Condensed Matter Nuclear Reactions in Nano-Materials

NASA, ARPA-E ^ | October 2021 | Lawrence P. Forsley

[Kevmo]

Condensed Matter Nuclear Reactions in Nano-Materials

ARPA-E Workshop on Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions October 21-22, 2021

With additional backup slides that weren’t presented at the Workshop.

Workshop presenters with additional details are in “[…]”.

Lawrence P. Forsley

CTO, GEC

Deputy PI, NASA Lattice Confinement Fusion Project

Research Fellow, University of Texas, Austin, Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory

lawrence.p.forsley@nasa.gov Co-PI, Naval Surface Warfare Centers

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Have We Found the Keys to the Kingdom?

• Pd used as a hydrogen gas separator/purifier. [Benyo]

• Has a unique electronic structure: 4d10 <> 4d95s1 : paramagnetic and ferromagnetic states

• Pd will load H/D, e.g. PdDx to x < .56, 𝛼 >> 𝛽 phase

• Fleischmann and Pons used electrolysis to bulk load x > .9, but takes days to weeks to load

• McKubre has shown bulk PdDx, x > .86 for onset of LENR heat. [McKubre]

• Szpak showed electrolytic Pd/D co-deposition rapidly loads x≈ 1.0 [Mosier-Boss]

SEM analysis shows a size range from nm to 𝜇m scales

Miles and Barham: watts thermal

• Storms suggests nm fissures provide a nuclear active environment (NAE)

• Staker observed and created Pd Super-Abundant Vacancies (SAV) allowing high-densities of hydrogen isotopes

• DeChiaro modeled itinerant ferromagnetism and SAV

• Pianitelli, Takahashi, Celani and others have found Excess Heat: NiCu exhibit excess heat with hydrogen

LENR requires multiple science and engineering disciplines.

-------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions remain: Scaling, self-operating, reaction products, life-time, triggering, mechanisms.

Common Features of LENR-Active Nano-Materials

Less appreciated

The roles of magnetic order and disorder

Bulk Ni Curie Point ≈ 354 ,

Nanoparticle Curie Point T less than bulk material

Pd is paramagnetic

ZrO2 in contact with Pd strains the lattice induces ferromagnetism

PdH and PdD are superconductors0

Superconductor YBCODx is LENR Active11 Is LENR a topological phenomena?

Is magnetism a key?

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Assessment of Needs

Experimental Improvement (minimum sensitivity to detect rare products or swamped by background)

High Temperature Calorimetry

Range 30 C – 500 C, > 100 mW sensitivity

Nuclear, HPGe, RF, IR, UV diagnostics, (> 5 sigma over background)

in situ and adjacent to operating devices: watch out for cosmogenic muons and neutrons, natural BG radiation

Real-time energetic particle spectroscopy preferred: TOF if possible (gold standard for particle energy)

Witness materials with HPGe insitu, post HPGe monitoring and material assays

Material assay and limitations (interferences) Indicates the roles of various structures and materials, contaminants

SEM/EDX: wide area FOV, qualitative surface structure, limited elemental sensitivity (parts per ten thousand)

ICP-MS: quantitative, isotope specific, but multi-ion (e.g. Hn+, Ar feed gas) complexes, ppb-ppm

TOF-SIMS: isotope specific, qualitative, small FOV, ppb-ppm

NAA/PGNAA: quantitative, isotope specific, limited isotope detection, ppt-ppm

Alpha/Beta Liquid Scintillator Spectrometer: tritium, activation products, limited energy resolution, ppm

• Patent Rights • Licensing

USPTO treats LENR heat as “perpetual motion”, hence, unpatentable, yet necessary for investment and commercialization

NRC and IAEA providence

Patents and patent interference

• Health Physics Concerns

Nanoparticles, especially non-encapsulated Ni-based nanopowder and their escape via seal and valve seat fouling

Self-generated B and EM fields

Bremsstrahlung radiation

Neutron radiation

Fundamentally, there is a need to run longer with simultaneous diagnostic measurements to correlate effects.

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Possible ARPA-E Program Going Forward

Drive towards LENR/Lattice Confinement Fusion (LCF) Scaling

Self-sustaining operation

Establish LENR/LCF lifetime, power output/gm, available Delta T

Thermal or direct power conversion

Path to Commercialization: Watts, kW or MW?

Investigate multiple LENR/LCF-capable experiments: “Lab rats”

• Develop predictive modeling of materials and nuclear effects

Setup cooperative teams: share knowledge and findings!

Catch-22: Government agencies won’t recognize LENR unless Tier 1 journals publish results. These journals won’t publish results unless LENR is recognized by these agencies.

