NASA Glenn Research Center experience with "LENR Phenomenon"

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA Glenn Research Center experience with "LENR Phenomenon"

Susan Y. Wrbanek, Gustave C. Fralick,

John D. Wrbanek, Janis M. Niedra (ASRC)

NASA Glenn Research Center

•

www.nasa.gov 1


Outline

• LENR Brief History • Advantages of Fusion • Selected Hypothesis • NASA Glenn Research Center small related

experiments

•

www.nasa.gov 2


LENR - Brief History

• 1989 Electrochemists Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann

observed higher than expected heating in electrolysis experiments

involving Deuterium and Palladium.

- Observed that the temperature rise was higher than could be

accounted for by known chemical processes.

- Speculated that nuclear reactions might explain excess energy.

- Dubbed "cold fusion" in the press, often known as "Low Energy

Nuclear Reactions (LENR)," sometimes "Chemically

Assisted/(activated) Nuclear Reactions (CANR)

• Actual cause of reactions still debated at this time.

• A variety of experiments and theories since 1989

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www.nasa.gov 3


Fusion Processes

Known Fusion Processes:

• D + D ~ T (1.01 MeV) + p (3.02 MeV)

• D + D ~ 3He (0.82 MeV) + n (2.45 MeV)

• D + D ~ 4He (73.7 keV)+ y (23.8 MeV)

• D + T ~ 4He (3.5 MeV) + n (14.1 MeV)

• D + 3He ~ 4He (3.6 MeV) + p (14.7 MeV) - 0 = 2H T = 3H ,

- Some have suggested that yet unknown "fusion processes" may be involved.

- Many "LENR phenomenon" occur without energetic particle or wave radiation measured.

- A few research efforts have claimed radiation from LENR phenomena, but too little to attribute to known processes.

Glenn Research Center

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www.nasa.gov 4


• Deuteron-Deuteron Coulomb Barrier

based on Parmenter & Lamb

Some Hypotheses

"Pet Theories" (i.e., Hypotheses where +-+---- - Potentia lwith Electron -

Pro p 0 n e nts a I rea d y co n v in ced pee r - +--+----- __ ::'::~ii:lg:~t::~a:~cc:ron : __ --:~I Screening reviewed journals): --------

• Electron Screening armenter & Lamb) 0 2 molecule O' Sloch

• Band States (Chubb & Chubb) 1 1 - - - .

• Shrunken Hydrogen (Maly, Vavra & Mills) ----------.:J ,

• Ultra Low Momentum Neutrons (Widom & Larsen)

• Dislocation Loops (Hora & Miley)

• Bose-Einstein Condensates (Kim)

Do any of these encompass gll reported observations?

• More than one effect may be occurring


-,

, ,.

-1

-, -, _ ..... -, - 6

.......... '5if"lt - \ hot.toms

CJtKelvlns)

ao.on. and FeoNoos IimiIaJ

_~ A. £,1924

A.. = i'lmv

cold atoms

T =T.

(A.,)' n =2.6

Bosons i

. BEC ~ www.nasa.gov 5


Related Experiments at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC)

• Instances of short-term experiments - 1989: Gaseous 02, H2 in Hydrogen Purifier

• Fralick, Decker, Blue

- 1996: H20-Ni-K2C03 Electrolytic Cell • Niedra, Meyers, Fralick, Baldwin

- 2007: Multi-Bubble Sonoluminescence investigation sponsored by Low Emissions Alternative Power (LEAP) Project & Breakthrough Propulsion Physics (BPP) Project • Fralick, Wrbanek J., Wrbanek S.

- 2009: "Anomalous Heating in Bulk Palladium" Innovative Partnership Program (I PP) • Fralick, Wrbanek J., Wrbanek S., Millis, Niedra

•

www.nasa.gov 6


1989 Gaseous H2 and 02

• 1989 - Following Pons and Fleischmann announcement GRC team of Fralick, Decker, and Blue performed gaseous H2 and 02 experiments using a hydrogen purifier containing Pd/Ag alloy. - Goal: avoid wet electrochemical cell since they were not

electrochemists.

- Look for neutrons.

- Use resources readily available.

- Keep experiment as simple as possible.

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www.nasa.gov 7



• Johnson Matthey HP Series palladium membrane hydrogen purifier

• Used in the semiconductor industry and applications where ultra-high purity hydrogen is required (to 99.9999999%)

• An at-hand substitute for a palladium electrolytic cell

Flow 0 agram HP Series

nl N -

H, Feed

YIClIlfm


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www.nasa.gov 8



EQUIPMENT • Hydrogen purifiers are made

using Palladium membranes

EXPERIMENT • After evacuating purifier, it was

loaded with deuterium gas at pressures up to 250 psig.

