Dr. Case's Experiment - Run 8 ………………………21MAY98
Goal: Maximize the D/H ratio in the atoms adsorbed onto the catalyst surface.
In Run 8 we exposed the catalyst to multiple successive charges of pure D2 so the hydrogen attached to the catalyst surface would be more nearly completely replaced with deuterium than in our previous runs. Run 8 lasted about 32 hours and involved 8 charges of pure D2 in the chamber. In addition, we left the chamber under high vacuum for longer periods between charges to more completely remove residual hydrogen gas and to give the catalyst more time to release adsorbed hydrogen atoms.
Since our version of Dr. Case's experiment employs water-flow calorimetry to measure the heat being produced by the experiment, it is not necessary for us to first run hydrogen in the chamber as a control, as Case does. Thus we were able to further improve the D/H ratio by omitting the hydrogen cycle(s). We conducted the entire run only with D2.
This plot shows the entire 32-hour run. The horizontal scale is 5 hours/div. Pressure is plotted on a new scale (10 psi/div) that runs from -20 psi to +80 psi. Pressure is equal to zero on the 2nd dotted horizontal line from the bottom. Note that the pressure during evacuation reads about -14 psi.
On the first day of the run, 4 charges of D2 were admitted to the chamber. Pin and Pout were very close together indicating no excess heat.
We left the system running overnight with the 4th charge of D2 in the chamber.
Overnight, the Pressure fell 1 or 2 psi. Of course, this could be due to a small leak but experience with this system suggests that the pressure drop was due to continuing reactions between the deuterium and the catalyst…or with oxygen trapped within the catalyst particles.
It is important to note that there is no major "consumption" of the gas by the catalyst in this experiment, even with our relatively small chamber.
The next plot shows details of the 2nd day of Run 8. The little "bobble" in the Pout trace at the beginning is a result of restarting the data acquisition and control program.
Around hour 1 of this plot, the chamber was evacuated and then charged with pure D2 for the 5th time in this run.
At hour 2.5, the chamber was again evacuated, this time for nearly 1/2 hour, and then the 6th charge of D2 was admitted to the chamber.
The 6th charge was admitted in stages as evidenced by the Press trace during hours 3 & 4. Pressures of 26, 34, 39, 45, 50, & 55 psi were employed to explore the thermal oscillation effects with deuterium (see below).
Around hour 5, the chamber was evacuated and the 7th charge of D2 was admitted. At hour 6.5, the chamber was evacuated for the final time and then 8th charge of D2 was admitted.
Through all of these charging cycles, the Pout trace stayed right on top of the Pin trace. There was never any indication that the experiment was making excess heat. Also the catalyst temperatures, Ttop and Tbtm (Tbtm), remained rather constant at about 178° C. There was no sign of the gradually increasing temperature that Dr. Case has observed.
Thermal Oscillations: (The vertical scale on all these oscilloscope plots is 5° C/div.)
This oscilloscope trace shows one of the "spike" excursions that occurred regularly at 26 psi (starting at hour 3 in the plot above). Note that the horizontal scale is 50 seconds/div (max). The spikes occurred at about 10-minute intervals so we could not quite get two of them on the display at the same time. By the way, each spike had substantially the same appearance, with the little peak at the very end!?
This trace shows the rapid oscillations that occurred at 34 psi. These are very similar to the oscillations observed with hydrogen at somewhat higher pressures in runs 5 & 6.
This trace shows the abrupt cessation of oscillations that occurred when the pressure was raised from 34 psi to 39 psi.
This trace shows two of the minor excursions that occurred throughout Run 8 when the pressure was near 50 psi. They occur about every 5 minutes and cause the Tgas trace on the plots above to look distinctly jagged.
Conclusion:
Despite the measures taken to enrich the deuterium content of the catalyst, and despite using tested catalyst supplied by Dr. Case himself, Run 8 exhibited no evidence of excess heat.
Run 8 and the other experiments we have performed conclusively demonstrate that it is not sufficient merely to heat the right catalyst to around 180° C…and expose it to D2 gas…to observe the Case phenomenon. A critical ingredient or attribute is apparently missing from our experiment.
Furthermore, our results raise an important question about the Case phenomenon:
Does his "excess temperature" represent "excess heat"?
At this point, we feel that the most prudent next step is to use our water-flow calorimetry to measure the heat evolved from Case's own apparatus
We hereby extend an invitation to Dr. Case to bring his apparatus to EarthTech in Austin TX. We will construct a custom heat exchanger to accommodate his apparatus and conduct a detailed series of calorimetric measurements while he personally operates his own experiment. Assuming that he can make the Case phenomenon occur in our laboratory, this procedure will provide an unequivocal answer to the important question above.