| Robert Duncan
Robert Duncan received his bachelor's degree in physics from MIT in 1982 and his doctorate in physics from the University of California-Santa Barbara in 1988. He has served as a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of New Mexico (UNM), as a visiting associate on the physics faculty at Caltech, as a joint associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at UNM, and as the associate dean for research in the College of Arts and Sciences at UNM. As an expert in low temperature physics, Dr. Duncan has served as principal investigator on a fundamental physics research program for NASA. As the Director of the New Mexico Consortium’s Institute for Advanced Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory he has worked to fund major conferences and summer schools in quantitative biology, information science and technology, energy and environment, and astrophysics and cosmology. To date, Duncan has received more than $8 million in funding from various sources on research efforts that he leads as PI. He joined the University of Missouri as the Vice Chancellor for Research in August, 2008, accepting responsibility for MU’s research enterprise, including more $250 million per year in contracts and grants, and MU’s major research facilities, including USA’s largest research reactor in academia, multiple interdisciplinary research centers, and associated economic development and technology incubation efforts. Dr. Duncan is a Fellow and life member of the American Physical Society. He was named the Gordon and Betty Moore Distinguished Scholar in the Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy at Caltech in 2004, and he chaired the Instrumentation and Measurement Topical Group for the American Physical Society in 2002, and the International Symposium on Quantum Fluids and Solids in 2003.
Welcome, Summary, and Observations
Though the first report of possible nuclear process in palladium was reported in Berlin in 1926, and verified cold fusion reactions have been observed and well documented in liquid deuterium in the 1950’s, recent reports of possible nuclear processes in palladium have been largely rejected without close scientific review as ‘junk science’ since 1990. I will discuss the recent experimental evidence for excess heat production in various experimental cell configurations from other authors. I will then give a general introduction to some of the empirical and hypothesis-driven experiments that have been conducted to date, pointing out both the strengths and limitations of the underlying models. These recent experiments suggest that the underlying mechanism of excess heat production is not yet well understood, but that detailed metallurgy studies and scaling experiments should be conducted in an attempt to determine if excess heat may be produced reliably at adequately high temperatures to provide an alternative source of energy in the future.
|
SPAWAR Group Abstract: Twenty-Year History of Lattice-Enabled Nuclear Reactions Using Pd/D Co-deposition
In the Pd/D co-deposition process, working and counter electrodes are immersed in a solution of palladium chloride and lithium chloride in deuterated water. Palladium is then electrochemically reduced onto the surface of the working electrode in the presence of evolving deuterium gas. Electrodes prepared by Pd/D co-deposition exhibit highly expanded surfaces consisting of small spherical nodules. Because of this high surface area and electroplating in the presence of deuterium gas, the incubation time to achieve high D/Pd loadings necessary to initiate LENR is orders of magnitude less than required for bulk electrodes. Using a Dewar-type electrochemical cell/calorimeter, it was shown that the rates of excess enthalpy generation using electrodes prepared by the Pd/D co-deposition technique were higher than that obtained when Pd bulk electrodes were used.1 Positive feedback and heat-after-death effects were also observed with the Pd/D co-deposited electrodes. Infrared imaging of electrodes prepared by Pd/D co-deposition show that the working electrode is hotter than the solution indicating that the heat source is the Pd/D co-deposited electrode and not Joule heating.2 Infrared images also show that the heat generation is not continuous, but occurs in discrete spots on the electrode. The ‘hot spots’ observed in the infrared imaging experiments suggest that ‘mini-explosions’ were occurring, These ‘mini-explosions’ were confirmed by conducting the Pd/D co-deposition directly on a piezoelectric transducer. To verify that the heat produced by Pd/D co-deposition was nuclear in origin, experiments were conducted to detect the nuclear ash. Using the Pd/D co-deposition, the following nuclear emanations have been detected: X-ray emission,3 tritium production,4 transmutation,5 and particle emission.6,7
References
1. S. Szpak, P.A. Mosier-Boss, M.H. Miles, and M. Fleischmann, ‘Thermal Behavior of Polarized Pd/D Electrodes Prepared by Co-Deposition’, Thermochim. Acta, Vol. 410, pp. 101-107 (2004).
2. P.A. Mosier-Boss and S. Szpak, ‘The Pd/nH System: Transport Processes and Development of Thermal Instabilities’, Il Nuovo Cimento, Vol. 112A, pp. 577-585 (1999).
