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EU V1.3 dual cells progress

Written by Mathieu Valat on .

Mathieu Valat has been working EXTREMELY hard and professionally (without the paid bit) in southern France and has good news to report about the dual cells setup that he is preparing for the new Celani V2 protocol in France. Mathieu has said he will update the blog in the coming days with a video taking you on a tour of all the improvements in the lab and equipment. Keep up to date with his work on the "Euro" log book link in the "Celani Replication" panel above.


 

Since the last full scientific experiment in France which concluded at the end of December 2012, the lab has been optimised for compatibility with the type of reactor we are studying thermodynamically.

On the thermal regulation aspects, I don't know if you remember, there is three rooms in row with a corridor along one side, I am using the central one. So both room on each side of the central lab-room have been closed with their own doors, this way side rooms can be regulated in temperature. I set those at 21°C where the central Lab-room is set at 20°C. This way the rooms on sides are acting as heat-sources.

Then the cooler wall of the central room that is facing south and the corridor are acting as heat-sinks. Because they are cooler (16°C and 19°C).

After the temperature increases because the season change the sides room will be set at 19°C instead of 21°C hence the sinks will be swapped into sources and vice-versa.

Some other improvements are on their way too, like a better insulation of the corridor and a supplemental layer of insulation above the ceiling of the rooms.

On the insides of the central room, the ceiling opening for the A/C has been moved to create a symmetrical input of heat from opposite corners of the room; the computer server and myself. The orientation of the experiment table will be changed accordingly to fit this orientation.

I recently realized that just sitting in the room bumps the room temperature by 2°C, depending if I do work in there.
These modifications allowed to lower the variation of ambient temperature to 0.4°C/24h with a middle value of 20.1°C. I hope it will hold this way during the run, even if Celani's last paper is saying the ambient air variations have a stimulative effect on the reaction. (EDIT: the vacuum pump working permanently add 2°C to the room temperature, I will try to lower that as soon as possible)

The biggest changes that has been implemented in the between of this two tests are related to the protocol and the number of cell.

The protocol as described in this document (live document - may be reviewed) which is explaining that we will use constantly dynamic vacuum instead of pressurized vessel for the calibrations and active run, with pressurized H2 loading phase.

To measure the dynamic vacuum level, we have incorporated an appropriate gauge into the setup so this can be also recorded and the values in the experiment compared with the equivalent in the US.

In addition to this, the major difference between our experiments and those done by Celani is that we have also decided to double the number of cells. Instead of one, we will use two cells in parallel.



This allows us to double check a control cell output, with energy calculated via Stefan-Boltzmann and calibration curves. By the way, if anybody has suggestions on the calculations we should show on the "general experiment tab" like excess heat calculation based on different methods or the comparison of resistance drops in each of the wires etc. please add a comment below, Now is the time to feel free to give your input to enhance the experimental watching experience!

The size of the NiCr wire (used as a monitor or heating wire) has been changed from 0.15mm diameter to 0.3mm. This is more consistent regarding the comparative resistance of this wires (15Ω/m) regarding the constantan wire resistance for a diameter of 0.2mm after hydrogen loading (15.5Ω/m).

We also decided to use Macor end-pieces to hold the mica sheets. These are used in Celani's experiments and they are acting as thermal and electrical insulators. I got a laser cutting specialist that was ballsy enough to try to cut the components with a water-jet from a 6mm Macor sheet. They did a beautiful job.

In order to make sure we will not have a power outage during the run of this critical experiment, I decided to get an uninterruptible power supply with a double conversion system. I got a huge one (3kVA) that can keep on providing power to the PSUs and the electronics as well as the computer for a long, long time.

But the vacuum pump cannot be plugged on the UPS because the inductive electromotive force can fry the conversion system (cos(φ) too low). So I decided to get a one-way valve that triggers at 23 mbar where the vacuum pumps pull at 8 mbar. This allows to make sure the minimal quantity of air would go backward into the cell if the electrical power goes down.



Thanks go to Ryan for providing the vacuum gauge and its controller, these are working very well.

Another improvement is to use a copper tubbing instead of the rilsan type to connect the vacuum pump. Because the system will be under dynamic vacuum and heated at the same time, copper metal will dissipate better because of its cooling properties than the polyamid used in the rilsan plastic. This is safer this way for the pump on long term run.

