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Brian Westenhaus

Brian Westenhaus

Brian is the editor of the popular energy technology site New Energy and Fuel. The site’s mission is to inform, stimulate, amuse and abuse the…

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Is Cold Fusion Entering the Final Stages?

The University of Missouri hosted this years International Conference on Cold Fusion (ICCF) with the largest event being the Defkalion Demonstration.  The short description is the Defkalion reactor functioned satisfactorily.

The ICCF ran over five days with an impressive group of experimentalists, theorists and engineers attending.  The list of presenters was also impressive, with talks of research from across the planet, involving many nations and reaching deep into the science of Cold Fusion and Low Energy Nuclear Reactions or LENR

Yet there remains no conclusive theory that can be demonstrated experimentally.  This is the most exasperating fact that keeps the skeptics fully armed.

But the names and the information with the results are getting past the skepticism.  The past year has seen more results in plain view from Dr. Celani, interest from institutions such as CERN and the continuous updating from Andrea Rossi.

Related article: Third Party Tests Prove Rossi’s E-Cat HT2 Works

The Defkalion demo lasted several hours.  In contrast to the Rossi effort that is hardly concerned at all with the science as he is sure himself that his reactor is working well the Defkalion folks are very concerned with getting the science right, partly in order to produce the best possible product.

The first video is a shortened version that runs about an hour.  Keep in mind it is an observation video, not an information construction so there are a lot of ‘empty’ minutes as the demonstration runs.

The second video is far more complete.  It’s the official video, and the demo runs over 3 ½ hours.  There are several other videos on the livestream page and if you’re patient and take notes most all skeptical questions and concerns have answers provided.

The results are the reactor performed satisfactorily.   The was a glitch, in order to do the live demo for ICCF the Defkalion reactor was started with some of the flushing argon gas still inside.  The effect was a 3 fold power increase instead of the hoped for 4 fold power result.

Now for the discerning and capable a huge body of new information with the presentations and posters can be accessed at “MOSpace” the University of Missouri’s digital repository, by searching for specific authors, titles, or ICCF.  Perhaps over time this new data will make it to Jed Rothwell’s library online at LENR-CANR.org.

Lots of people still like to throw the scam bombs and make other desultory comments. But for now the body of evidence, the depth and breadth of experimental data and the oncoming commercial offerings are getting past the silly and becoming market disruptive.

With little fanfare folks might note that Mr. Rossi has become quite less noticeable.  That may have a lot to do with a large corporate partner joining with him and imposing some corporate kinds of sense.  This too will give the skeptics some fuel, but in reality over time it is more like a fire extinguisher.

Lastly, National Instruments is still very much in the effort.  The firm is now a sponsor for the ICCF.  What a firm like that is able to see is far beyond what we will be able to find and report.  But large scientific firms don’t as a rule throw funding at causes – they always support the industries that have customers and have expectations of growth.

Related article: The Key to Advancing Nuclear Energy

ADVERTISEMENT

Cold fusion news will miss the exuberant and interesting Andrea Rossi making curious points and offering much for interest.  We’re entering the market launch phase, Defkalion is loading up the science, National Instruments is positioning for market share, partners of Mr. Rossi are applying some corporate level conduct boundaries, the science is being explored worldwide.

Cold Fusion, becoming Low Energy Nuclear Reactions, and more descriptions still to come point to an interesting moment in history when science is coming to market while we still don’t really understand what’s going on.  That in itself isn’t unique in history, but at this time with the science hubris we have to contend with attacking the new frontiers a revolutionary successful product launch from a new frontier would be very exciting indeed.

By. Brain Westenhaus

Source: A Cold Fusion Update


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  • Roger Bird on August 07 2013 said:
    Excellent and very sane and reasonable article, Brian. Thank you very much for making perfect sense.
  • Enduser on August 08 2013 said:
    We didn't know much about how magenetism worked at first, but we got on with using its effects. How often do you read that a full explanation of quantum science is yet to come, but we use the effects all the time now.