3. S. Szpak, P.A. Mosier-Boss, and J.J. Smith, ‘On the Behavior of the Cathodically Polarized Pd/D System: Search for Emanating Radiation’, Phys. Letts. A, Vol. 210, pp. 382-390 (1996).
4. S. Szpak, P.A. Mosier-Boss, R.D. Boss, and J.J. Smith, ‘On the Behavior of the Pd/D System: Evidence for Tritium Production’, Fusion Technology, Vol. 33, pp. 38-51 (1998).
5. S. Szpak, P.A. Mosier-Boss, C. Young, and F.E. Gordon, ‘Evidence of Nuclear Reactions in the Pd Lattice’, Naturwissenschaften, Vol. 92, pp. 394-397 (2005).
6. P.A. Mosier-Boss, S. Szpak, F.E. Gordon, and L.P.G. Forsley, ‘Use of CR-39 in Pd/D Co-Deposition Experiments’, Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 40, pp 293-303 (2007).
7. P.A. Mosier-Boss, S. Szpak, F.E. Gordon, and L.P.G. Forsley, ‘Triple Tracks in CR-39 as the Result of Pd/D Co-deposition: Evidence of Energetic Neutrons’, Naturwissenschaften. Vol. 96, pp. 135-142 (2009). |
Frank Gordon
Frank E. Gordon is the Head, Research and Applied Sciences Department, US Navy SSC-Pacific. A native of Kansas, Dr. Frank E. Gordon received his bachelor's of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Kansas in 1967, and a doctorate in engineering from the University of Kansas in 1971 with the support of a fellowship from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Dr. Gordon began his federal service in March 1971 as a mechanical engineer at the Naval Undersea Center (NUC), now the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego (SSC San Diego). In 1973, Dr. Gordon was selected to head the Test Division where test and evaluation operations were conducted on a number of Navy weapon systems. In 1979, Dr. Gordon was appointed the Navy's strategist for Undersea Warfare Weaponry Technology Strategy. He became the head of the ASW department in 1986, and was selected to the Senior Executive Service in 1987. In May 1992, Dr. Gordon became the executive director of the Naval Command, Control and Ocean Surveillance Center, In-Service Engineering West Coast Division (NISE West), headquartered in San Diego, with detachments and facilities throughout the Pacific. Dr. Gordon became head of the Research & Applied Sciences Department in March 1996. In this position he supervises 430 civilian employees and manages a budget of over $270 Million. Dr. Gordon has authored and co-authored a number of publications and holds four patents jointly with co-inventors. His community activities include serving as a member of the Mechanical Engineering Advisory Board at the University of Kansas. He and his wife, Lynda, have two adult children.
|
Pamela Mosier-Boss
Dr. Pamela Mosier-Boss is an analytical chemist in the Advanced Systems and Applied Sciences Division of SSC-Pacific. She has been involved in research on SCAPS, battery systems, metal hydrides, conducting polymers, piezoelectric ceramics, drag reducing polymers, anti-fouling polymers, SERS to detect anions and VOCs, and phage to detect bacteria. She received her Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from Michigan State University and B.S. degrees in biology and chemistry from Kent State University. She has authored/co-authored more than 60 publications including more than 40 refereed publications, authored/co-authored more than 40 conference papers, and authored/co-authored more than 12 patents and patent disclosures. |
Lawrence Forsley
Lawrence Forsley is president of JWK International Corporation. He has been a long time collaborator and co-author with the US Navy SPAWAR-Pacific. Previously, he taught at the University of Rochester, where he was a group leader with the Laboratory for Laser Energetics engaged in inertial confinement fusion (ICF, or, laser fusion) in Rochester, NY. He was a consultant to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory mirror fusion program, TMX-U, in Livermore, California; a visiting scientist on the ASDEX Tokamak at the Max Planck Institut fur Plasmaphysik in Garching, Germany and initiated a program in the basic physics of sonoluminescence at the US Naval Research Laboratory. For the past several years he has worked closely with Drs. Pam Mosier-Boss, Stan Szpak and Frank Gordon at SPAWAR where he has been developing and using charged particle and neutron diagnostics, and gamma ray detectors. These diagnostics temporally, spatially and spectrally resolve the nuclear emanations from palladium co-deposition experiments with high resolution cryogenically cooled germanium gamma ray detection, CR-39 solid state nuclear track detectors and witness materials. He is an author or co-author of over 30 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and conference presentations. In his spare time he's developed and deployed intelligent ground-based seismic sensors and used space-based Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR) to monitor ground deformation. He is co-inventor on several patents.
