[Stoves] Ecat in NM - STEM 3D models of wind turbines and Ecat

Fri Oct 14 12:49:25 CDT 2011

Crispin,

We are asking questions about the Ecat for a project my son is working on.

(I can send attachments upon request)

My son has been very interested in global warming and the potential of wind farms and Ecat (Energy Catalyzer), a small nuclear reactor. He may use his Ecat and Wind Farm 3D models in a Supercomputer Challenge project.

http://www.challenge.nm.org/

He was trained at Santa Fe Institute in modeling. He now teaches blender in local schools and colleges. He is 16.

http://www.santafe.edu/education/k12-project-guts/

Ecat Scratch Cartoon for STEM classes: There are more references below.

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/GeneMachine/1791470

Questions for STEM:

1. Is Ecat real?

2. How does it work?

3. Why is NASA interested?

4. Is it scalable? Can it be used beyond home heating, etc?

What we would like to know is can the Ecat use New Mexico's nickel and copper deposits to produce power?

How would this help solve water problems in the US Southwest and global warming.?

NM may have more than a billion acre-feet of brackish water.

http://wrri.nmsu.edu/tbndrc/inland.html

http://wrri.nmsu.edu/conf/brackishworkshop/report/NMBWWreport_FINAL.pdf

http://www.usbr.gov/pmts/water/research/tularosa.html

http://www.usbr.gov/pmts/water/publications/reports.html

http://wrri.research.nmsu.edu/

A low maintenance desalination program, using Ecat and brackish water, would allow this water to be used.

Southern NM and West Texas has many oil well bore holes that were used to prospect oil in the 1950s and 1960s. The bore holes preexist and would allow for pumping of brackish water for SPICE.

Could NM and Arizona use the Copper and Nickel deposits in the state to power SPICE using Ecat?

Ecat Ni/H reactor could be used to create 1000 F heat from a Nickel and Hydrogen reaction.

What would the costs be for a large scale Ecat desalination system?

There are no moving parts in an Ecat and once started Ecat only requires hydrogen as a fuel source.

A possible future solution to desalination problems could use a small Ni/H reactor, Ecat.

There are no moving parts in an Ecat and once started Ecat only requires hydrogen as a fuel source.

How could a heat exchanger be used with an Ecat to distill water without fouling the Ni/H reactor?

My son has been building a set of Ecat models in blender a free 3D modeling tool used in animation.

See attached example blender interface wind_turbine_blender.jpg.

My son built fields of wind turbines from this model and has bird strikes in the wind turbine field as you fly through it in 3D. This wind turbine was downloaded from an online free library.
http://www.blendercycles.com/tutorials/windmill
http://www.blendswap.com/3D-models/misc-objects/windturbine/
http://extremevr.mirarco.org/html/How_to_make_a_windmill.html

Potentially you could build a desalination system and have the user fly through it as a molecule of water would us ing the particle generator in blender. My son could do this in minutes. There are lots of blender tutorials online.

http://www.cogfilms.com/tutorials/Blender-Dense-Smoke-Tutoria.pdf

http://cuttingedgetech.wordpress.com/2009/04/02/blender-particle-tutorial/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6aDm1rvR-U<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6aDm1rvR-U>

He has based some of them on the interaction of gasses in the Ecat reactor and a heat engine.

Some of his models could easily be used to create a simulation of a desalination system.

See below some of the model ideas he is working on.

You may want to try to build your own blender models of desalinations systems?

My son has done many animations of balloons, dirgibles, planetary systems, Ecat, plasma drives etc.

He used blender in his powerpoint presentation for the NM supercomputer challenge last year.

http://www.challenge.nm.org/archive/10-11/finalreports/35.pdf

I have added a section at the bottom on using python language to build interactive models in blender.

Blender is written in python and allows students to build complex movies, animation, and games using pyhton.

Games can also be created using the blender.org software.

