On January 14, 2011, Sergio Focardi and Andrea Rossi held a press conference at the University of Bologna. They demonstrated a 10 kilowatt nickel-light water cold fusion reactor. See Rossi’s web site: http://www.journal-of-nuclear-physics.com
Focardi and Piantelli have published many papers claiming excess heat from nickel. Here is an example from 1998. No attempts to replicate this by other groups have been reported, although Mills and others have claimed excess heat from nickel using somewhat different methods. Rossi applied for a patent.
We have complied a Brief Technical Description of the Experiment from various sources, including photographs of the equipment, and we have uploaded a short interview with Prof. Levi who conducted the experiment, and a list of recommendations for further tests by Prof. Nagel.
The researchers who performed the test have published two reports, one by Levi on the calorimetry, and one by Villa on the gamma radiation measurements, which were not significantly about background.
Here is a description of the calorimetry:
Brief Description of the Calorimetry in the Rossi Experiment at U. Bologna, January 14, 2011
by Jed Rothwell
The experiment has been underway at U. Bologna since mid-December 2010. It has been done several times. Several professors with expertise in related subjects such as calorimetry are involved.
LIST OF MAIN EQUIPMENT IN EXPERIMENT
A hydrogen tank and a method of measuring the hydrogen flow accurate to 0.1 g
10 liter tank reservoir, which is refilled as needed during the run
Displacement pump
Tube from pump to Rossi device (The Rossi device is known as an “ECat”)
Outlet tube from the Rossi device, which emits hot water or steam
Thermocouples in the reservoir, ambient air and the outlet tube
A Delta Ohm monitor to measure the relative humidity of the steam. This is to confirm that it is “dry steam”; that is, steam only, with no water droplets. This is a model HD37AB1347 IAQ with a high temperature HP474AC SICRAM sensor, which measures enthalpy, as noted in the brochure
Alternating-current heater used to bring the Rossi device up to the working temperature
METHOD
The reservoir water temperature is measured at 13°C, ambient air at 23°C.
The heater is set to about 1000 W to heat up the Rossi device. Hydrogen is admitted to the Rossi device.
The displacement pump is turned on, injecting water into the Rossi device at 292 ml/min.
The water comes out as warm water at first, then as a mixture of steam and water, and finally after about 30 minutes, as dry steam. This is confirmed with the relative humidity meter.
As the device heats up, heater power is reduced to around 400 W.
RESULTS
The test run on January 14 lasted for 1 hour. After the first 30 minutes the outlet flow became dry steam. The outlet temperature reached 101°C. The enthalpy during the last 30 minutes can be computed very simply, based on the heat capacity of water (4.2 kJ/kgK) and heat of vaporization of water (2260 kJ/kg):
Mass of water 8.8 kg
Temperature change 87°C
Energy to bring water to 100°C: 87°C*4.2*8.8 kg = 3,216 kJ
Energy to vaporize 8.8 kg of water: 2260*8.8 = 19,888 kJ
Total: 23,107 kJ
Duration 30 minutes = 1800 seconds
Power 12,837 W, minus auxiliary power ~12 kW
There were two potential ways in which input power might have been measured incorrectly: heater power, and the hydrogen, which might have burned if air had been present in the cell.
The heater power was measured at 400 W. It could not have been much higher than this, because it is plugged into an ordinary wall socket, which cannot supply 12 kW. Even if a wall socket could supply 12 kW, the heater electric wire would burn.
During the test runs less than 0.1 g of hydrogen was consumed. 0.1 g of hydrogen is 0.1 mole, which makes 0.05 mole of water. The heat of formation of water is 286 kJ/mole, so if the hydrogen had been burned it would have produced less than 14.3 kJ.