



New Energy Times Index of LENR Experimental Methodologies Updated May 26, 2013 x Introduction to New Energy Times Index of LENR Experimental Methodologies



Source: © New Energy Times. If you wish to reproduce any part of this index, please contact New Energy Times. Low-energy nuclear reaction researchers have used at least two dozen methods to perform LENR experiments. This index describes the more common methods. New Energy Times first presented a condensed version of this Index of LENR Experimental Methodologies at the American Nuclear Society meeting in November 2012. On May 22, 2013, we published a more detailed listing of the index here. In the 1920s, when researchers searched primarily for transmutations, the typical experimental method they used was a high electric current rapidly introduced to a thin wire, causing it to explode. When Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons reinvigorated the field in 1989 and searched primarily for excess heat, they used low-voltage electrolysis. Several months later, Francesco Piantelli developed an alternative method of loading hydrogen gas onto the surface of metals. Other researchers, as shown below, developed their own innovative approaches. Low-voltage electrolysis has been a favorite for its relative simplicity and low cost, but it has been the least successful in producing repeatable results and in proving a nuclear effect. Searches for excess heat are enticing and may get the attention of entrepreneurs because the heat may eventually lead to needed practical applications. However, heat is evanescent and makes a difficult proof for nuclear phenomena; in addition, heat teaches little about the nuclear mechanism. On the other hand, searches for isotopic or elemental changes provide direct information about the mechanism and produce long-lasting nuclear evidence. Researchers who have conducted experiments in attempts to find isotopic or elemental changes have found that such experiments work more repeatably and more reproducibly. The comprehensive Widom-Larsen theory of LENRs enables the following varied experimental methods and their results to be understood within a common conceptual framework. Among these methods listed below, an even more diverse collection of protocols and instrumentation choices exist for many of them.

Basic Steps in LENR Experiments Source: © New Energy Times. If you wish to reproduce any part of this index, please contact New Energy Times.

In 1991, Mahadeva Srinivasan made a list of the basic steps involved in most LENR experiments. Two decades later, the essential steps are the same and apply to most of the methods. Here is his list, slightly edited: 1. Choice of experimental method.

2. Choice of host metal/alloy: Pd, Ni, Ti, Zr, Mg, V, Nb-Ti, any hydrogen-storing alloy; even a high-temperature superconductor.

3. Preparation of samples: degassing, surface cleaning, annealing.

4. Choice of and loading of deuterium/hydrogen: electrolysis, gas, plasma, ion implantation, etc.

5. Measurement of degree of deuterium/hydrogen loading (or D(H)-to-metal atomic ratio): weighing, volume increase, resistivity, X-ray diffraction, etc.

6. Stimulation/triggering of reactions to create non-equilibrium conditions: current pulsing, thermal cycling, electrical discharge, application of electric or magnetic field, pressure changes, ultrasound, low-power laser, shock wave, projectile impact, etc. In many cases, particularly with electrolysis, anomalies do not occur when the system is in equilibrium.

7. On-line diagnostic analyses: heat, neutrons, X-rays, helium-4 (online), gamma rays, thermal imaging, acoustic or pressure waves, radio emissions.

8. Off-line diagnostics or post-experiment analysis: Isotopic anomalies, elemental changes, charged particles, neutrons via CR-39 with or without absorber, helium-4 (offline,) helium-3, tritium.

9. Theoretical interpretation, modeling, analysis. Among these methods listed below, an even more diverse collection of protocols and instrumentation choices exist for each method. List of LENR Experimental Methods Source: © New Energy Times. If you wish to reproduce any part of this index, please contact New Energy Times.