• Purifier temperature and neutron count monitored for several months-non electrochemical variant of PonsFleischmann experiment


High Pressure Low Pressure ~ 0 2 4

H2 ...-.. 02 3 . H H2

.. ... H -'" e .. 1-12 H20 H' ..... . -"

... __ 12 t 55

..!!.2

CO2 ...-.. 1 - --H20 '" H2 H2

H2" t ,., . --. e H .. 2

C02 02 •

H20 " .. .. H20

H2 _

-- C02 H2--

H2 .. H2 ..

PdI Ag M. mbran.

Hydrogen purifier (center) with neutron detectors on either side

• 1. Adsorption 2. Dissociation 3. Ionisation 4. Diffusion S. Recombination 6. Desorption

www.nasa.gov 9


1989 Gaseous H2 and 02 • Results: • Temperature increase noted while

gas was loaded into palladium cell, for both 0 & H

• Neutron detector counts did not differ significantly « 20) from background in any run (Monitored with BF 3 wI Polyethylene ["Snoopy"] detectors).

• Temperature increase noted when 0 unloaded at end of experiment

• Compared to hydrogen gas as the experimental control: 15°C increase in purifier temperature consistently seen with O2 that was not seen with the H2 control when gasses were unloaded from the purifier.

Published: • Fralick, Decker, & Blue (1989) NASA

TM-102430

Purifier plumbing, showing vacuum pump used to evacuate cell, and gas bottle used to load cell

-------------------------------------------------------Glenn Research Center www.nasa.gov 10


1996 H20-Ni-K2C03 Electrolytic Cell Experiment:

• Investigated reports of significant longterm excess heat in light water-NiK2C03 electrolytic cells

• Two 28-liter electrolytic cells for tests, one active cell for electrolytic tests, second inactive cell for reference thermal measurements

• Tested at several dc currents and a pulse mode current

Results:

Two 28 liter electrolytic cells

•

• Apparent current-dependent excess heat exhibited when tested in all modes

• Excess heat consistent as heat from hydrogen-oxygen recombination catalyzed by the Pt and Ni electrodes within the cell

• Did not reproduce the large excess heat reported in literature - Gain Factors of <1.7 @ GRC vs. >10 in literature

• NASA TM-107167 (J. Niedra, I. Myers, G. Fralick, R. Baldwin; 1996)

Glenn Research Center www.nasa.gov 11


Multi-Bubble Sonoluminescence • Experiment: • Investigated energy of ultrasonic

generated multi-bubble sonoluminescence (MBSL)

• Sonoluminescence with PalladiumChromium (PdCr) Thin Films Over Platinum (Pt) Traces on Alumina

Results:

• No Crater seen on films in H20, but Crater Formation seen in 0 20

• Large Grain Failures usually seen in thin films due to mismatches in coefficients of thermal expansion at high temperature (-1000°C)

- Indicates point heating in films?

Light Water

(H20)

Heavy Water

(°20)

Surface morphology of films exposed to sonoluminescence in light water (left) and heavy water (right)

• J. Wrbanek, G. Fralick, S. Wrbanek, & N. Hall, "Investigating Sonoluminescence as a Means of Energy Harvesting," Chapter 19, Frontiers of Propulsion Science, Millis & Davis (eds), AIAA (2009), pp. 605-637. --



Summary Observations from 1989 to 2009

• Previous NASA D-Pd experiment (Fralick, et aI., 1989) looked for neutrons (saw none) - but saw anomalous heating

• • NASA H20-Ni-K2C03 Electrolytic Cell experiment (N iedra et aI., 1996) -

Apparent current-dependent excess heat consistent as heat from hydrogen-oxygen recombination

• NASA Sonoluminescence Experiment (Wrbanek, et aI., 2007) - Crater formation in PdCr films seen with heavy water, not seen with light water

• After 1989, Cold Fusion research evolved into research in "Low Energy Nuclear Reactions" (LENR), primarily at U.S. Navy, DARPA & various Universities

• 2009 - NASA IPP-sponsored effort to: - Repeat the initial 1989 tests to investigate the anomalous heat

- Apply GRe's instrumentation expertise to improve the diagnostics for this experiment

- Establish credible framework for future work in LENR



Hood Vent

2009 IPP APPROACH: Flow System Schematic

Atmospheric Pressure Gas Bag

100 psig Relief Valve

2 Kunkle 0548-A01-KM0100

•

Gas Pressure Gauge

8 N035 STP 4

9 Gas Bottle Control Valve SS-16DKM4-F4-A1

Exchange Lecture Bottle

(400 ml) DOT 3E-1800

D2

(Swagelok 304L-HDF4-400)


HP-25 Purifier (Feed Port)

