28 October 2011

Breathless in Bologna: Waiting for News on Big E-Cat Test

Final Update 2100 EDT:This after-test report from Pesn.com is worth looking at for anyone interested in what actually happened today. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, but now that the 1 MW E-Cat device is apparently to be transferred to new ownership, one might assume that such questions will be answered via extensive testing. One of the most important questions will be answered once we discover the identity of Rossi's mystery customer.

Update 1500 EDT: According to Peswiki Twitter, the mysterious US customer is satisfied with the test results, and is shutting down the reactor. Reportedly the sale was made based upon 470 kW maintained throughout several hours of self-sustain mode. H/T Brian Wang, Nextbigfuture

More: Brian Wang points to an Andrea Rossi update on his blog, reporting that the test was proceeding according to expectations as of 10:37 AM. The "full test report" is expected tonight. Updates have been less frequent than expected, and we may have to wait until after markets close in NYC to learn much more. The AP news organisation is the only official media representative present, and an official news blackout is in force for the duration of the test. Rossi's "secret US customer" will not allow photographs of its engineers, who are conducting the test.
The reason for the embargo on taking photos was personnel reasons. They don't want the engineers and testers to be shown, to keep them confidential. The company doing the testing does not wish to be known at this time. A quick comment from the AP writer who is here. The lack of coverage from the mainstream media is not due to lack of interest but from the lack of cooperation from Andrea Rossi. He has turned a lot of media away who have wanted to come in. The AP writer has gained Rossi's trust over time, and hence was invited to be here today.Rossi will be sending us all the data this evening _FreeEnergyTruth Update

1 MW E-Cat In a Shipping Container

At this time, Andrea Rossi's 1 MW LENR E-Cat reactor is being tested by "a large industrial entity" which has contracted with Rossi to buy the device if it meets specifications. After several days of tuning the reactor, Rossi communicated yesterday that he is ready for the test.

Meanwhile, professor Sergio Focardi has affirmed on video that the E-Cat device will revolutionise the entire world of energy over the next 150 years. Here is further information about the work of James Patterson, the inventor of a parallel LENR system with some similarities to Rossi's device.

Here are some speculations from Mark Gibbs on how a working E-Cat -- and similar devices -- might change the world:
1. Where today you use petroleum products for motive energy (for example, to propel cars, trucks, and planes) you will be using steam engines or Stirling engines. In theory you’ll be able to drive across the country for cents. What will that do to the trucking industry? The shipping industry? Aviation?
2. With the demand for gasoline falling overnight and petroleum becoming needed primarily as feedstock for plastics, the US would immediately become self-sufficient in crude oil. What will happen in the Middle East without the huge flow of cash from the Western hemisphere? How will world politics be changed?
3. An E-Cat system could power your house or office making the existing grid obsolete. What would it mean to make your personal and corporate electricity and gas bills nearly zero?
4. The cost of manufacturing would fall very quickly with energy removed from the equation. If you are in manufacturing of any kind, this will affect you enormously. How fast could and how would you rework your corporate strategy to become competitive in a market where prices suddenly plummeted (note that the suddenly reduced cash flows would play havoc with the finance structures of many corporations). _Mark Gibbs

Here is an interesting video discussion by Edmund Storms on the potential of certain biological micro-organisms to catalyse the isotopic transmutation of radioactive isotopes to non-radioactive isotopes. If such LENR transmutation reactions take place within micro-organisms, then such microbes would have to be considered the smallest self-contained nuclear reactors on the planet.

There is a distinct "Alice in Wonderland" flavour to this entire episode, which will grow even stranger and more surreal should Rossi's 1 MW E-Cat actually pass its test. Since the test is being administered by a skeptical customer who is contractually obligated to hand over a large amount of cash if the reactor lives up to its advance billing, a passing grade on this test will mean something.

Al Fin energy analysts have remained skeptical throughout these proceedings, and yet up to this point, Mr. Rossi has basically done everything he said he was going to do. Wait and see what a group of independent testers think, with money on the line.

Updated reports on today's E-Cat test
Here is another link for updated information on the test. Also check at Ecatnews.net, eCat Economics and Governance, or E-Cat World.

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10 Comments:

Blogger PRCalDude said...

So is this thing legit? Could your average EE build one?

Friday, 28 October, 2011  
Blogger PRCalDude said...

After reading more about this, this has my BS detectors redlining.

Friday, 28 October, 2011  
Blogger Loren said...

If it works, Caldude, you could, provided you could get the specifications. Since two people figured it out at te same time, it's more likely that the basic info needed will be available rather quickly.

Friday, 28 October, 2011  
Blogger al fin said...

George Miley is a hot fusion researcher at U. Illinois, who has done some research recently on LENRs. He has found transmutation isotopes using a similar setup, by mass spectrometry. He feels that the phenomenon is real, and produices excess heat.

At this point, 3 groups that I know of are trying to achieve commercialisation of this technology.

My opinion is that Rossi is covering something up, but not necessarily what we might think.

I suspect the technology is not as close to commercialisation as Rossi is trying to suggest.

Saturday, 29 October, 2011  
Blogger PRCalDude said...

Don't get me wrong, Al, I really want this to be true. But I've dealt with people like Rossi before and have gotten good at spotting them. They typically make shows of things, foster "in-goup/out-group dynamics" (notice only his family, a couple of favorable researchers, and obscure fawning media outlets were invited), and talk about how only they have the knowledge while the rest don't understand their brilliance.

The fact that his papers were rejected for publication is not a good sign either.

I don't think his rap sheet is a big deal though since everyone in that region cheats on their taxes.

Saturday, 29 October, 2011  
Blogger commoncents said...

THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS!! I’m glad I found your blog!! Link Exchange??

Steve
Common Cents
http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com

Saturday, 29 October, 2011  
Blogger Hell_Is_Like_Newark said...

I haven't followed the E-cat too closely until recently. I second the "BS detector red-lining".

I work as an energy engineer, so I constantly research new tech. When someone isn't busy filing patents (real ones that would hold up in court) my reaction is 'scam'. So far, I haven't been wrong in using such a criteria.

Saturday, 29 October, 2011  
Blogger Unknown said...

I have watched Rossi's claims for over a year now and I am completely convinced this is a fraud. The only question is how does he expect to make money out of this fraud? If DARPA turns out to be the buyer I may change my mind but I believe the buyer is fictitious.

Saturday, 29 October, 2011  
Blogger al fin said...

It is not a simple question of whether the phenomenon of LENRs is a scam. There is genuine scientific evidence to suggest that something interesting is happening in at least some LENR reactors.

Whether Rossi is pulling a scam is a different question. As I said before, I suspect that Rossi's device is not close to commercial potential. In order to cover up that fact, Rossi may have contrived a dishonest apparatus to convey the appearance of excess heat being generated.

Regardless, I am baffled by this compulsion to declare one's belief or disbelief in a phenomenon one has not had the opportunity to study. Sometimes a wait and see attitude is best, as long as one does not have money or reputation on the line.

Common Cents (Steve): I will place a link to your site in the "Politics" section, which is halfway down the Al Fin sidebar. I do not require a reciprocal link.

Sunday, 30 October, 2011  
Blogger Bob said...

I'm not a physicist, but one that I respect says this is almost certainly a scam:

http://motls.blogspot.com/2011/10/wuwt-forbes-wired-keep-on-pushing-cold.html#more

Sunday, 30 October, 2011  

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“During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act” _George Orwell

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