    Not having a full explanation of an effect is NOT a pre- requisite for using it. Never has been.
  • decent on August 08 2013 said:
    I still remain very sceptic about LENR. We could endlessly watch demos. Actually I have been watching them for the last 2 or 3 years. But there is no other developement since. Mr. Rossi has given many promises that are all still unfulfilled. Like the promised start of production of 12kW portable units. Instead he has moved on to Megawatt range demos. He had many business companions but all they have cancelled deals after investing a lot of money int LENR. There is no scientific proof that any LENR ever happened. Samples of used fuel analysis that mr. Rossi has given, reluctantly, does not have any expected anomalies in its isotopes it is supposed to have. And the story ends right here. It really doesn't matter how great all these demos look. There is no developement past dubious demos and there is no scientific proof not speaking of ability to repeat the experiments by other scientists.
  • capecrusader on August 08 2013 said:
    Decent
    you need to remember Rossi is only one player in this game. There are many companies, universities and governments actively working on LENR and many have claimed results of excess heat. The claims of any one company about COP and output must be taken with skepticism because they are trying to take the lead in this emerging technology. In the long run what matters is that LENR is real and hopefully can be commercialized and useful in replacing petroleum products. I personally believe that LENR should be open sourced and all patents revoked because no one should be allowed to control and profit exclusively.
  • b fast on August 08 2013 said:
    decent, The fact that you only mention Rossi's work shows your painful lack of insight into this phenomenon. There are numerous reports from top scientific agencies saying that they have achieved the phenomenon called LENR.

    The single most impressive is at MIT. Twice they have put on a "free course" in LENR. On both occasions they have demonstrated it in the classroom. I understand that anyone can wander onto the MIT campus, go to the right room, and observe an LENR reactor at work.

    No, its only Rossi, there's nothing here but Rossi.
  • maryyugo on August 08 2013 said:
    "Lots of people still like to throw the scam bombs and make other desultory comments. But for now the body of evidence, the depth and breadth of experimental data and the oncoming commercial offerings are getting past the silly and becoming market disruptive."
    -
    In fact, there is no evidence that Defkalion and Rossi have ever had properly conducted and truly independent tests. They have done nothing to exclude the strong possibility that they are, in fact, investor scams. Neither has a single named customer, any evidence that they ever sold a single product and neither has a single independent test conducted by a reliable agency or university. Neither has published even one refereed paper in any major journal.

    If these two had the greatest invention since fire, this is not how their history would develop.

    It's very difficult to show subtle examples of LENR/cold fusion. But the claims from Defkalion and Rossi are huge and should be simplicity itself to demonstrate properly. Yet neither can do a single ironclad demonstration or independent test. If their claims are real, that is simply incredible.
  • oligopolynow on August 08 2013 said:
    "there is no scientific proof not speaking of ability to repeat the experiments by other scientists. "

    You can't connect the dots w/ your eyes half shut.. One small example Mitsu reproduces Toyota w. "fringe science" transmutations..
    http://indico.cern.ch/getFile.py/access?resId=5&materialId=slides&confId=177379
  • oligopolynow on August 08 2013 said:
    "It's very difficult to show subtle examples of LENR/cold fusion."..........

    not really.. if you look past self deception..
  • AlainCo on August 08 2013 said:
    With Defkalion plan to go public on Toronto Stock
    http://www.e-catworld.com/2013/08/defkalion-ceo-entering-the-toronto-stock-exchange-this-year/
    Exchange, and with Luca gamberale saying he will clear out the question raised by las Defkalion Demo,
    http://www.lenr-forum.com/showthread.php?2267-Luca-Gamberale-on-radio-24-Freeze-relation-with-CLIENTS-after-some-test-questions&p=5687&viewfull=1#post5687
    things will get clear soon...

    The fraud scenario that mary repeat all the time, is far from credible for someone who have followed all that complex idea. If their are right, it will be clear soon...

    However if there is success, I am afraid that it will be slower than expected, because of huge opposition of people like Mary, or Shanahan, or Taubes, or from MIT or SciAM... they committed so deeply in bashing LENR, that their credibility would be ruined. They will sure call stock exchange regulators to stop defkalion getting public, to shut off their activity...

    anyway, if Mary is right, in september it will be clear.

    of course if the test shows it is a real effect, and real revolution, Mary, like taubes, Shanahan, will never accept the evidence...
    That is what happen to conspiracy supporters.
    they will invent errors, make mistakes and sell FUD, and sadly uninformed people as usual will believe the FUD, to keep their usual position...
    That will stop only when laymen will be able to touch the reactor and enjoy the cheap energy.

