RUN 5
3rd Series of Incandescent W Experiments (300 volt power supply)
19JAN00 

For this run we continued our efforts to match the parameters of Mizuno & Ohmori described in "Nuclear Transmutation reaction Caused by Light Water Electrolysis on Tungsten Cathode Under Incandescent Conditions", Infinite Energy #27, p. 34.

To reduce the current consumed by our cell, we decreased the size of the rectangular W cathode from 5 mm x 10 mm to 3.3 mm x 5.4 mm.

To increase the rate of heat loss through the walls of the cell, we positioned a powerful fan 5 cm from the cell as shown in the photo to the left.

Also visible in this photo is an old Hallicrafters S-38 short-wave radio used to monitor RF energy emitted by the cell.

With the new fan, the cooling rate was considerably higher than before.  Following Mizuno and Ohmori, we filled the cell nearly full of electrolyte, raised it to the boiling point, and recorded the natural cooling curve with the new fan operating.

The cooling curve thus obtained is shown on the right.

We obtained the approximate initial slope of this cooling curve by taking the first 5 points in the exponential decline and fitting a straight line to them.

The slope of this line, denoted by the variable "mm" in the Mathcad worksheet to the left, combined with the heat capacity of the cell, yields the cooling rate in watts.

With the new fan, the cooling rate was about 102 watts, which compares well with the 99 watt cooling rate reported by Mizuno & Ohmori in the above referenced article.

For reference, here is the record of Tcell (yellow dots) and Pin (green) for Run 4, which used a smaller fan and the original cathode size.  The plot duration is only 1 hour.  The beginning of the run, while Pin is varying erratically is the warm-up phase.  The actual run is the latter part where Tcell is constant at ~98°C (the electrolyte is boiling) and Pin is more or less constant at about 125 watts (Pin's vertical scale is 50 watts/div).

In Run 4 the cooling rate was about 68 watts so the input power of 125 watts was more than sufficient to keep the cell boiling.

Run 4 used a 5 x 10 mm cathode and the average cell current was 0.77 amperes compared to 0.48 amperes for Mizuno & Ohmori's run (the first entry in the table on p. 35 in the above referenced article).

We succeeded in reducing the current in Run 5 to about 0.45 amps, very close to the Mizuno and Ohmori value.  This reduction in current caused a corresponding reduction in Pin...to about 75 watts, again very close to the input power reported by Mizuno & Ohmori.

The reduction in input power combined with the increase in cooling rate provided by the new fan caused Run 5 to fail in a naively unexpected way.  We heated the cell nearly to the boiling point with the fan off to minimize evaporative losses.  When we simultaneously increased the voltage to ~160 and started the fan, the cell did not boil as it did in Run 4. Instead it cooled off, as depicted in the plot to the right.

It didn't take long to figure out why...the input power was 75 watts and the cooling rate was initially 100 watts.

Because the cell did not boil during Run 5, the calorimetry strategy was spoiled and we were not able to obtain a power balance.

However, this run brings the differences between our efforts and those of Mizuno and Ohmori into sharp focus.  Look at these comparisons:

Unfortunately, there are still two possible explanations for the glaring discrepancy between our results:

1. Mizuno & Ohmori's cell has a significant additional source of heat inside it.
2. Mizuno & Ohmori are significantly undermeasuring the electrical input power to their cell.

Next, we will endeavor to determine which of these two possibilities is correct.

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