Here’s Krivit’s take:
Rossi Manipulates Academics to Create Illusion of Independent Test
May 21, 2013 – By Steven B. Krivit –
On May 16, Hanno Essén, a theoretical physicist and lecturer at the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology, submitted a paper to arXiv, the physics pre-print server, and claimed that he and several co-authors performed an independent test of an E-Cat device that was built by Andrea Rossi. Essén submitted a revised version of the paper on May 20.
The authors of the paper did not perform an independent test; instead, they were participants in another Rossi demonstration and performed measurements on one of Rossi’s devices in his facility.
New Energy Times stopped counting the Rossi demonstrations after the 13th one on Feb. 12, 2012. (See Andrea Rossi Energy Catalyzer Master Timeline.)
The authors of the paper lack full knowledge of the type and preparation of the materials used in the reactor and the modulation of input power, which, according to the paper, were industrial trade secrets.
The authors didn’t perform any calorimetry and used a method to measure temperature to extrapolate output power that neither they nor anyone in the field of low-energy nuclear reaction research has ever used to analyze for heat power or energy.
In response to a question from New Energy Times about whether he had full knowledge of how to perform and operate the experiment, Essén effectively confirmed that he had not replicated the experiment.
“No, but I am sure that I could repeat it with some effort,” Essén wrote.
Essén is the former chairman of the Swedish Skeptics Association, and his co-authors are Giuseppe Levi (University of Bologna), Evelyn Foschi (Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics-Bologna), and Torbjörn Hartman, Bo Höistad, Roland Pettersson and Lars Tegnér (Uppsala University).
Andrea Rossi is a convicted white-collar criminal with a string of failed energy ventures. (Report #5: Rossi’s Profitable Career in Science) His most notorious endeavor was his effort between 1970 and 1990 to turn industrial waste into fuel. Rossi’s company produced only toxic waste and environmental damage to the land and groundwater in the Milan, Italy, area. (Rossi’s Italian Financial and Environmental Criminal History)
New Energy Times questioned Essén about the March 18-23, 2013, experiment that was, according to the paper, carried out by Essén and his co-authors.
SBK: In whose building/premises was the experiment performed?
HE: In Rossi’s facilities in Ferrara.
SBK: Who set up the experiment?
HE: Giuseppe Levi and Evelyn Foschi – within the constraints set by Rossi.
SBK: Who purchased or acquired the materials used in the reactor?
HE: Rossi.
SBK: Do you have full knowledge of the type and preparation of the materials used in the reactor?
HE: No.
SBK: Do you have full knowledge of how to perform and operate the experiment?
HE: No, but I am sure that I could repeat it with some effort.
SBK: Who acquired or supplied the instrumentation?
HE: Giuseppe Levi mainly, with some input from the Uppsala group.
SBK: Who tested and/or calibrated the instrumentation?
HE: Levi and Foschi did the main work, but several cross-checks were done by the rest of the participants. The temperature measurement cameras were checked on boiling water. The electric measurements were checked with standard resistors.
SBK: At any time during the 116 hours of the experiment was Rossi at any of the controls?
HE: Not that I recall. He showed us his ongoing projects in general but did not participate in the measurements.
SBK: Do you know of any other experiment performed in this field in which infrared measurements were made not just to acquire temperature readings but also to analyze for total heat enthalpy?
HE: No.
SBK: Do you know of any other experiment performed outside this field in which infrared measurements were made not just to obtain temperature readings but also to analyze for total heat enthalpy?
HE: No.
SBK: Is there any reason you did not use either mass-flow calorimetry or envelope calorimetry to analyze for total heat enthalpy?
HE: Yes, practical reasons. The current setup made it difficult. (Practical reasons determined by the reactor, its placement, and the available equipment.)
SBK: Who paid for the travel expenses of the Swedish participants in the test?
HE: All travel and living expenses were paid by Swedish and Bologna university sources.
The reason that thermal imaging is not typically used in the detection of LENR excess heat is that the amount of heat generated is usually small, so sensitive means are needed to extract the signal from the background. That is not the case here.
"SBK: Do you know of any other experiment performed outside this field in which infrared measurements were made not just to obtain temperature readings but also to analyze for total heat enthalpy?"
This basically shows Krivit's technological illiteracy. Thermal imaging is routinely used to determine heat balances in many fields of engineering. It is a vast improvement over past methods (typically "hot-wire" visual comparison) in places where it is difficult to impossible to place sensors. I've used the "hot wire" approach (long ago), and thermal cameras are MUCH better.