    It is a pity that we will have to wait those machine to be on the market, while there was so many clear evidence since long.

    of course the official voice will say that we have no good evidence before...
    as usual, as taleb says "history being rewritten by the losers"
  • Jed Rothwell on August 08 2013 said:
    "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

    - Winston Churchill, November 1942
  • Job001 on August 08 2013 said:
    Pathological skeptics like maryyugo provide half truths like "neither can do a single ironclad.....test" when that is just the nature of science, in science we have accepted theories eventually and sometimes to high probability levels of 6 sigma or more but never ever absolute ironclad.

    Even today gravity does not have accepted causal theory as to “why” it works. Century old equations show “how” it works, so, don’t hold your breath for an ironclad CF accepted theory, it will take a while. ;)

    The field of CF and LENR has been bitterly opposed by "funding biased" scientists due to the threat to their work on nuclear and hot fusion funded primarily by Government. The same scientists and Government funding folks collaborate to direct all most all funding into the failed hot fusion area science hands. Some people might call this corruption, I do not, it is "funding bias" first and for most.

    The reason we should view this as "bias" is that “bias” is the science issue throughout the ages. Early scientist ran into "bias" of many forms including religious, power, ignorance, funding, computational resources, mental limitations, and others.

    BTW, I’m not a “true believer”, just a “true scientist” who has followed this field since F&P, who were honest men, IMHO.
    That is the wonderful frustrating human side of science.

    Science is a “human knowledge” field requiring unbiased observers, and now LENR needs some unbiased funding to do what is a very real cool science discovery with a HUGE amount of research literature available to those who want to know and follow this field as it goes exponential.
  • ngass on August 08 2013 said:
    Nature always adopts processes of minimum energy. Hence the fusion in suns is a minimum effort and there is nothing better. So why do we not see cold fusion in the universe.
  • Sue Jones on August 08 2013 said:
    ngass:Why do we not see cold fusion in the universe?

    Good question. I have two other good questions.
    1) Why is there Helium in the Earth's atmosphere? It is too light to stay, so the Helium you are seeing is the product of nuclear reactions inside the Earth. Which ones? No straight answer- if known reactions were responsible, there would be other obvious sings of them.

    2) Why is the Earth's core releasing so much heat? Geologists and physcists have a very good idea what's in the Earth and what reactions are likely and where they are likely to occur. There's too much heat for the known explanations. (See the recent story in Scientific American about this.)

    3) Why do cold fusion experiments sometimes seem to release the same sort of isotopes of Helium as you find in the atmosphere. The question of contamination deserves attention. But if you convince yourself the researchers were successful in their attempts to prevent that (it's not that hard...)...

    You get what I'm driving at. LENR is hiding out in plain sight, probably in the 7000K solid metal core of the earth, and is needed to explain the energy balance and Helium flux of our planet.

    By the way, Helium pops up in other unexpected places, like Hydrogenation plants... Once we know what to look for we will see the signature of LENR all over the place.
  • warthog on August 09 2013 said:
    The article states:

    "Yet there remains no conclusive theory that can be demonstrated experimentally. This is the most exasperating fact that keeps the skeptics fully armed."

    The existence of a theory or a lack of theory has precisely zero to do with proof of the reality of "cold fusion".

    And any supposed scientist who makes such a claim should turn in his or her science degrees and become a janitor. The SOLE criterion for scientific proof is EXPERIMENTAL DATA from at least two different experimenters yielding the same or substantially the same result.
  • evodevo on August 09 2013 said:
    It was a scam then - it's still a scam. Sorry.
  • staff_87345 on August 09 2013 said:
    I love the comments from some of the detractor's here. Absolutely clueless. Please do your own research. And for heaven sake it is a new arena of science. You are not going to find answers in a textbook. I understand a little about what is going on, and I completely understand why the information would be kept a secret. Not because of the free energy aspects, but for other reasons that I will not go into here. Again, do your own research, because your really doing a disservice to your IQ's. I'm sure there a lot of intelligent people here that could bring this technology into fruition - maybe even figure out WHY it works.
  • Greg Goble on August 09 2013 said:
    This is an example of advanced LENR engineering out of SPAWAR. The company has two U.S. Congressman and a former U.S Secretary of Defense, CIA Deputy Director, and Chairman of the Carlyle Group. Google "Navy LENR Patent Granted Transmutes Radioactive Waste" to follow a bizarre story.