|
| Edmund Storms
Edmund Storms obtained a Ph.D. in radiochemistry from Washington University (St. Louis) and retired from the Los Alamos National Laboratory after 34 years of service. His work there involved basic research in the field of high temperature chemistry as applied to materials used in nuclear power and propulsion reactors, including studies of the "cold fusion" effect. Over seventy reviewed publications and monographs resulted from this work as well as several books, all describing an assortment of material properties. After retiring from the LANL in 1991, he moved to Santa Fe, NM were he built a home and laboratory in which he has studied the subject. These studies have resulted in eighteen presentations to various conferences including the ACS and APS. In addition, twenty-three papers have been published including four complete scientific reviews of the field, one published in 1991, another in 1996 and 1998, and the latest in 2000. In May 1993, he was invited to testify before a congressional committee about the "cold fusion" effect. In 1998, Wired magazine honored him as one of the 25 people who is making a significant contribution to new ideas. Based on his experimental experience and a complete library of the literature on the subject, he wrote a book about low energy nuclear reaction that was published by World Scientific Publishing in September, 2007. He continues to study the phenomenon in his laboratory in Santa Fe.
An Informed Skeptic's View of Cold Fusion
Claims for the initiation of nuclear reactions in solids without significant applied energy are so extraordinary that skepticism is justified. The talk will examine how such evidence should be evaluated. The question requiring an answer is, “Is there sufficient evidence obtained by competent people to demonstrate that the claims are warranted?” If the answer is yes, what do the studies reveal about the nature of phenomenon? If real, this is one of the most important scientific issues of this century with both scientific and technological implications for everyone.
|
Michael McKubre
Michael McKubre began his undergraduate studies at George Washington University and completed his B.Sc., M.Sc. (with honors) and doctorate in chemistry and physics at Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand. During his Ph.D. studies he taught undergraduate and graduate courses in Electrochemistry, Surface Chemistry and Electronics. On completing his Ph.D., Dr. McKubre was granted a two year Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Southampton University, England. There he undertook research into the electrochemical kinetic processes involved with flow-through electrochemical reactors; researched, designed, constructed and employed a novel AC impedance device to characterize flow-through reactors; assisted with the supervision of Ph.D. and M.Sc. students working on related and derivative projects. Dr. McKubre joined SRI as an electrochemist in 1978 and was appointed manager of the electrochemistry program in 1982. He is an internationally recognized expert in the study of electrochemical kinetics and was one of the original pioneers in the use of ac impedance methods for the evaluation of electrode kinetic processes. Dr. McKubre also introduced harmonic impedance spectroscopy (HIS) as a tool to measure rates and mechanisms of electrochemical reactions. These techniques have found wide application in the fields of battery science, fuel cells, corrosion, electrochemical sensors, hydrogen production and storage. In the last decade and a half as Director of the Energy Research Center, Dr. McKubre has applied himself to the discovery and application of potential new energy sources, specifically those associated with the deuterium/palladium system. He is recognized internationally in this field as an expert in the areas of PdH and PdD electrochemistry and calorimetry and has directed research and undertaken consulting in this area for the Electric Power research Institute (EPRI), the Japanese Ministry of Industry and Technology Innovation (MITI), the Defense Advanced Research Program Agency (DARPA), the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and Office of Naval Research (ONR), and Italian National Energy Agency (ENEA). In 2004 Dr. McKubre helped initiate and complete a review by the US Department of Energy (DoE) of “cold fusion” in collaboration with Profs. Peter Hagelstein (MIT) and David Nagel (GWU and ex NRL). Once dismissed as a mistake or misnomer, the emerging experimental evidence of lattice nuclear effects is now recognized as having significant potential energy and strategic significance. Dr. McKubre was co-chairman of the Third International Conference on Cold Fusion (ICCF-3) and has served on the International Advisory Committee (IAC) of the ICCF since it’s inception in 1990.
Studies of the Fleischmann-Pons Effect at SRI International
March 23rd this year marked the 20th anniversary of the announcement by Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons that began the modern era of “cold fusion” with the claim that heat is produced from the deuterium-palladium electrochemical system under special circumstances at levels that are consistent with nuclear but not chemical heat production or energy storage effects. This effect has been reproduced in hundreds of laboratories, has been reported in thousands of papers in the peer reviewed literature, has been the subject of 14 major International Conferences and numerous books and reviews. Recently, the American Chemical Society hosted a three-day symposium in Salt Lake City on what are now called Low Energy Nuclear Reactions or the Fleischmann Pons Effect.
Despite these advances and this level of recognition the field still labors under a pall of skepticism largely sustained by a barrier of ignorance only partly dispelled with recent publicity. Not all are sure there is an effect; some suspect hidden systematic measurement errors; not everyone is aware of the evidential basis for the claims. An attempt will be made in this talk to breach the information gap by discussing essential experimental details and results obtained at SRI of heat and low Z isotope production, to try and grapple with the criticisms of the evidence for a new physical effect that have been directed from parts of the scientific community.
|
| Peter Hagelstein
Professor Hagelstein attended MIT as an undergraduate (1972-1974) and as a graduate student (1974-1981) in the EE&CS department. He worked on laser modelocking for Bachelor's and Master's degree thesis projects. His PhD research involved the modeling and development of x-ray lasers, work that was carried out at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. His PhD thesis won the Hertz Foundation exceptional PhD thesis award. The Department of Energy awarded him the E. O. Lawrence award in 1984 for contributions to national defense, in response to the development of the x-ray laser. Hagelstein joined the faculty of MIT in the Fall of 1986, where he worked on table-top x-ray lasers. He received the APS award for Excellence in Research in the area of Plasma Physics for contributions to the development of the laboratory x-ray laser. Since 1989, Professor Hagelstein has pursued research on the Fleischmann-Pons effect. He was awarded the 2004 Preparata Medal from the International Society of Condensed Matter Nuclear Science. In recent years he has also been involved in the development of new thermal to electric conversion systems. At MIT, he has taught graduate courses on applied quantum and statistical mechanics, and numerical modeling.
Modeling Excess Heat in the Fleischmann-Pons Experiment
Considering excess heat in the Fleischmann-Pons effect to constitute a new physical effect, we first need to understand what the experimental results tell us about the new process. To this end, we review briefly experimental results which help to clarify theoretical issues. One of the most interesting features of the Fleischmann-Pons experiment is that energy appears to be produced from some new kind of nuclear process, but with no energetic nuclear particles present commensurate with the energy production. This observation focuses our attention on models in which a large energy quantum is converted to a large number of small energy quanta. Models capable of accomplishing this are discussed. Some progress has been made on the development of a numerical model for simulating the Fleischmann-Pons experiment. We will give an outline of this new model.
|
Yeong Kim
Yeong E. Kim is a theoretical physicist and holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He was a post-doctoral fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a visiting staff member at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and a consultant for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He is currently a professor of physics at Purdue University. In addition, he is group leader of Purdue Nuclear and Many-Body Theory Group, and Director of the Purdue Center for Sensing Science and Technology. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. His current research interests are in the areas of nuclear physics (nuclear fusion, nuclear astrophysics, applied neutron physics), condensed matter and nanoscale physics (quantum dots), atomic, molecular and optical physics (Bose-Einstein condensation, nonlinear dynamics), and sensing science and technology. He has published over 200 papers in professional journals. Additional details can be found at the Web site: http://www.physics.purdue.edu/people/faculty/yekim.shtml
Theory of Bose-Einstein Condensation Nuclear Fusion
The theory of Bose-Einstein condensation nuclear fusion (BECNF) [1] has been developed to explain many diverse experimental results of deuteron induced nuclear reactions in metals. The theory is based on conventional physical concepts and provides a consistent theoretical description of the experimental results. The experimental results show many different signatures of nuclear fusion (excess heat including “heat-after-death”, nuclear ashes, radiations, formation of micro-scale craters on metal surface, etc.). The theory is capable of explaining most of these diverse experimental results, and also has predictive powers as expected for a quantitatively predictive physical theory. The basic concept and important features of the BECNF theory will be presented, and comparison of theoretical predictions with experimental results will be discussed. Finally, key experimental tests of the BECNF theory will be discussed.
