User:Lundq/Energy Catalyzer

The "Energy Catalyzer" is a table-top apparatus built by the engineer Andréa Rossi and physicist Sergio Focardi. It is claimed by the two that the device works like a reactor and transforms energy stored in the reactor fuel into heat by means of nuclear fusion of hydrogen and nickel

January 2011 Demonstration
The apparatus was demonstrated in an industrial hangar outside Bologna to invited journalists and scientists on Friday 15th January 2011. During the demonstration, which lasted for about one hour, the reactor was "ignited" with electrical current passing through a resistance. It was claimed that the electrical effect fed to the apparatus initially was about 1 kW (reduced to about 400 watts after a few minutes), and that it produced heat energy with an approximate effect of 12 kW which was used to evaporate water. The water temperature was raised from 20°C and converted into dry steam at about 101°C. Thus, a power gain factor of about 30 is claimed.

The intensity of the radiation emitted from the part of the apparatus where the alleged fusion process is taking place was measured both before and after ignition. No significant difference in activity was detected when the apparatus was in an idle and "working" mode. This result conflicts with current theoretical and experimental knowledge of nuclear fusion processes and interaction between radiation and matter, according to which excess radiation would be generated, allowed to escape the apparatus, and subsequently detected. No gamma ray spectroscopy was performed due to restrictions from Rossi and Focardi.

Giuseppe Levi, a nuclear physicist from INFN, helped organize the demonstration. He confirmed that the reactor produced about 12 kW and also stated that the energy was not likely to be of chemical origin since there was no measurable hydrogen consumption.