We always start students with a simple animation language like scratch or alice.

You may want to show students how to build simple animations in scratch

Wind Power Grids in NM:

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/GeneMachine/733654

Here is a model of the NM power grid that I used to teach renewable power at the supercomputer challenge in 2010.

Power grid model:

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/GeneMachine/718595

Students may want to build a model of the desalination systems in Scratch and post it at MIT and have schools

use it as part of their curriculum.

Ecat uses hydrogen as its primary fuel.
Managing hydrogen ions limits sustaining the Ni/H reaction.
A ceramic Ecat using a solid-state hydrogen fuel source would allow Ecat to be widely used.
US Air Force lab reproduced Ecat and reveals Nickel catalyst.
(see transcript below at bottom of email) http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/06/brian-ahern-getting-8-watts-in-low.html
Ecat could be used in the home to produce steam for heating, hot water, and electric generation for homes and cars.
http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/04/swedish-researchers-confirm-rossi-and.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Catalyzer
See attached (Ecat_Nuclear_Reactor_Rankine_Model.doc)
Nickel is a very common waste product from copper mining ($12.10 /LB).
Nickel is the 5th most common element on earth.
The Ecat uses 50 grams of Ni to produce 25kWh (approx)
http://www.nyteknik.se/incoming/article3144960.ece/BINARY/Download+the+report+by+Kullander+and+Ess%C3%A9n+%28pdf%29

Blender models my son is now working on.

The US Military is spending $20 Billion per yr for air conditioning in Afghanistan and Middle East.
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/25/137414737/among-the-costs-of-war-20b-in-air-conditioning

Could an Ecat based air conditioner replace fuel convoys to feed electric generators to feed AC?

Nuclear Air Conditioning

Could a Microchannel Heat Exchanger based air conditioner be connected to an Ecat to simplify air conditioning (AC)?
AC is a major consumer of electric power and fuel on military bases.
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-06-prototype-success-advanced-energy-technology.html

http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/21679/Thermally%20Activated%20Cooling%20Systems%20Using%20Microchannel%20HXs_ATE_final%5b2%5d.pdf?sequence=1

Could students build a Rankine/electric generator connected to a Ni/H reactor? Similar to STG solar system made from car turbocharger.

MIT and Peace Corps Organic Rankine:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/4232571
http://www.stginternational.org/

Have students create a kit for retrofitting an electric car. It could be built in modules and placed in an electric car to charge batteries.
This would create an electric car that would never need to plug in?

I am building a model of this reactor in blender(http://blender.org}.
Could a small Rankine system or Thermoelectric Generator be modified to use Ecat?

I would like to know if there are any thermodynamic models for small Rankine cycle systems?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rankine_cycle

http://orbi.ulg.ac.be/handle/2268/1273

http://orbi.ulg.ac.be/bitstream/2268/1273/1/TFE%20-%20SQ010607.pdf

I would like to eventually create a physics curriculum for students to learn the nuclear LENR process.

A car powered by a four cylinder ecat system.
The pistons are replaced in the car with a series of four ecats, one in each cylinder. They would feed a Rankine organic engine that would sit where an air filter is in the car. A steam heat engine could also be used.
Example:
http://www.cyclonepower.com/works.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Wapcaplet/Auto_diagrams

By combining the heat engine with an aluminum block a hybrid electric/nuclear powered car may be possible. This car could produce power for months possibly years with no fuel being required. A diesel bus or train could also use ecat tech.

Blender Steam Tutorial: How to use Blender to simulate a Steam train http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro/Advanced_Tutorials/Advanced_Animation/example/_Piston,_Rod_and_Crank

Laser Spark Plug Initiation of Ecat

Recent work using lasers to replace spark plugs in internal combustion engines could be applied to start a nuclear reactor.

http://www.osa.org/About_Osa/Newsroom/News_Releases/Releases/04.2011/LaserSparksRevolution.aspx

Could a small laser be modified to start an Ecat?

An Ecat is a small nuclear reactor that could be used with students.

See attached model (Ecat Nuclear Reactor Model.doc)

Presently a small electronic resistive coil is used to start the reactor.

By replacing the coil with a laser spark plug the reaction may proceed faster?

Building a laser simulation in blender.org:

http://download.blender.org/documentation/oldsite/oldsite.blender3d.org/132_Blender%20tutorial%20We've%20got%20lasers!.html

Could students build a computer model for educators?

Other ideas:
Use Cella hydrogen fuel mixed with the Nickel to provide hydrogen in the reactor.
http://www.cellaenergy.com/index.php?page=technology

Japan might use the Ecat to decentralize the electric power grid by using the Ecat to produce electricity locally. By phasing out the centralized Uranium Nuclear plants Japan could replace them with many small Ecat electric plants. This would make Japan resistant to electric outages due to earthquakes.

This would make Japan's electric grid more reliable. I worked for a US electric power company in New Mexico and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Japan could improve the Ecat with new technology (laser spark plugs) to start the reactor more quickly to meet just-in-time power needs.
Electric Power in NM
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/GeneMachine/718595

My son and I are coming up with new ideas about using derelict cars as reactors that people can use with ecats to power their homes, farms, businesses, etc.
How hard would it be to strip a car of pistons and drain the oil but keep the radiator and electronics? Use the battery to start the reactor and use the reactor as a trickle charger for the car battery while using the excess heat for home heating and selling the excess electricity to the grid.
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/GeneMachine/258412

Could your US students build a computer model?
50 cc Ecat reactor produces 25 kWh (A. Rossi 3/11)

2000 cc (2 liter engine) = 1 MW

Example Question:
A 2000 Toyota Corolla has a 1.8 liter engine how many kWhs can it produce if converted to ECAT power?

If the Rankine engine can convert 20% of this power to electricity then how much electricity will be produced?

How many houses will this power?

 1 MWh electric power can sustain a 4 story office building

Could US convert all Govt. Buildings?

Could US convert its car fleet to Ecat power?

Could US start a competition for students to build an Ecat simulation?
Could US work with community college auto programs to train students to retrofit electric cars with a small Ecat trickle charger?
Could the US fund a micro turbine development project for micro turbine power plants in US based on Ecat?

Does US have computer and industrial technology programs on Ecat?
Together they could develop a prototype for Electric Coops and power companies to decentralize US 's electric power grid.

How can we prepare students to work in a world without carbon?
Ecat:
Building first a trickle charger for electric cars?
Leading to community electric power plants?
Students could then create EMS/SCADA software to manage decentralized smartgrids in car and community.
How many coal plants could be displaced? How can we stop global warming?
EMS/SCADA Cartoon:
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/GeneMachine/258412

I managed an EMS/SCADA for PNM (NM/US electric utility) 2000-2005.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_management_system

Recent advances in Thermoelectric Power Generation(TEG):

http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/05/bulk-thermoelectrics-that-are-22.html

US may be able to use TEG to generate power due to the difference in temperature. Ecat and TEG could produce power with fewer moving parts.
http://www.nyserda.org/programs/transportation/Thermoelectric_Generator.pdf

NASA is interested:

http://nickelenergy.wordpress.com/2011/06/02/chief-scientist-at-nasa-langley-acknowledges-andrea-rossi-e-cat/

>From the Article:
Dennis Bushnell: The most interesting, and promising, at this point, in the farther term, but maybe not so far, is low-energy nuclear reactions. This has come out of [22] years of people producing energy but not knowing what it is — and we think we have a theory on it. It’s producing beta decay and heat without radiation. The research on this is very promising and it alone, if it comes to pass, would literally solve both [the] climate and energy [problems.]