On the web side, I started on doing a new template for the data broadcasting interface. This should match better the quantumheat.org colour scheme. I also plan on using livedata.quantumheat.org for our future data stream portal. I'll let you know as soon as it is implemented properly.

Finally, I personally haven't had the opportunity, before we published the new test plan, to say to all our donors how important their generous contributions are to the project. Your donations paid for most of the materials and equipment I had to buy so far to retrofit and implement this setup. THANK YOU ALL!

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0 #10 Edwin Pell 2013-04-05 19:29
There is a saying in psychoanalysis "the slower you go the faster you get there". It applies here.
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0 #9 Edwin Pell 2013-04-05 19:28
Slow and steady wins the race. You are doing the right things.
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0 #8 Robert Greenyer 2013-04-05 17:13
@charlie tapp

We want that too. If we get 10 cells out there - or fortune allows 100, these kinds of parameter sweeps will be trivial. We need to work within our resource constraints to get the basics done right. Celani is reporting cells of the type we are prepping with the 400+ layer wires he has supplied and running V2 protocol should see clear excess. With calibration and SB based excess power estimation and differential control experimental set up - if we see what he saw, we can stop debating the validity and move on to the fun bit!

I am afraid it is a necessary evil.
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0 #7 charlie tapp 2013-04-05 16:55
i know we are trying to replicate here but couldnt you guys build a simmilar cell to play with were you can try doing whatever you want. for instance mabee someone in the crowd has an idea how to make the reaction start, without all of the calibration process and waiting around we can at least be doing something and that might help prove. let me be the first one crank that sucker up to 5 bar after vacum turn it on no stepping up power or anything if nothing signifigant happens try the next bloggers idea, he might want a different wire or something. it would make it more like live science.please! !!!!
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0 #6 Mathieu Valat 2013-04-05 11:54
@Andreas

1. I would start it right now believe me :)
Unfortunately, I got a problem this morning, I have to redo the internals of the cell 1.3A. I will let people know what is the ETA for the experiment to start.
I will be in another lab monday and tuesday to do SEM/EDS and training on a mass-flow calorimeter. Wednesday should see it back up.
Right now the schedule is made on a day-to-day basics, we are working harder than ever to do ASAP.

2. Since we a reproducing the experiment made by Celani, we can make the same mistake because of the same apparatus architecture. I am very confident about this design actually. The cleverness of Celani implementing his wires in it is truly remarkable.
Nevertheless, we are fully aware of such possible flaw, that is the reason that pushes me to have a mass-flow calorimeter.
I am currently designing a calorimeter that operates at high temperature, very similar to what is classically known, but a little innovative on some dynamical aspects.


@Bob Findlay
In the range of IR generated by those heating wires, the Schott-Duran tube thermalize all of them. This issue has been extensively discussed in the past.
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0 #5 Robert Greenyer 2013-04-05 00:55
@Ecco

Sorry - can you move to US blog thread
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0 #4 Ecco 2013-04-04 22:19
Temperature on cell US1.3B slightly but suddenly increased before power got shut off. Were there problems?
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+2 #3 Bob Findlay 2013-04-04 20:51
Pursuing a pure replication stategy is good as long as the Celani apparatus doesn't contain a design flaw which gives false positives.

In my opinion have an IR transparent apparatus opens the door to just such a flaw. You have apparatus that eliminate that IR pathway and in my opinion you should elevate these experiments in your job queue.

bob
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0 #2 Robert Greenyer 2013-04-04 13:37
@Andreas Van Rooijen

1. Best answer is SOON. Mathieu wants to add averaging copper rings like those in the Steel and Glass cell and that are being added to the american cells.

2. We will, it is intended for later. Right now, we are replicating an approach first done by Celani with his type of cells. If we see the approx. 26% he did with the V2 protocol we will have our lab rat, especially since we will have a control cell in both the US and EU.
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+2 #1 Andreas Van Rooijen 2013-04-04 11:22
Mathieu,
I have two questions:
1) When do you think the experiment will start? I mean after the calibration and loading is finished.
2) Why don't we use the mass flow calorimetry? I understand that the equipment is (nearly) finished. Or are they being used in the US?
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