Controllable cold fusion concept

Chengyu Ding[3]

In 1989, Fleischmann and Pons announced that they had observed abnormal heat and neutron release in an experiment of heavy water electrolysis, claiming to have discovered cold fusion. However, including subsequent similar experiments, this discovery was eventually widely questioned by the scientific community because the experimental results could not be replicated. I believe that their experimental method has the following serious flaws:

Open-loop system problem: The electrolysis system is "open" and the reaction conditions cannot be effectively controlled.

Uncontrollable deuterium concentration: Deuterium is produced by electrolysis of water, and its concentration cannot be precisely controlled.

Hydrogen embrittlement phenomenon: At room temperature, palladium will adsorb hydrogen (including isotopes), resulting in "hydrogen embrittlement" and affecting the stability of the experiment.

Irreproducibility: Because the experimental conditions cannot be precisely controlled, the experimental results are difficult to repeat.

Energy extraction problem: Even if cold fusion occurs, the heat generated is difficult to extract effectively, lacking practical application prospects.

When I was engaged in integrated circuit (IC) process research at a research institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the 1970s and 1980s, I used palladium tubes to purify hydrogen. When the hydrogen in the cylinder was almost used up, I observed that the palladium tubes overheated, and even the palladium tubes of two devices were burned through many times. This phenomenon is not accidental, and there may be deeper reasons hidden. Inspired by the cold nuclear fusion phenomenon of heavy water electrolysis at that time, I speculated that this might be the result of cold nuclear fusion. The content of heavy water in natural water is about 0.02%. The hydrogen we use is obtained by electrolysis of water, so it will also be mixed with deuterium. Due to the large specific gravity of deuterium, it will gather more at the bottom of the cylinder. When the hydrogen in the cylinder is almost used up, the high concentration of deuterium enters the palladium tube, which may cause the deuterium nucleus to fuse in the palladium lattice, thereby causing overheating and burning through the palladium tube. This speculation is also based on my "hypothesis theory".

In my PCVD (plasma chemical vapor deposition) experiment, I found that under low pressure conditions, although the concentration per unit volume of the substances involved in the reaction decreased, the reaction rate did not slow down, and was even faster than under normal pressure. Analysis shows that the mean free path of the reaction particles is significantly extended under low pressure, resulting in the reaction activation energy (Ea) decreasing as the mean free path (λ) increases. It is derived that this phenomenon can be described by the following formula [1]:

Ea=-2RT/Ln λ-Lnk

Where Ea is the reaction activation energy, R is the Boltzmann constant, and λ is the mean free path. By collecting experimental data from multiple countries and plotting Ea against ln λ, it is found that the slopes of several curves are surprisingly consistent, which verifies the "hypothesis theory" of the "particle collision reaction model" at the macro level.

Palladium tubes can filter and purify hydrogen (including isotopes, the same below). After hydrogen is ionized in the palladium lattice, it can pass through the palladium tube with a wall thickness of 0.1mm; palladium can absorb a large amount of hydrogen. For hydrogen, the palladium lattice seems to be a "vacuum system", which is somewhat similar to the PCVD situation. From these two points of view, the mean free path of hydrogen nuclei (including deuterons) in the palladium lattice is longer. The mean free path of deuterons (D) in the palladium (Pd) lattice is longer, and deuteron fusion is also a "particle collision reaction" that may reduce the activation energy of the reaction. In the palladium lattice, the mean free path of deuterons is longer, and deuterons have more time and opportunities to accumulate energy before collision (such as through lattice vibration or quantum tunneling effect). Deuterons may have higher kinetic energy when colliding, or the palladium lattice electron shielding effect reduces the Coulomb barrier and promotes nuclear fusion. If the temperature is raised to 550°C, this fusion reaction is more likely to occur than at room temperature.

In order to overcome the shortcomings of the electrolysis method, I designed a "closed loop" system. The schematic diagram of the experimental device is shown in Figure 1:

Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the experimental device

(According to the data searched online, under a pressure of 5 kg/cm², the hydrogen permeability of a palladium membrane with a thickness of 0.1 mm and an area of 1 cm² is about 0.04 L/h. If the diameter of the palladium tube is 5 mm, the length is 10 cm, the circumference of the palladium tube is 7.85 mm, and the area is about 7.85 cm², the estimated hydrogen flow rate is 0.314 L/h. Divide it by 22.4 L/mol to get 0.014 mol/h, and then multiply it by the Avogadro constant (6.02 × 10²³) to get 0.085 × 10²³ hydrogen molecules/h. If the flow rate is insufficient, the number of palladium tubes can be increased.)

This idea was once affirmed by Bockris, an electrochemist at Texas A&M University in the United States who is engaged in cold nuclear fusion research. He invited me to be a visiting scholar to conduct research, but later due to limited conditions, I was unable to go.

The experimental method is as follows:

The first experiment: Use a vacuum pump to evacuate the inside of the palladium tube first, then evacuate the stainless steel shell, and close the relevant valves. Heat the tube furnace to 550°C, turn on pure hydrogen, control the flow rate so that the pressure gauge reaches 5 kg/cm², and the gas enters the system to check the availability of the system, and measure the background content of neutrons and helium at the same time.

The second experiment: Repeat the above procedure, but use hydrogen containing 10% deuterium, measure the content of neutrons and helium, compare the data under various flow conditions, and determine whether cold nuclear fusion occurs.

The third experiment: Change the temperature, repeat the experiment, and compare the results at 400°C and 300°C to see the effect of temperature.

Since the concentration and temperature of the gas in the pipeline are controllable and repeatable, the experimental results will be more convincing. If the palladium tube burns through during the experiment, the flow rate will increase sharply due to the large pressure difference on both sides. At this time, the hydrogen cylinder valve needs to be closed immediately. Safety devices such as "overflow cut-off valve" can also be used for automatic protection.

For universities or research institutions with neutron and helium detection capabilities, this experimental scheme is low-cost and simple, and is worth a try. For more related ideas such as heat extraction, please refer to the "Liuyuan Science Channel" [2].

References:

[1] "Nature Magazine" Vol. 3 No. 10 1978, 723

[2] https://club.6parkbbs.com/chan2/index.php?app=forum&act=threadview&tid=13536504

[3] dcy999@yahoo.com Lexington, MA 02420
说明：这是应英文读者要求，发表的《冷核聚变设想》英文稿。

Controllable cold fusion concept

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