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The Shkedi et al. Experiment
In the field of electrochemistry, it was common to believe that the release of hydrogen and oxygen gas during electrolysis of water has a Faraday efficiency of 100%. Pons and Fleischmann, and the other investigators who reported the finding of excess heat, all relied on this popular assumtion. No one bothered to measure the Faraday efficiency in their cells during the experiments. Many publications reporting the finding of excess heat included an explicit statement like: "The Faraday efficiency is assumed to be unity." All publications, even if not explicitly stated so, included this assumption implicitly in the formulas used to calculate the cells' energy balance.

A group of investigators, headed by Zvi Shkedi, from Massachusetts, USA, built in 1992-1993 four well insulated cells and calorimeters which included the capability to measure the actual Faraday efficiency in real time during the experiments. The cells were of the light-water type; with a fine-wire nickel cathode; a platinum anode; and K2CO3 electrolyte.

The calorimeters were calibrated to an accuracy of 0.02% of input power. The long-term stability of the calorimeters was verified over a period of 9 months of continuous operation.

A total of 64 experiments were performed in which the actual Faraday efficiency was measured. The results were analyzed twice; once with the assumption that the Faraday efficiency is 100%, and, again, taking into account the measured Faraday efficiency in each experiment. The average Faraday efficiency in these experiments was 78%.

The first analysis, assuming a Faraday efficiency of 100%, yielded an average apparent excess heat of 21% of input power. The term "apparent excess heat" was coined by the investigators to indicate that the measured Faraday efficiency was ignored in the analysis.

The second analysis, taking into account the measured Faraday efficiency, yielded an actual excess heat of 0.13% +/- 0.48%. In other words, when the actual Faraday efficiency was measured and taken into account, the energy balance of the cells was zero, with no excess heat, to within an accuracy of 0.5%.

This investigation has shown that conventional chemistry accounted for the entire amount of apparent excess heat. The investigators concluded their publication with the following word of advice: "All reports claiming the observation of excess heat should be accompanied by simultaneous measurements of the actual Faraday efficiency."