D.D. Dominguez, D.A. Kidwell, G.K. Hubler, S-F Cheng, M.A. Imam,

K.S. Grabowski and D.L. Knies U.S. Naval Research Laboratory

Washington, DC 20375

L. DeChiaro NSWC-Dahlgren

Dahlgren, VA

A.E. Moser and J-H He NOVA Research, Inc .

Alexandria, VA

and

V. Violante ENEA

Frascati, Italy

17th International Conference on Condensed Matter Nuclear Science – Daejeon, Korea

12-17 August 2012

Presentation Outline:

Generation of FPE

• The addition of metals/metal salts to shorten time to onset of effect

• Focus on Pd 90% Rh 10% cathode material

Steps taken to confirm results • Improved electrochemical cell design to eliminate the possibility of shorts to ground being mistaken for excess heat

• Implemented many additional cell diagnostics (Used redundant measurements for independent verification)

• Attempted to “crash” the VSP and initiate excess heat and RF production

Bottom Line:

• Large excess power (≥ 1kJ) events generated in 5% of Pd90Rh10 cathodes

• Failed to disprove these results excess heat results observed at NRL are real!

2

4-position Hart

calorimeter

January 2009 –

April 2010

May 2010 –

June 2011

June 2011 –

present

Initial FPE cell

(cell design based on

ENEA / Violante work)

0 50 100 150

Jan. 2009- April 2010

May 2010-June 2011

June 2011-June 2012

Number of Cells

3

working electrode

power supply

counter electrode

power supply

Virtual ground and

regulation circuits BioLogic

VSP

Cathode Anode

Fleischmann-Pons Cell

0.5 ohm

resistor

I mA

I mA

4

• Many experiments, over 24 months, with consistent results

Powerin= Powerout

5.8

5.9

6

6.1

6.2

6.3

6.4

6.5

6.6

68955 78955 88955 98955 108955 118955 128955 138955

Seconds

Wa

tts

Power In

Power Out

Constant Current Mode

Constant Power Mode

Electrolytic Loading Experiment: Original Fleischmann and Pons Approach

Teflon cell with Teflon internal parts and PEEK top (no capability for

chemical additions)

Initial FPE cell

5

-300

-200

-100

0

100

200

300

0

2

4

6

8

10

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

Re

sid

ua

l (m

W)

Po

we

r (W

att

s)

Time (Hours)

Goodfellow 5_2

Pin

Pout

Residuals

6

-100

-80

-60

-40

-20

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

2

4

6

8

10

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Re

sid

ua

l (m

W)

Po

we

r (W

att

s)

Time (Hours)

Pd95Ru5

Pin

Pout

Residuals

Added Raney Ni to the electrolyte using a Teflon

cell modified with syringe needles. The addition

resulted in approximately 40 mW excess power.

Added Raney Ni

7

8

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200

Po

we

r (m

W)

Time (hours)

Pin (mW)

Pout (mW)

ENEA L119

Detection of Zr

Only in New lots

Detection of Rhodium

Only in Old lots

Older lots of Palladium, that

appeared to produce substantial

heat, likely had only ONE source

– Engelhard

ICP-MS analysis shows different

impurity profiles than current

palladium lots

Older lots appear to have recycled

Pd from catalytic converters as

rhodium and platinum are present

Current lots are much purer in

these elements but have

zirconium, yttrium, and hafnium

present

Likely change in crucibles for

melting to zirconia

Rhodium prices may drive recovery

as a separate element

Are the impurities responsible for

the Fleischmann-Pons Effect? 9

Raney Ni

CoSO4

NiSO4

• 10 kJ over 90 minutes – 140% excess

• Event triggered by metal/metal oxide

additions into 24 mL electrolyte volume

• 5-10 mg NiSO4 155 MJ/mole or

1.6 keV/molecule

10

-2000

-1000

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165

Re

sid

ua

l (m

W)

Po

we

r (W

att

s)

Time (Hours)

Pd90Rh10_1

Pin

Pout

Residuals

NiSO4 NiSO4

10 kJ !!!

Cell top with Platinum feedthroughs

and High Pressure Liquid

Chromatography fittings for sealing

Tubes for chemical additions and

pressure measurements

11

• Now, using all-PEEK cell to prevent shorts to ground.

• Potentially useful level of excess power!

-2000

-1000

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Re

sid

ua

l (m

W)

Po

we

r (W

att

s)

Time (Hours)

Pd90Rh10_27

Pin

Pout

Residuals Total excess energy

= 44.3 kJ

Gain ~40 x !!!

12

working electrode

power supply

counter electrode

power supply

Virtual ground and

regulation circuits BioLogic

VSP

Cathode Anode

Fleischmann-Pons Cell

0.5 ohm

resistor

0.5 ohm

resistor

Ece Ewe

I mA

I mA

RTD temp

probe

RTD temp

probe RTD temp

probe

to spectrum

analyzer

13

Pd90%Rh10% Cathode Fully Instrumented Experiment

-1000

-500

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Re

sid

ua

l (m

W)

Po

we

r (W

att

s)

Time (Hours)

Pd90Rh10_117

Pin

Pout

Residuals

~70 kJ

14

Comparison of Powerout to Internal Cell Temperature Fully Instrumented Experiment

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Te

mp

era

ture

( C

)

Po

we

r (W

att

s)

Time (Hours)

Pd90Rh10_117

Pin

Pout

Internal Temperature

Note trends – follow until event Instrument working!

15

Comparison of External Resistor Temperatures to Current Fully Instrumented Experiment

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Ce

ll C

urr

en

t (m

A)

Te

mp

era

ture

(°C

)

Time (Hours)

Pd90Rh10_117

Resistor Anode Temperature

Resistor Cathode Temperature

I/mA

Note trends – follow until event Instrument working!

16

working electrode

power supply

counter electrode

power supply

Virtual ground and

regulation circuits BioLogic

VSP

Cathode Anode

Fleischmann-Pons Cell

0.5 ohm

resistor

I mA

I mA

to spectrum

analyzer

RF pick-up coil

17

-2000

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

0 20 40 60 80 100

Re

sid

ua

l (m

W)

Po

we

r (W

att

s)

Time (Hours)

Pd90Rh10_60

Pin

Pout

Residuals

Raney Ni CoSO4 NiSO4

Excess power >> stored chemical energy

Excess power appeared before first addition

May have been due to cleanliness of cell

5

9

13

17

21

25

37.0678 39.0678 41.0678 43.0678 45.0678 47.0678 49.0678 51.0678 53.0678 55.0678

Time (Hours)

Po

wer

(W

atts

)

.

-200

1800

3800

5800

7800

9800

11800

13800

Res

idu

al (

mW

)

.

~43 kJ ~35 kJ

18

Excess Heat Events

Tim

e o

f D

ay (

ho

urs

)

RF

Po

wer

(dB

m)

Frequency (kHz)

RF coincides

with Heat Pulses

19

20

In Fleischmann-Pons type electrochemical experiments, we see

unexplained production of

Excess heat without radiation

RF correlated with large excess heat events

Source and mechanism of FPE unknown, BUT heat production

Is NOT chemical in origin as heat is too large

Is NOT an instrumental artifact - Instrumentation is working correctly!!

Nothing we do can make the instrumentation misbehave

FPE currently reproducible only about 5% of the time, but real

science is present

The authors acknowledge funding from The Defense

Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and The

Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).

Questions???

21

The views, opinions, and/or findings contained

in this presentation are those of the presenter

and should not be interpreted as representing

the official views or policies, either expressed

or implied, of the Naval Research Laboratory

or the Department of Defense.