Category: Electrolytic Methods Electrolysis in Heavy Water

Electrolysis in Light Water

Electrolysis with Low-Power Laser

Electrodiffusion with Double-Structure Cathode

High-Voltage Plasma Electrolysis in D2O or H2O

Electrolytic Co-Deposition

Thin-Film Electrolysis in Packed Bed

Thin-Film Electrolysis on Substrate Category: Gas Methods Gas Loading on Bulk Metal (Rod or Wire)

Gas Absorption Into Metal Nano-Powder

Gas Plasma - Glow Discharge

Gas Permeation Through Thin Films

Gas Permeation Through Thin Metals Category: Unique Methods



Exploding Wires

Electron Beam Impact

Sonic Implantation

Biological Processes

Electromigration Through Solid-State Proton Conductors

Carbon Arc Experiments

Hydrogen Loading of Phenanthrene

Category: Electrolytic Methods Electrolysis in Heavy Water

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Author Example Pons and Fleischmann Typical Configuration Low-power electrolysis. Pd or Ti cathodes. Pt anodes. D2O with LiOD or Li2SO4. Typical input power Less than 5 Watts Typical duration Weeks to months Typical Search Excess heat

Electrolysis in Light Water

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Author Example Miley, Dash Typical Configuration Low-power electrolysis. Ni cathodes. Pt anodes. H2O with K2CO3, LiOH or LiSO4 or H2SO4. Typical input power Less than 5 Watts Typical duration Days to weeks Typical Search Excess heat, nuclear emissions and transmutations

Electrolysis with Low-Power Laser

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Author Example Letts and Cravens, Violante Typical Configuration Variation of low-power electrolytic experiment. Addition of ~30 mW laser beam amplifies excess-heat effect. Typical input power Less than 5 Watts Typical duration Days to weeks Typical Search Excess heat

Electrodiffusion with Double-Structure Cathode

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Author Example Arata and Zhang Typical Configuration Low-power electrolysis. Deuterium in D2O diffuses through the walls of a hollowed-out (double-structure) cathode filled with Pd-black powder. D2 gas permeates cathode walls. Typical input power 100 Watts Typical duration Days to weeks Typical Search Excess heat, 4He

High-Voltage Plasma Electrolysis in D 2O or H2O

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Author Example Mizuno, Cirillo Typical Configuration High-power electrolysis causes plasma formation. W cathodes. Anodes can be Pt mesh, carbon, steel. D2O with LiOD or H2O with any of LiOH, KOH, NaOH, K2CO3, Na2SO4, Na2CO3, H2SO4. Typical input power 100-800 Watts Typical duration Minutes to hours Typical Search Excess heat, nuclear emissions and transmutations

Electrolytic Co-Deposition

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Author Example Mosier-Boss, Miles Typical Configuration Cathodes are substrates of Au, Ag or Pt. Anode is Pt. Solutions of PdCl2 and LiCl are added to D2O. Pd is deposited onto cathode in the presence of evolving D2. Typical input power Less than 5 Watts Typical duration Days Typical Search Excess heat, energetic particles, neutrons

Thin-Film Electrolysis in Packed Bed

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Author Example Patterson and Miley Typical Configuration Low-power electrolysis. A bed of microspheres coated with Ni or Pd, or both, are immersed in the electrolyte and compose the cathode. Pt electrodes. H2O with K2CO3, LiOH or LiSO4. Typical input power Less than 5 Watts Typical duration Hours to days Typical Search Excess heat, nuclear emissions and transmutations

Thin-Film Electrolysis on Substrate

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Author Example Miley Typical Configuration Glass/Quartz substrate. Cathode consists of multiple layers of Pd, Ni and other materials. Pt anode. Typical input power Less than 5 Watts Typical duration Hours to days Typical Search Excess heat, nuclear emissions and transmutations Category: Gas Methods

Gas Loading on Bulk Metal (Rod or Wire)

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Author Example Piantelli Typical Configuration Pure nickel, nickel alloys or nickel-plated bars are placed in ultra-high-vacuum chamber, which is then filled with hydrogen gas. Initial heating is by resistance and gradually reduced as LENR heating increases. Typical input power Tens of Watts Typical duration Weeks to months Typical Search Excess heat, nuclear emissions and transmutations

Gas Absorption Into Metal Nano-Powder

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Author Example Paneth and Peters, Arata Typical Configuration Deuterium or hydrogen gas loads into a chamber filled with finely divided palladium or palladium nanopowder. Typical input power Only pump power Typical duration Days Typical Search Search for transmutation, excess heat and helium-4