Publish results in “Tier 1” journals

Recognition by scientific and engineering communities

Acceptance by government agencies and universities

Harness private sector funding

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Beyond ARPA-E Program

Multi-agency supported LENR/LCF Program

Foreign entity participation

Develop university and student support to create the technology workforce

Deploy the technology

[Kevmo]

Excess Heat Duration Mass Material Wt/g Joules

• Arata: 10 Wt 12 weeks 3 g Pd-black nanoparticles w/D2 3.3 73 MJ

• Takahashi 226 Wt several weeks [5] 505 g CuNi nanoparticles w/H2 0.45 683 MJ

• Ahern: 21 Wt 5 days 5 g PdNi nanopowder w/D2 4.2 9 MJ

• Celani: 18 Wt 5 hours 0.45 g CuNi nanolayers w/H2 or D2 40.0 324 kJ

[Kevmo]

  

  


 

Excess Heat in Watts
Duration	  Mass	   Material	   Wt/g	   Joules

•  Arata: 

10 Wt

12 weeks	3 g 	Pd-black nanoparticles w/D2	3.3  Wt/g 	73 MJ


•  Takahashi

226 Wt

several weeks [5]	505 g 	CuNi nanoparticles w/H2	0.45  Wt/g 	683 MJ

•  Ahern: 

21 Wt

5 days	5 g 	PdNi nanopowder w/D2	4.2  Wt/g           9 MJ

• Celani: 

18 Wt

5 hours	0.45 g CuNi nanolayers w/H2 or D2	40.0	Wt/g       324 kJ

[Kevmo]

The Cold Fusion/LENR Ping List

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/lenr/index?tab=articles

Keywords: ColdFusion; LENR; lanr; CMNS
chat—science

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http://lenr-canr.org/

Vortex-L
http://tinyurl.com/pxtqx3y

Acronyms:
LENR: Low Energy Nuclear Reactions. [Also Lattice Enabled Nuclear Reactions, but seldom used]
CANR: Chemical Assisted Nuclear Reactions [fallen into disuse along with LANR/Lattice Assisted Nuclear Reactions]
CMNS: Condensed Matter Nuclear Science
LCF: Lattice Confined Fusion [NASA’s term for it]
AHE: Anomolous Heating Effect. Also PFAHE, for the Pons-Fleischmann AHE.

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Best book to get started on this subject:
EXCESS HEAT
Why Cold Fusion Research Prevailed by Charles Beaudette

https://www.abebooks.com/9780967854809/Excess-Heat-Why-Cold-Fusion-0967854806/plp

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Updated No Internal Trolling Rules for FR per Jim Robinson

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3928396/posts

“If someone says stop, then stop. Do not enter onto a thread on a topic you don’t like just to disrupt, rattle cages, poke sticks, insult the regulars, or engage in trolling activities, etc.” ~Jim Robinson

The issue isn’t whether we allow skepticism, it is whether we allow hyperskeptics and skeptopaths to ruin the scientific dialog. Such FReepers who persist in polluting these threads have been asked to leave, and we are asking that they open their own threads if they have comments.

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[Steely Tom]

Thanks Kevmo.

I calculate that Arata's results generate the thermal energy equivalent of 529 grams of gasoline for each gram of deuterium. I'm assuming the "Material" column indicates the mass of deuterium used, not the mass of palladium nanopowder, which is not consumed.

Way to much to be an accident, experimental error, or to be the result of chemical processes.

Even so, only a tiny fraction of the deuterium would have undergone fusion, which would release something like one hundred million times more energy per gram than would gasoline. Only a few micrograms of D₂ would have actually fused.

[Kevmo]

I don’t think they’re measuring how much H2 or D2 is going in.

From slide 4 of the pdf. Look at the Materials, and how much they weighed.

Arata (nano-Pd black/D2 double cathode) [Narita &Nagle]

Material: 20 nm diameter, Pd black, 3 g

Triggering: Electrolytically loaded, [1 kbar D2]

Excess Heat: 5 – 10 W, continuous

Duration: 12 weeks

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Celani (CuNiMn & oxide nanolayers, D2 or H2)
Material: Mod. Constantan [Cu55Ni44Mn] w/oxides, 0.45g
Triggering: Thermal, 50 Hz A/C stimulation, 600 V, heating
Excess Heat: 18 Wt with 99.7 W Joule heating
Duration: 5 hours

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Ahern (nano-PdNiZrO2/D2)
Material: 10 nm diameter PdNiZrO2 powder, 5 g
Triggering: Thermal, T > 360 ℃. [Ni Curie Point, 358 ℃]
Excess Heat: ~ 21 watts, not repeated
Duration: 5 days, terminated for evaluation

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Takahashi (PdNiZrO2 & CuNiZrO2 nanopowders) [Narita]
Material: PdNi10/ZrO2 (PNZ10), Cu3Ni7/ZrO2 (CNZ7) 505 g
Triggering: Thermal?
Excess Heat: PNZ10rr 186 W/kg D2
CNZ7rr 226 W/kg H2
reaction energy (η-value) 10^3 to 10^5 eV/D
Duration: several weeks