Gas Bottle Regulator Linde UPG 3 75 350

Supply Lecture Bottle

(440 ml) DOT 3E-1800

S~stem Line Valves

Open ~ Closed ~

All Valves Swagelok SS-4H unless otherwise indicated

www.nasa.gov 14


APPROACH: 2009 Test Apparatus •

• Johnson Matthey H P-25 hydrogen purifier

- Purifier Filter contains a -50g heated Pd-25%Ag membrane

• Load Filter by flowing hydrogen gas into the purifier

• Unload Filter by pumping the gas out of the purifier into a sample bottle

• Turn off filter heater for a time when Loading & Unloading

• Monitor changes in temperature, neutron/gamma background

• Repeat with deuterium gas; Compare results


Tem

pera

ture

(°C)

Hyd

roge

nD

eute

rium


RESULTS: Temperatures vs. Time • Loading

Observed Temperture for H2 Load

370

---- / " -- , 365

360

355

"-"

350

345

o 20 40 60 80

Time (5)

Observ@dTemperturefor ID2 Load

370 ---------.--------~------~~------~

U t..

:~ 360 ,3 m t 355 ---------I----------f-------~--------_l '1:1.

E ~ 350

345

o 20


40 Time ls.I

60 80

~ CI.I ... ::::I ..... ttl ... CI.I Q.

E CI.I I-

v t.. ! ~ ... ~ ... X, C. I-

370

365

360

355

350

345

340

3701

365

360

3.55

350

345

340

Unloading Observed Temperture for H2 Unload

~

o

0

"\ -, ./" '" " " 50 100 150

Time (5)

Observed TemiPerture for D2 runlo:ad

+

50 ]00 TIme (5)

I I

150

200

~ I 200

www.nasa.gov 16


10

o u ~ -1 0 QJ

:; ~ -20 QJ Co

E -30 QJ I-

-40

-50

-60

-50

-~

RESULTS (continued): Temperature Changes vs. Time

Observed Temperture Changes Differential Heating Rate

~ ~

V , " ~~~

..........

'" " - H2Un load

-

15

QJ m 5 g;; b.O c: .~ 0 QJ ;!;

·5

-10

I:r... """IIIiiii

\ ~ I T"" ~

V - H2Unload

- 02 Unload

A... A.,. - I"

- D2Unload - Anomalous Heating iD2 -H2)

I

o 50 100 150

Time(s)

-15

200 -50 o 50

Time(s)

100

Results of GRC IPP investigation: a) the temperature data is shown for H2 and D2 unloading (left); b) the calculated thermal power in/out is given with the net anomalous heating (right).

150

• No changes seen in neutron background counts

•

200



Summary & Conclusions

• NASA GRC has conducted a variety of small-scale short-term investigations into LENR-related claims

• • Isotope-dependent heating was seen in a hydrogen purifier during gas

evacuation in 1989

• Point craters in films exposed to sonoluminescence in water in 2007 also had isotope dependence

• Follow on study of hydrogen purifier heating done in 2008 documented the 1989 anomalous heating effect

- More data needed to draw conclusion of its nature

• Small-scale work continues: - 2011 Center Innovation Fund "Fast-Track" 2-week project to determine

dependency of rate of withdraw on the heating effect

- Short project time limited effort to experiment setup and rough preliminary data run; more data still needed to clarify uncertainties

• If proven useful, the transient nature of this heating effect needs to be better characterized for applications to cyclic power systems

www.nasa.gov 18


References

• Fralick, G., Decker, A., Blue, J., "Results of an Attempt to Measure Increased Rates of the Reaction 20 + 20 ~ 3He + n in a Nonelectrochemical Cold Fusion Experiment," NASA TM-1 02430 (1989).

• Niedra, J., Myers, I., Fralick, G., Baldwin, R. "Replication of the Apparent Excess Heat Effect in a Light Water-Potassium Carbonate-Nickel Electrolytic Cell", NASA TM-1 07167 (1996)

•

• Wrbanek, J., Fralick, G., Wrbanek, S., "Development of Techniques to Investigate Sonoluminescence as a Source of Energy Harvesting", NASA TM-2007 -214982 (2007)

• Wrbanek, J., Fralick, G., Wrbanek, S., Hall, N. "Investigating Sonoluminescence as a Means of Energy Harvesting," Chapter 19, Frontiers of Propulsion Science, Millis & Davis (eds.), AIAA (2009) pp. 605-637.

• Fralick, G., Wrbanek, J., Wrbanek, S., Niedra, J., Millis, M., "LENR at GRC", Presentation at LENR Workshop, NASA GRC, September 22, 2011.


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NASA Glenn Research Center experience with "LENR Phenomenon"

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