Session Y33: Cold Fusion

Justifying Condensed Matter Nuclear Phenomena Using Hot Fusion Data

The selective resonant tunneling model [1] has been successful in describing 6 major fusion cross-section data (d+T, d+D, d+He3, t+T, t+He3, p+D). The new formula needs only 3 parameters; however, it gives much better results than what were given by the 5-parameter formula in NRL Plasma Formulary. It provides an opportunity to find the resonance energy level which is necessary to explain the Condensed Matter Nuclear Phenomena in metal-hydrides. The proton-lithium fusion data, the astrophysical S-factor data, the K-electron capture data of beryllium, and the anomalous ratio of the isotope abundance of lithium in palladium-hydride (7Li/6Li) will be presented as an example for this justification. Thus, selective resonant tunneling model explains not only the 3 puzzles in Condensed Matter Nuclear Science (i.e. tunneling the Coulomb barrier, excess heat without commensurate neutron radiation, and the missing gamma radiation), but also 7 sets of hot fusion data. It predicts that there must be neutrino radiation accompanied with Condensed Matter Nuclear Phenomena in metal-hydrides. \\[4pt] [1] Xing Z. Li, et al., Nucl. Fusion 48 125003 (2008).   

-dimensional Symmetry Catalysts for A-Z Gas Loading Fusion

An epitaxial mating of a metal layer to a chemically stable ionic crystal minimizes system energy for cold fusion based on Bloch function symmetry and using gas loading and nm-Pd at a favored interface.[1] To achieve epitaxy second and third metal layers need to have imperfections. One thinks of the stable ionic crystal as a template and the nano-Pd solid as a malleable lattice. The interior volume of the nano-Pd solid has a face-centered cubic structure. ZrO2 was the template ionic crystal used in A-Z gas loading studies at elevated T in (2005). A template crystal using the sapphire crystal equivalent of a double-layer graphene crystal is suggested. Impurity Rh and Ru are suggested as impurity atoms in the nano-metal (as in gem-quality Zircon) and a amall amount of interstitial H in addition to dominant D as involved in diffusion. Ref. [1] ``Interface Modeling of Cold Fusion,'' Talbot A. Chubb, Proc. ICCF14, Book 2, pp 534-539 (2008).   

Comparison of Calorimetry: MIT and Fleischmann-Pons Systems

The history of cold fusion shows that the MIT heat conduction calorimetry in 1990 reported a sensitivity of 40 mW while the Fleischmann-Pons Dewar calorimetry achieved a sensitivity of 0.1 mW. Additional information about the MIT calorimetry allows a more detailed analysis. The major finding is that the MIT calorimetric cell was so well insulated with glass wool (2.5 cm in thickness) that the major heat transport pathway was out of the cell top rather than from the cell into the constant temperature water bath. It can be shown for the MIT calorimeter that 58\% of the heat transport was through the cell top and 42\% was from the cell into the water bath. Analysis of the Fleischmann-Pons Dewar cell shows that under conditions similar to the MIT experiments, almost all of the heat flow would be from the Dewar calorimetric cell to the constant temperature water bath. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the Fleischmann- Pons temperature measurements was 0.001 K versus 0.1 K for the MIT calorimetric cell. Evaluations of the calorimetric equations and data analysis methods leads to the conclusion that the Fleischmann-Pons calorimetry was far superior to that of MIT.   

Can LENR Energy Gains Exceed 1000?

Energy gain is defined as the energy realized from reactions divided by the energy required to produce those reactions. Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR) have already been measured to significantly exceed the energy gain of 10 projected from ITER,possibly 15 years from now. Electrochemical experiments using the Pd-D system have shown energy gains exceeding 10. Gas phase experiments with the Ni-H system were reported to yield energy gains of over 100. Neither of these reports has been adequately verified or reproduced. However, the question in the title still deserves consideration. If, as thought by many, it is possible to trigger nuclear reactions that yield MeV energies with chemical energies of the order of eV, then the most optimistic expectation is that LENR gains could approach one million. Hence, the very tentative answer to the question above is yes. However, if LENR could be initiated with some energy cost, and then continue to ``burn,'' very high energy gains might be realized. Consider a match and a pile of dry logs. The phenomenon termed ``heat after death'' will be examined to see if it might be the initial evidence for nuclear ``burning.''   

Lattice Assisted Nuclear Reactions From Nanostructured Metamaterials Electrically Driven at Their Optimal Operating Point

In lattice assisted nuclear reactions, hydrogen-loaded alloys enable near room temperature deuterium fusion and other nuclear reactions (1). The structural metamaterial shape of some D-loaded Pd nanostructures and deuterium flux (2) through them, driven by an applied electric field, appear to play decisive roles. The spiral Phusor$^{\textregistered}$-type cathode with open helical cylindrical geometry in a high electrical resistance solution is a LANR metamaterial design creating intrapalladial deuteron flow. Optimal operating point technology allows improved and more reproducible operation (3). LANR power gain can be considerable. In situ imaging has revealed that the excess power gain is linked to non-thermal near-IR emission when the LANR devices are operated at their OOP. LANR devices have shown power gains more than 200\%, and short term power gains to $\sim$8000\%. 1. Swartz, M, J. Sci. Exploration, 23, 4, 419-436 (2009). 2. Swartz, M, Fusion Technology, 22, 2, 296-300 (1992); 26, 4T, 74-77 (1994); 32, 126-130 (1997). 3. Swartz. M, Fusion Technology, 31, 63-74 (1997).   