[1] Y. E. Kim, “Theory of Bose-Einstein Condensation Mechanism for Deuteron Induced Nuclear Reactions in Micro/Nano-Scale Metal Grains and Particles”, Naturwissenschaften DOI 10.1007/s00114-009-0537-6 (14 May 2009) and references therein. |
Mark Prelas
Mark Prelas is a professor of engineering at the University of Missouri Nuclear Science and Engineering Institute. His research interests include chemical, biological and nuclear sensors; direct energy conservation; energy storage; wide band-gap electronic materials; and material synthesis. He has published more than 200 articles and given more than 120 presentations at various international conferences. In 2008, he was awarded the Frederick Joliot-Curie Medal for his contributions to the physics of power engineering. He is currently an advisor on chemical and biological sensors for the U.S. Semiconductor Corporation.
A Review of Transmutation and Clustering in Low Energy Nuclear Reactions
Evidence for transmutation in Low Energy Nuclear Reactions will be reviewed along with the clustering theory put forward by Professor George H. Miley at the University of Illinois. Observations of transmutation have been reported in electrochemical cells as well as in ion loaded cells. Work done by the authors will be discussed in ion loading and hydrogen loading in to wide band-gap crystal lattices using Field Enhanced Diffusion with Optical Activation (FEDOA) where indirect evidence for clustering was observed.
|
David Nagel
David Nagel is a research professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at George Washington University. He is an expert on low-energy nuclear reactions. His research interests include the development of micro- and nano-technologies, and wireless sensor systems, cold fusion, and MicroElectroMechanical Systems. He has published more than 150 articles and serves as a micro- and nano-technology consultant to government and industry.
Scientific and Other Challenges of Lattice-Enabled Nuclear Reactions
The scientific problems associated with LENR experiments include reproducibility, controllability and, most critically, understanding. Each of these is daunting. The challenges of responding quantitatively and effectively to critics are no less difficult. Beyond the technical problems, the field is suffering from inattention by the scientific community. Congress, government funding agencies, the US Patent and Trademark Office, venture capitalists and editors of the top journals and magazines are all waiting for a verdict from the scientific community regarding the legitimacy of LENR as a field of science. Despite all these hurdles, a few hundred researchers from over ten countries around the world are grappling with understanding and, possibly, exploitation of LENR. The experiments to date have indicated exciting, even historic, prospects. It may be possible to have distributed nuclear power sources, with negligible prompt radiation and radioactive waste. If this proves to be true, a new nuclear power industry might follow.
|
Peter H. Handel: The Nature and Control of Excess Heat in Electrolytic Cold Fusion Cells
We show that most of the excess heat is caused by a hidden heat pump, based on the new “Thermo-electrochemical and Thermo-electromechanical Effects” introduced earlier by this author. They cause a hidden heat pump to be present. If different metallic electrodes pierce the adiabatic surface, the resulting excess heat is infinite both for infinite time, and for finite time of operation, in the ideal thermodynamic limit, when the temperature difference between calorimeter content and surroundings becomes arbitrarily small. This brings progress in the scientific level and technologic refinement of cold fusion research, similar to replacement of mechanical tweezers in some molecular biochemistry experiments. |
Jeffrey Q. Hullekes
A variety of experimental results observed in heat and/or helium producing LENR experiments will be analyzed resulting in a coherent interpretation of observed results. This will lead to the conclusion that the type of reaction producing 4He and heat is one where 4He is a reactant as well as a product and where deuterium is the essential fuel. Based on this conclusion a working hypothesis is formed about how such a reaction could take place in heavily deuterated metals. An important prediction is made that the introduction of (fast) alphas can have a great impact on the production rate and success of experiments that only sporadically produce 4He and heat.
Rethinking Reactants - A New Look at Helium and Heat Production in LENR Experiments (Flowchart)
My academic background is in CAI (a study called Cognitive Artificial Intelligence) which among other things deals with bringing complex logical problems down to their essential components needed for computers systems to digest information otherwise incompatible with (automatic) problem solving. It's a highly multidisciplinary study which combines subjects from biology, computer science, psychology and philosophy. This study has given me the rather unique ability to perform an analysis of the seemingly unrelated aspects of the phenomena of "cold fusion". Right now my part time work is in the ICT business and my free time is currently used for this new interesting subject with which I started more than a year ago. The draft paper I wrote is best considered to be analytical in nature: it attempts to form a coherent picture of experimental results by logical analysis in order to provide a basis for subsequent theoretical interpretation.
|
|