Simulink model of ORC:
https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/48768/Thesis.pdf?sequence=1

Ceramic Ecat:
Alfred University would like to build a ceramic NI/H reactor that could last for decades.
Alfred University Ceramic Engineering Department may design an Ecat reactor vessel that would last longer than steel (Xingwu Wang [fwangx at alfred.edu]) Ni/H reactions could continue for decades or be turned off and on daily.
The ceramic vessel could withstand 400-1000 F.
Presently the reaction takes 45 minutes to reach maximum output.
Would hydrogen gas leak out of the reactor?
Hydrogen is the only element the reactor requires once the reaction has started.

US Air Force Lab reproduces Ecat and reveals Nickel catalyst

http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/06/brian-ahern-getting-8-watts-in-low.html

From:  Brian Ahern,  Boxborough MA
Re:   Zr-Ni-Cu alloy performance

Ames National Laboratory processed metal alloy foils via arc melting followed by melt spinning.  This is the Yamaura process employed by Arata and others. The foils were baked in ordinary air at 445C for 28 hours.

The brittle, oxidized foils were placed in a tumble mill for 24 hours.

This resulted in 30 grams of black powder with a median grain size of about 40 microns.Presumably, each grain has about one million nanoscale islands of NiCu inside.

The 30 grams occupies about 7 ml inside the 50 ml dewar. The system was vacuum baked at 220C for 24 hours and cooled to room temperature.

H2 gas was added at 200psi. The pressure dropped only to about 185 psi over twenty minutes.  In these replication experiments the exothermic reactions have had peak temperatures above 220C with substantial loading above 3.0 H/M ratios. This time the temperature only rose by 2 degrees C.

The system was heated with a band heater to high temperature. There was no controller. A rheostat was set at an arbitrary position and the system comes to a an arbitrary temperature.The average power input was 90 watts.

After several hours the hydrated system was evacuated overnight at a constant high temperature at 530C.  The next day H2 gas was again added at 100psi and the temperature rose by 40C to 570C and came back down to 530C after two hours.  At the end of the day the dewar was again evacuated while still at 530C overnight.

The third day repeated the same procedure. H2 gas was added at 100psi and the temperature rose by 44C to 574C. However, this time it did not come back to the initial temperature. It remained at the elevated temperature overnight.

On the fourth day H2 gas was again added at 100psi and the system rose by 50C to 580C and again stayed at the elevated temperature indefinitely.

A rough calibration suggests that the 30 grams of hydrated nanopowder is putting out 5 watts of excess power.

Yesterday Peter Gluck suggested that the relationship between loading and excess power may be a myth. This seemed to be true for electrolysis with Pd and heavy water where loading levels exceeding 0.9 D/M were a prerequisite for observing excess power.

My loading level with this nanopowder sample as less than 0.1 H/M.

This 5 watt excess is very much less than Rossi, but it is a real and repeatable experiment There was no radiation above the background level.

Other alloys  from Ames NL are expected within ten days

END OF EMAIL

Could Ecat desalinate water on India’s coasts or remove arsenic from India’s water supplies?
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-07-desalinating-seawater-minimal-energy.html

Simulating Mechanical Engineering using Python and Blender - For STEM students?

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-blender-3d-cookbook-volume-1/11777448

http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/ (build web apps with python)

http://sites.google.com/site/satishgoda/blender/learningblender25/introduction-to-blender-python-api

http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:Manual/Physics/Fluids

http://projects.blender.org/projects/blendercad/

Students have been very interested in developing a nuclear cooking stone to replace firewood collecting and sending girls to school.
Could students devise a small cigarette sized Ecat to place in a brick to produce heat for cooking?
See attached Nuclear Cooking Stone.doc
I worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory (90-91) and for PNM on the Taiban Mesa wind farm (2001-2005).
I was a Peace Corps Volunteer working on renewable energy and water in Jamiaca, WI in the 1970's.

Henry Brown
hbrown at sisna.com<mailto:hbrown at sisna.com>
505 795-3680

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