The Use of SSNTD's in the Pd-D Co-deposition Experiment

An early derivative experiment of the original Fleischman-Pons electrochemical experiment [1-3] was that of Szpak et al [4-5]. Szpak et al. chose to electro- deposit bulk metal palladium on a conductive metal substrate from a deuterium oxide (D2O) solution of a Pd salt, as opposed to electrolytically loading a bulk Pd cathode in a D2O solution. Recent work, by Boss et al [6] has concentrated on using solid state nuclear track detectors (SSNTD, specifically CR-39) to search for evidence of nuclear particles. In most of these experiments the CR-39 was immersed in the electrolyte, which makes the interpretation of the tracks potentially ambiguous because of the possibility of chemical damage. However, different interpretations of results presented have concluded that the data argue for the generation of alpha particles, protons, and/or neutrons. We have chosen to reproduce one version of these recent experiments using CR-39 immersed and separated from the electrolyte with a 6 $\mu$m thick piece of Mylar$^{\textregistered}$ film. A 60 $\mu$m thick piece of polyethylene, used as a protective cover during handling, was occasionally allowed to remain on the film to facilitate thermalization of possible product neutrons. 1. Fleischmann, M., S. Pons, and M. Hawkins, ``Electrochemically induced nuclear fusion of deuterium''. J. Electroanal. Chem., 1989. 261, 301   

LENR BEC Clusters on and below Wires through Cavitation and Related Techniques

During the last two years I have been working on BEC cluster densities deposited just under the surface of wires, using cavitation, and other techniques. If I get the concentration high enough before the clusters dissipate, in addition to cold fusion related excess heat (and other effects, including helium-4 formation) I anticipate that it may be possible to initiate transient forms of superconductivity at room temperature.   

Use of Helium Production to Screen Glow Discharges for Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR)

My working hypothesis of the conditions required to observe low energy nuclear reactions ( LENR ) follows: 1) High fluxes of deuterium atoms through interfaces of grains of metals that readily accommodate movement of hydrogen atoms interstitially is the driving variable that produces the widely observed episodes of excess heat above the total of all input energy. 2) This deuterium atom flux has been most often achieved at high electrochemical current densities on highly deuterium-loaded palladium cathodes but is clearly possible in other experimental arrangements in which the metal is interfacing gaseous deuterium, as in an electrical glow discharge. 3) Since the excess heat episodes must be producing the product(s) of some nuclear fusion reaction(s) screening of options may be easier with measurement of those ``ashes'' than the observance of the excess heat. 4) All but a few of the exothermic fusion reactions known among the first 5 elements produce He-4. Hence helium-4 appearance in an experiment may be the most efficient indicator of some fusion reaction without commitment on which reaction is occurring. This set of hypotheses led me to produce a series of sealed tubes of wire electrodes of metals known to absorb hydrogen and operate them for $>$100 days at the $<$1 watt power level using deuterium gas pressures of $\sim$100 torr powered by 40 Khz AC power supplies. Observation of helium will be by measurement of helium optical emission lines through the glass envelope surrounding the discharge. The results of the first 18 months of this effort will be described.   

Conventional Physics can Explain Excess Heat in the Fleischmann-Pons Cold Fusion Effect

In 1989, when Fleischmann and Pons (FP) claimed they had created room temperature, nuclear fusion in a solid, a firestorm of controversy erupted. Beginning in 1991, the Office of Naval Research began a decade-long study of the FP excess heat effect. This effort documented the fact that the excess heat that FP observed is the result of a form of nuclear fusion that can occur in solids at reduced temperature, dynamically, through a deuteron (d)+d?helium-4 reaction, without high-energy particles or ? rays. This fact has been confirmed at SRI and at a number of other laboratories (most notably in the laboratory of Y. Arata, located at Osaka University, Japan). A key reason this fact has not been accepted is the lack of a cogent argument, based on fundamental physical ideas, justifying it. In the paper, this question is re-examined, based on a generalization of conventional energy band theory that applies to finite, periodic solids, in which d's are allowed to occupy wave-like, ion band states, similar to the kinds of states that electrons occupy in ordinary metals. Prior to being experimentally observed, the Ion Band State Theory of cold fusion predicted a potential d+d?helium-4 reaction, without high energy particles, would explain the excess heat, the helium-4 would be found in an unexpected place (outside heat- producing electrodes), and high-loading, x?1, in PdDx, would be required.   

Electrochemical and Electron Probe Microanalysis Measurements on Nanostructured Palladium

The hydrogen region of nanostructured Pd in the cyclic voltammetry in 1 M H2SO4 was more resolved than that of plain Pd because of the thin walls of the nanostructure and the high surface area. We could distinguish the hydrogen adsorption and absorption processes. The permeation of hydrogen into the Pd metal lattice occurs with fast kinetics when the Pd surface is blocked by either crystal violet or Pt. We believe that the hydrogen absorption process takes place without passing through the adsorbed state so that hydrogen diffuses directly into the Pd bulk. This process speeds up when the formation of adsorbed hydrogen is suppressed by the coverage of poisons. These results were compared to those obtained in a heavy water solution to which the Pd electrode was exposed. Adsorption characteristics of deuterium on the Pd metal surface are slightly different to those obtained for hydrogen in previous studies. Diffusion of deuterium into the Pd metal lattice works with fast kinetics under appropriate surface modification. We are also interested in studying the Pd structure before and after long term electrolysis in light and heavy water using electron probe micronanalysis (EPMA) with a energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS)