Waiting for the Cat to Roar (Guest Post)

The following guest post has been submitted by Rick Allen.

Hopefully soon, a new report detailing an extended test of the high temperature version of the E-Cat or Energy Catalyzer will be released, and expectations for this report are high. For many reasons, many of us who have been following this saga hope the results will not only prove — yet again — that the technology works as claimed, but also that the paper bursts through the barriers set up by the establishment media. So what am I hoping for in the report? The answer is a demonstration of a self sustaining system and a high COP.

The last third party report was impressive. Except to the most skeptical of cynics, it demonstrated the E-Cat produces kilowatts of excess heat far beyond any possible chemical source; basically, that there is no way Rossi could be hiding a lithium ion battery in the reactor. This should be huge, earth shattering news. Every news network should be featuring stories about this technology. Of course due to the negativity and bias of the scientific community, the results of the last test barely made it past a few popular online blogs. It’s tragic that every tiny increase in solar panel efficiency is covered in detail by mainstream news sources, but the existence of an energy technology with the potential to make energy virtually free (in addition to completely clean) is ignored. There are a few reasons other than improved performance that the upcoming paper may create a greater stir: the involvement of more scientists, the extended length of the test, the location of the test being in a neutral setting, and the fact that Cherokee built the reactors. Of course, nothing can be more impressive than massive power output with minimal or no input.

In the previous test, a self sustained mode of operation was not utilized. That’s right. Despite the fact self sustain is mentioned in the report and Rossi talked about it, the E-Cat did not maintain the same temperature for any significant length of time when the input power was cut off. If you examine the graphs and charts provided in the report, it will become obvious that a pulsed mode was utilized, at least in the second test. In simple terms, the input power was turned on, the temperature/output spiked, the input was turned off, and the temperature/output dropped until the power was turned on again. Now, it is clearly obvious that more heat was produced than should have been due to the electrical input power. Also, after the power was cut off it seems some excess heat was being produced. But the truth is that the output did not self sustain.

This in no way means that the test was a failure. Actually, it was a huge success with one experiment showing a COP of 2.9 and another showing a COP of almost 5, but these positive results were achieved without self sustain mode being utilized.

One hope I have for the upcoming report is that it will contain data from self sustain mode. By this I mean that when the power is off the temperature and output of the reactor remains constant for a significant period of time (let’s say at least several minutes and not a few seconds). This would make the report stronger for a couple of different reasons. First, if the output remains constant without input, the COP of the test will be higher. Secondly, it would provide irrefutable evidence of an unknown source of power. A hot piece of metal falls in temperature quickly when power is not being applied. The hotter the piece of metal, the more rapidly it will fall in temperature. For example, a piece of metal at 1,000 degrees C will drop to 800 degrees C faster than a piece of metal at 400 degrees C would drop to 200 degrees C. If the E-Cat self sustains and maintains the same temperature for even a few minutes, that is absolute proof of anomalous power.

Another hope I have for the upcoming report is that the COP will be higher than 6. One way of achieving this is to use self sustain mode. However, simply allowing the reactor to reach a higher temperature, while keeping the input power the same as in previous tests, is a great way of accomplishing this. In the previous report, one of the two experiments produced an average surface temperature of approximately 500 degrees C and a COP of around 5. Because the amount of power a black body radiates increases dramatically with temperature, the same reactor at 1,000 C would produce 7 times the output. If the input remains the same, this means that the COP can be multiplied by 7. In this case, a result could be a device with a COP of 35.

A COP of 35 (or even 10) would be fantastic, but there are many unknowns that may prevent this: we don’t know if higher amounts of input power are required for higher temperatures (to either stimulate them if pulsed mode is used or control them if self sustain mode is used) and we don’t know if such high temperatures will be utilized in the test.

The best possible result we could hope for is that both a high temperature (such as 1,000C or higher) and self sustain mode are utilized. Rossi has stated that with the current systems he is working on, the goal is to have power on for only one fourth of the time. If you combine the output power increase from high temperatures with self sustain mode, the COP could go to very high levels.

What we now have to do is try to figure out what is a reasonable expectation when it comes to COP for the upcoming report. This is very difficult due to the fact there is a lot we don’t know about the E-Cat. Although Rossi has shared many bits of information with us, we don’t know exactly how the charge responds to heat or the application of power. We also don’t know what allows the system to go into self sustain mode. I’m going to make a few conservative guesses here.

1) Most likely, self sustained mode will not be utilized. I hope I’m wrong, but I expect a version of the pulsed mode will be used. If we are lucky the power used will not be too much greater than in the previous test and the periods between pulses will be longer. This will contribute to a higher COP.

2) Most likely, temperatures of over 1,000 degrees C will not be achieved. I expect that a temperature above 500 degrees C will be achieved. This will result in more power being produced than in the last test. If the input is the same, this will contribute to a higher COP.

3) The cat and mouse configuration will be used. We really do not know a lot about this configuration, but I hope that it allows for self sustain mode. Most likely, this setup will at least allow for less input power during pulse mode.

My hope is that the COP turns out to be at least 6 to 10. A COP of less than 6 would make the technology complicated and more expensive to implement. If the COP is greater than 6, it will mean that the technology is ready to change the world.

If self sustain mode is not demonstrated in the test, I hope that Industrial Heat shifts their priorities to obtain it. Although we know the technology can already self sustain – in one test a device self sustained, went out of control, and produced a million watts of heat for several seconds or minutes – but the issue is getting it to do so safely.

Rick Allen