Many thanks to Hank Mills for submitting this guest post to E-Cat World
As the politicians and media pundits of the world continue to banter on about gas prices, the cost of energy and global warming, they continue to ignore the technological breakthrough that will bring about an end to the age of fossil fuels. Since January of 2011, the existence of a breakthrough energy technology has been known by a minority of the population that actually take the time to follow the development of exotic energy technologies. This technology is Andrea Rossi’s E-Cat, or “Energy Catalyzer.”
For those who are not aware, the E-Cat is a “cold fusion” device that produces energy in a safe and extremely cost effective manner by “fusing” nickel powder and hydrogen gas at relatively low temperatures — hundreds of degrees Celsius instead of millions of degrees like on the surface of the sun. The result of this fusion process (among other nuclear reactions that may take place) is the release of a massive amount of heat, that can be utilized to perform work. This heat can be used for applications that require heating, or can be used to produce steam that can be ran through a turbine to generate electricity. To produce this energy no radioactive elements are utilized and no nuclear waste is produced. Instead, a portion of the nickel (over a long period of time) is converted — transmuted — into copper. Also, the technology is safe, because no “nuclear meltdown” is possible. If the reactor core becomes too hot, the nickel powder melts, the reaction ends, and the heat production stops.
Interestingly, the majority of the population is clueless about the existence of this technology. But since Andrea Rossi allowed the first public test in January of 2011, the technology has been rapidly evolving and improving. It has went from a slightly unstable prototype capable of producing kilowatts of power (in the form of heat) at low temperatures (around 100C), to a device closer to puurfection. Lets take a look at how the E-Cat technology has changed and improved over the past year and a half.
The first E-Cat demonstrated to the public demonstrated a large gain of energy by phase changing liquid water into a gas phase to produce steam. However, the steam was fairly low temperature, and the device was not practical yet, or at least not as robust as it needed to be for commercial applications.
As the year 2011 continued, more tests of the E-Cat took place. One such test was performed by Dr. Levi of the University of Bologna. In one test he performed an E-Cat with a reactor core volume of approximately one liter produced an average 15 kilowatts for 18 hours, utilizing on average less than 100 watts of electrical input. What made this test even more significant, is that during one portion of the test the output spiked to approximately 120 kilowatts for a period of time. To prevent the reactor from getting too hot and melting the nickel powder, the reactor had to be throttled down. This test was not only yet another demonstration that the E-Cat is capable of producing robust amounts of power, but that the power density can be incredible.
More tests were performed as the year went by, and different sizes and designs of E-Cats were built and tested. One such E-Cat had a reactor core of approximately 50 cubic centimeters (the size of a D Cell battery), but had a rated power output of 2.5 kilowatts and a maximum safe output (in torture testing) of 10 kilowatts. These smaller reactors were tested and proven to produce large amounts of power.
One issue that should be addressed about the E-Cat technology is that as the temperature inside of the reactor core increases, it is more difficult to keep the output stable. For example, the nuclear reactions can start to suddenly accelerate, and a sudden burst of heat can be produced. If the device is not brought under control and the temperature reduced, the nuclear reactions could continue to increase until the nickel powder melts. The result would be a “dead” E-Cat that would have to be re-fueled. In a commercial product, this is not acceptable. So near the end of 2011, Andrea Rossi designed a new type of reactor that would be used in the first prototype of a one megawatt plant.
The one megawatt plant was tested in October and produced almost half a megawatt of power for many hours. The consulting engineer (a thermodynamics expert that has been working on thermal systems and boilers for many years) of the customer — the military — was satisfied with the test, and signed off on the results. However, the development of the E-Cat would continue. The E-Cat needed to be made so that it could produce higher steam temperatures in a stable manner.
High temperatures are important, because they can be used to produce high temperature steam. Most of the electrical power generated in the world is produced by using high temperature steam of around 400C – 500C or higher to spin turbines which then turn generators. The higher the temperature of the steam the higher the efficiency of heat to electrical conversion can be. With only low temperature steam (100C) the E-Cat could be very useful in producing low grade heat, but the conversion process to electricity would be inefficient.
In 2012 the public tests of new models of E-Cat units stopped. However, the private testing continued. Andrea Rossi along with the military customer continued working on the technology and it was recently announced that testing confirms that the E-Cat can now produce steam at 600C in a stable manner. This is huge news, because 600C is a temperature that is higher than what some conventional power plants generate. With this temperature of steam, heat can be converted to electricity at high efficiency (45% or higher). Basically, the E-Cat technology is now capable of providing all the electricity our world needs.
Andrea Rossi has also announced that in the coming weeks when the latest tests are completed, he will post test data from them on his blog, the Journal of Nuclear Physics. This test data should be very interesting, because it will be evidence not only of a cold fusion technology that can produce a huge output, but also a very high temperature output. Basically, the E-Cat technology now has everything cold fusion researchers have been dreaming about for the last 20 or so years since Pons and Fleischmann made their press conference. The E-Cat……
— Utilizes no precious metals or expensive materials. The fuel is nickel and hydrogen. The catalyst is said to be 1/10th the cost of the nickel.
— Utilizes no radioactive materials.
— Produces no nuclear waste. Copper and small amounts of other stable elements are produced.
— Produces little radiation. The little that is produced can be easily shielded.
— Produces a high COP.
— Produces a huge amount of output — kilowatts instead of watts like other cold fusion systems.
— Produces high temperature steam up to 600C.
This technology is going to change the world. If this technology is widely adopted, it will bring an end to the fossil fuel age. All other forms of conventional energy will be obsolete. Oil, natural gas, coal, wind, hydro-electric, and solar will all be phased out.
An additional fascinating thing to note is that the massive improvement of this technology in a year and a half — utilizing probably only a few engineers and scientists — is not going to stop. It will continue. I expect once this technology launches that within five years cars will be using the technology, solid state cold fusion batteries will be on the market, and E-Cats will be used in space craft. Maybe an E-Cat could provide power for a colony on the moon?
In the short term, I expect within the first year after the world recognizes this technology exists the maximum steam temperature the technology can produce while remaining stable will go even higher. The COP will probably increase as well. A COP of six is already very high (hot fusion technology with billions of dollars in funding has never produced a COP of even 1.1), but in time it will go even higher.
The E-Cat revolution is about to be upon us. It is only a matter of time now until the first products are launched, they start being utilized by businesses and homes, and the next scientific revolution begins. The existence of a “cold fusion” technology that the mainstream scientific community claimed was impossible will prove to the world that nothing is impossible. Due to the E-Cat, the world 20 years from now will be nothing like the world today.
Lets get ready for the launch of the E-Cat technology.
Hank Mills
