refrigeration technologies. But … perhaps. Overall effect would be to reduce your electric needs from the grid even more.
Benefits will not be immediate. More research needed. But IH doesn’t have to do all this by themselves. Once they can demonstrate a stable and safe product, they just manufacture the reactor components to sell, and /or license manufacture of reactors to trusted third parties. The American engineering system will figure out everything else. Implementation will take time however.