    Fuel Rod Management

    An important technology has come to maturity out of the Naval Spawar Laboratories. The technology is a low energy nuclear reaction that transmutes spent nuclear fuel rods to less harmful elements while creating electricity. Holding a license to utilize advanced engineering of this LENR technology, the Global Energy Corporation offers the GeNie Reactor. A HYBRID FUSION FAST FISSION REACTOR (patent) Developed under contract No. DE-AC52-06NA25946 with the US Department of Energy and Department of Defense.

    At a Global Energy Corporation presentation to the Guam Power Authority, GEC president Jay Wook Khim offered to pay the 250 million dollar cost to construct the first 50MW GeNie Reactor and provide Guam with electricity at half the cost. According to the dates on the document, Fitial and Buckingham signed off on the nuclear energy document around the time GEC scientists and officials, including CEO Dr. Jay W. Khim, visited Saipan during June of 2012. For many reasons this stalled, two of them being that the governor of Guam was impeached and that Guam has no spent fuel rods, therefore the new governor is hesitant to bring fresh uranium onto the island to fuel the GeNie Reactor.

    NEWS (Clean Nuclear Power Eyed)
    and (Impeached Governor Inked Secret Deal to Construct Fast Breeder Reactor)

    I think this U.S. LENR energy technology is more important to you, with your spent fuel rod storage concerns, than to the people of Guam. It is important that you pursue it. This is a spent fuel rod risk reduction strategy that is profitable.

    With this technology your spent fuel rods become a source of revenue instead of an ongoing expense and risk. Without the need for extensive processing, the spent fuel rods are placed around the LENR reactor core. The LENR reactor can be tuned to emit different levels of protons and neutrons, bombarding the spent fuel rods, increasing the different radioactive elements rate of emissions, This transmutes the elements, shortening their half life or eliminating the radioactive isotope completely.

    The proposed GeNie Reactor does this and produces enough excess energy to power your turbine electrical generators. You may consider having multiple GeNie Reactors on sight providing low cost - high energy heat for all your power needs.

    Please contact the GEC president Jay Wook Khim or GEC manager Rufus Anglin or a member of the GEC Board of Directors to inquire.

    Ask if you can get the same presentation and deal as offered to the Guam Power Authority.

    The Global Energy Corporation direct dial: (703) 750-0909

    Corporate Partners and Board of Directors include:

    Frank Carlucci GEC - Former U.S. Secretary of Defense, Deputy Director of the C.I.A. and chairman of the Carlyle Group

    Norman Mineta GEC - Former Secretary of Transportation. Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Congressman, State of California

    Thomas M. Davis III GEC - Former U.S. Congressman, State of Virginia

    National Security Technologies - National Security Technologies, LLC (NSTec) was formed in 2006 as a joint venture between Northrop Grumman Corporation, and three other corporate partners. These partners are AECOM, CH2M Hill, and Babcock & Wilcox (B&W). With some 2,450 employees, NSTec manages operations at the 1,360-square-mile Nevada National Security Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, and at its related facilities and laboratories for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration, Nevada Site Office. The company has satellite offices in Los Alamos and Albuquerque, New Mexico; Santa Barbara and Livermore, California; and Washington, D.C., along with a small number of employees located in nine other states and two foreign countries.

    Defense Threat Reduction Agency - DTRA is the U.S. Department of Defense’s official Combat Support Agency for countering weapons of mass destruction. Our people are Subject Matter Experts on WMD, and we address the entire spectrum of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high yield explosive threats. DTRA’s programs include basic science research and development, operational support to U.S. warfighters on the front line, and an in-house WMD think tank that aims to anticipate and mitigate future threats long before they have a chance to harm the United States and our allies.

    JWK Corporation - (JWK) has provided reliable, high quality professional services to our customers for over 30 years. Our customers, which include the Department of Defense, numerous U.S. government agencies, and various commercial and foreign enterprises, have come to realize that JWK stands for high quality, affordable technical expertise.
  • Alan DeAngelis on August 10 2013 said:
    “Yet there remains no conclusive theory that can be demonstrated experimentally.”
    On July 25 Thomas Passell presented the “Evidence for Oppenheimer-Phillips Reactions in Deuterated Palladium and Titanium”.
  • maryyugo on August 10 2013 said:
    @Greg Goble

    It's nice to know that some important people presumably support the GeNie project.

