HHO and Cold Fusion

Thread Starter

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,797
I was just reading an article where they claim cold fusion has been duplicated, and it releases 2H2 and O2 in quantity. You suppose those HHO guys had a point?
 

thingmaker3

Joined May 16, 2005
5,083
The more I think about it, the more I realize there may actually have been something to it. I'm wading through Howard, Fine, & Howard right now - they make a compelling argument. I'll read Besser and Derita later today.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
The cold fusion report from the naval researcher (Mosier-Boss) was not that. Here is a news report on it: http://www.physorg.com/news157046734.html

She had indirect evidence of neutron production in a reaction with deuterium. There is a long ways to go before saying cold fusion of Pons has been repeated.

Cold fusion, so far as I know, does not violate any accepted laws of physics.

The mysticism, even the chemical representation surrounding HHO is bunk.

John
 

thatoneguy

Joined Feb 19, 2009
6,359
I saw that too.

It's about the Fleischmann-Pons Cold Fusion from the 80's, that nobody could duplicate (part of the plot of the movie "The Saint").

Apparently it DID work, although it didn't produce measureable amounts. The Navy research department constructed a better sensor, and repeated their experiment. Evidence of fusion was found in the new sensor.

HHO has been around forever. It's only gotten a boost since the gas prices went up. The low voltage/high currents involved point back to the origins of the early 1900s and faraday disc generators. If the pulses did "shock" the water molecules apart, I would imagine a higher voltage would be more effective from what I know of chemisty. Instead, essentially sloppy electrolysis is occuring. Remember the guy who stopped by and did the math, and even without friction and electrical losses, he calculated a net loss of 1/4 HP with an ideal 2l/minute HHO generator.

The people pushing HHO were often sued into neverland for being con artists, and died broke and obscure for that reason, not because of a coverup. The "Big Use" before dumping it into cars was marketing it as welding gas. They would sell $10,000 "Water based welders" that only had to be plugged into the wall for free welding gas. It didn't burn as well as acetelyene, and when the buyers received their electric bill in addition to the poor results, got a bit angry. Some salesmen had an acetelyne tank in the "Demo Unit" to sell it.

What comes around goes around, I guess.
 
Last edited:

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
I saw that too.

Apparently it DID work, although it didn't produce measureable amounts. The Navy research department constructed a better sensor, and repeated their experiment. Evidence of fusion was found in the new sensor.

Apparently, there is some tantalizing evidence. I think it is a bit premature to say it DID work and look forward to reading about the now passed symposium on the subject.

Does anyone have links to newer information on the subject?

John
 

thingmaker3

Joined May 16, 2005
5,083
I'm at work now, but later today I will be able to share my link for Howard, Fine, and Howard. Their work is more recent than Besser and Derita.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
Those links are all seem to be basically the same wire story. Except, the science writer at Fox News who wrote:

Humans have so far generated the necessary heat [for fusion] only by detonating fission-based atomic bombs, which heat up cores of special two-neutron hydrogen to create a second, fusion-based explosion — a hydrogen bomb.
loses some credibility with me.

A few of us probably remember the first reports of cold fusion from Utah. They were quite believable and several experts suggested it was possible. The story was all over the newspapers.

This will make interesting reading for the next few months at least.

John
 

thatoneguy

Joined Feb 19, 2009
6,359
It was the first news hit on search, I should have known better than to include a mainstream news organization's explanation of a physics topic, but it contains a bunch of useful links, so I added it.
 
Top