Gas Plasma - Glow Discharge

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Author Example Savvatimova Typical Configuration Voltage applied to a chamber filled with deuterium or hydrogen gas, or a mixture, plus Ar, Xe, causes a plasma to form Typical input power 500-1,000 volts, 10-100 mA, (5-100 Watts) Typical duration 1-40 hours Typical Search Excess heat, nuclear emissions and transmutations

Gas Permeation Through Thin Films

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Author Example Iwamura, Higashiyama Typical Configuration Deuterium gas drawn through multi-layer substrates containing palladium and target elements. Typical input power Pump power and small electric heater, Pump: 400W Heater: 10 Watts Typical duration 10 days Typical Search Search for nuclear emissions and transmutations

Gas Permeation Through Thin Metals

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Author Example Biberian, Fralick Typical Configuration Deuterium or hydrogen gas is drawn through and loaded into or deloaded from thin sheets or tubes of palladium. Typical input power Only pump power Typical duration Days Typical Search Excess heat, nuclear emissions

Category: Unique Methods

Exploding Wires

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Author Example Wendt and Irion, Kortkhonjia Typical Configuration A high electric current is rapidly introduced to a thin wire. The wire disintegrates in a brilliant flash. Typical input power Tens or hundreds of Watts Typical duration Seconds to minutes Typical Search Nuclear emissions and transmutations

Electron Beam Impact

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Author Example Adamenko, Novikov Typical Configuration Bombarding a target metal with high, short-pulse electron current Typical input power Power of beam: 200J-2000J; Absorbed by a target: 20J-400J Typical duration 15ns-100 ns Typical Search Nuclear emissions and transmutations

Sonic Implantation

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Author Example Stringham Typical Configuration Acoustic waves are directed into an aqueous solution of D2O in the presence of a target metal. Bubbles form and collapse at the surface of the metal. Typical input power 16 Watts Typical duration Hours Typical Search Excess heat and helium-4

Biological Processes

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Author Example Vysotskii and Kornilova Typical Configuration Dissolve MnSO4 in D2O or H2O containing bacteria. Rare iron isotope Fe57 produced and detected by gamma ray detection, Mossbauer method and TIMS mass-spectroscopy (synchronization of decrease of Mn55 concentration and increase of Fe57 concentration). Typical input power None Typical duration 24-72 hours for the case of "online" ("clean") microbiological cultures like Escherichia coli (low efficiency of transmutation) and 50-100 days for microbe syntrophin association of thousands kinds of microbiological cultures (high efficiency of transmutation) Typical Search Nuclear transmutations of stable (e.g. Mn55 to Fe57) and radioactive (e.g. Cs137 to Ba138) isotopes.

Electromigration Through Solid-State Proton Conductors

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Author Example Mizuno, Biberian Typical Configuration Hydrogen or deuterium atoms caused to move across solid material when voltage is applied. Typical input power 100 mW-10 Watts Typical duration Minutes to hours Typical Search Excess heat

Carbon Arc Experiments

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Author Example Sundaresan and Bockris Typical Configuration Carbon rods suspended in H2O. Transmutations found in detritus. Typical input power 10-30 amps Typical duration Hours Typical Search Excess heat, nuclear emissions and transmutations

Hydrogen Loading of Phenanthrene

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Author Example Mizuno Typical Configuration Heavy oil is heated in high-pressure hydrogen gas with a metal catalyzer. Typical input power 500-1000 Watts Typical duration Hours Typical Search Excess heat, nuclear emissions and transmutations Change Log



May 26, 2013 Update

Exploding Wires: Image text updated: “Vacuum with hydrogen monolayer or filled with D2 or H2” May 24, 2013 Update

Electrolysis in Heavy Water: Added “(Typical electrodes for all D2O cells.)”

Electrolysis in Heavy Water: Text in “Typical Configuration” corrected

Electrolysis in Light Water: Added “(Typical electrodes for all H2O cells.)”

Thin-Film Electrolysis in Packed Bed: "Pt anodes“ changed to “Pt electrodes”

Thin-Film Electrolysis on Substrate: Added: “Pt anode”

Gas Loading on Bulk Metal (Rod or Wire): Corrected to say “D2 or H2”

Petronuclear Hydrogen Loading of Phenanthrene: Change “benzine” to “benzene”