    But what strikes me about it is that I see nothing about an existing prototype. I see no refereed main line scientific papers about the concept, unless maybe you're counting controversial research from SPAWAR which uses CR39 strips to detect neutrons. Some reputable scientists argue that it is moisture and other artifacts that is detected by the strips and not neutrons. I don't see a detailed, published proposal anywhere which includes the theory and the calculations and a discussion with critics. Far as I know, this issue is as yet unsettled.

    In other words, how do we know this thing will work? Why start with a 50MW, $250 Million reactor on Guam when it isn't clear that the working principle has been properly documented and demonstrated?

    You say "the proposed GeNie Reactor does this and produces enough excess energy to power your turbine electrical generators.". Shouldn't it be "the proposed ... reactor IS CLAIMED TO DO THIS... etc. etc.??
  • Spec on August 10 2013 said:
    I don't care if they know how it works . . . I care whether it actually does work.

    If it works then build a working reactor and start selling it to make electricity. If you can't do that then you've got nothing worth discussing. And that is where we currently seem to be . . . nothing useful.
  • tyy on August 11 2013 said:
    These LENR acolytes have very weird understanding of what is "evidence". For your records: "evidence" is not the same as "methinks this must work".
  • rlmc on August 11 2013 said:
    I am neither a believer or a skeptic of cold fusion; and my interest in articles on cold fusion begin and end with whether there is any feasible route to using cold fusion to produce energy.

    I think it is possible, from what little I understand of physics, that a slight, very random fusion reaction can occur under normal or near normal conditions, but this would not mean that it will ever produce a useable amount of energy! There are many theoretically possible ways of producing energy that are practically impossible -- is cold fusion another one to add to the list?

    I suspect a lot of the renewed interest in cold fusion is fueled out of desperation, as the modern reality that conventional energy sources are not going to meet increasing energy demands is starting to filter through to even the most clueless.
  • Alan DeAngelis on August 11 2013 said:
    Piantelli’s claims of seeing energetic partials emanating from his activated nickel rods when he places them into a cloud chamber proves a nuclear reaction is taking place in H-Ni systems.
  • Rockyspoon on August 12 2013 said:
    rlmc: There's very little "desperation" regarding fuel supplies: by next year some experts figure the US will be producing as much oil as Saudi Arabia, and the Australians are complaining US exports of LNG are beginning to hurt their business.

    Technologies such as fracking and right-angle drilling offer a huge increase in recoverable petroleum reserves, and new reserves are being found all the time--many in the most unlikely places and settings. "Peak Oil" is almost a joke now, and nobody can honestly say when that that will occur.

    So before you start calling people "clueless" for your lack of knowledge, you should check out what's happening world-wide in fossil fuel development and production. In the meantime, the world can get along nicely for quite a while without LENR, but neither should such a promising energy source be ignored.

    Once the scientists and engineers figure it out, we'll be able to save our petroleum reserves for petrochemical uses such as plastics and the like. It won't be wise to burn all that carbon when there are more reasonable sources of energy in the near future.
  • Joannes Van den Bogaert on August 13 2013 said:
    To DEFKALION people,

    Please confirm that in the "Hyperion" potassium is used as a catalyst for nickel into copper transmutation with negatve hydrogen ions (H-).
    Have a look at e-Cat Site the article "Cold Fusion Catalyst. Thanks.
  • Alan DeAngelis on August 21 2013 said:
    Could potassium be the fuel?

    K(39) + p > He(4) + Ar(36) 1.3 MeV
  • decent on September 29 2014 said:
    another year has passed.
    Nothing much really has happened.
    No production.

    And i am waiting since 2009
  • Sific on December 24 2014 said:
    Dear friends, please think a little bit about reality,
    Big business group which 100% have interest to breake process and pay for slow motion.
    Rossi reactor work 1000%
    But nobody from big investor is interesting to support inventor )) and so many years ask why?, and fortunately Arabs are ready to sail oil for 20$ per barell )))
    Next question -American research group from Locked is on phinal phase for Lenr reactor
    Who will be first ? Gentelman this is America))) money first !!!!
    Another time loop!!!! )))

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