WO1991002359A1

WO1991002359A1 - Distributed accumulator for energy conversion

Info

Publication number: WO1991002359A1
Application number: PCT/US1990/002073
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jerome Drexler
Original assignee: Drexler Technology Corporation
Priority date: 1989-08-04
Filing date: 1990-04-17
Publication date: 1991-02-21
Also published as: AU6519290A

Abstract

A cell for producing thermal energy by absorption or adsorption of deuterons and lithons into deuterium ion-permeable and lithium ion-permeable particulates (35) supported on a surface of an accumulator (21) or within a gelatin-like matrix (31) thereof. Deuterons and lithons are produced by electrolyte ionization in a liquid (14) containing high purity heavy water, and net electrical charge on a deuteron-permeable and lithon-permeable particulate (35) is controlled by allowing negatively charged OD- radicals to accumulate on the surface of the particulates that balance out the positively charged deuterons and lithons.

Description

Distributed Accumulator for Energy Conversion

Technical Field

This invention relates to a cell for production of thermal energy by conversion from other forms of energy.

Background Art

Electrically charged particles such as bare electrons or protons or muons are known to be Fer ions and to obey Fermi-Dirac statistics. Two like elementary charged particles, such as two protons, have like elec- trical charges so that they tend to repel one another.

Further, two like Fermions obey the Pauli exclusion prin¬ ciple so that, if the particles possess identical quantum numbers, the two identical particles will not occupy the same region of space at the same time, even if the iden- tical particles have no net electrical charge. The com¬ bination of two Fermions in a nucleus, such as a neutron and a proton, which together form the nucleus of a deute¬ rium atom or ion, may behave as another type of particle, called a Boson, which obeys Bose-Einstein statistics rather than Fermi-Dirac statistics. This has been dis¬ cussed recently by K. Birgitta haley, a theoretical chemist speaking at the Dallas meeting of the American Chemical Society in April, 1989.

Particles that obey Bose-Einstein statistics tend to accumulate in the same region of space under some circumstances, in preference to staying apart as like Fermions tend to do. This tendency of Bosons to accumu¬ late in the same region of space is indicated by a quan¬ tum thermodynamic expression for the pressure in a system of Bosons developed and discussed in Statistical Physics by L.D. Landau and E.M. Lifshitz, Addison-Wesley Co., 1958, p. 159. In this expression for pressure, the pres¬ sure developed by a system of Bosons is less than the pressure developed by a system of particles that are nei¬ ther Fermions nor Bosons at the same concentration and temperature. This suggests that the Boson particles ex¬ perience a modest attraction for one another that has its origin in quantum mechanical forces.

Whaley has speculated that, because of the quantum effect features of particles such as deuterium nuclei, the natural repulsion between two such nuclei can be blocked inside a crystal so that the deuterium ions are not held apart by the combination of strong coulomb forces and quantum forces. Some workers speculate that, because deuterium nuclei might be brought very close to¬ gether inside a crystal, the deuterium nuclei could com¬ bine in a fusion process at enhanced rates, as compared to the infinitesimal rates observed at ordinary fluid densities for deuterium nuclei.

Lithium ions have been widely used in the elec¬ trolyte added to heavy water in cold fusion experiments by Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann and many other researchers. The electrolyte used most commonly is LiOD. All reports of generation of excess enthalpy indicated that the LiOD electrolyte had been used. In March 1990 several physicists speculated that the excess enthalpy generated by cold fusion may have come from the nuclear reaction

Li⁶ + D > 2He⁴ + 22.4 MeV

The 22.4 MeV are carried by the kinetic energy of the two helium nuclei which would dissipate their kinetic energy in the palladium lattice. It is known that some metals will readily ac¬ cept substantial amounts of hydrogen or its isotopes into the interior of such metals and that such metals can be used to filter hydrogen isotopes from a stream of other substances. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,065, granted Septem- ber 27, 1988 to R. Penzhorne et al., it is disclosed that a hot palladium membrane will filter tritium and deu¬ terium from CO molecules. The palladium membrane dis- closed by Penzhorne et al. was used to filter exhaust gas from a fusion reactor.

However, even where a metal such as palladium is chosen as an accumulation structure "accumulator" for deuterium ions ("deuterons") or lithium ions ("lithons"), the deuterons and lithons that pick up electrons or other negatively charged particles at the accumulation struc¬ ture will no longer behave as Bosons and may not manifest the desirable feature of high density accumulation within the palladium interior or lattice unless they separate from the negative charge and return to positive ions within the lattice.

One object is to create an accumulator struc¬ ture for the deuterons and lithons, which avoids the presence of (bubbling) deuterium gas at its surface that may in turn interfere with the uniform flow of those deu¬ terons and lithons entering the accumulation structure.

Another object is to greatly increase the sur¬ face area of the accumulation structure to increase the rate at which the fusion process may proceed.

Another object is to increase the probability that at any short time interval, at least some portion of the accumulator structure will meet the conditions for lithium-deuteron fusion. Another object is to provide an apparatus that encourages nuclear reactions such as Li⁶ + D —> 2He⁴ + 22.4 MeV within a deuterated palladium lattice in order to generate excess thermal energy.

Another object is to provide for electrical charge neutralization so that absorption or adsorption of positively charged deuterium or lithium ions on or within the accumulation structure will not cause later-arriving ions to be repelled from this structure.

Summary of the Invention

These objects are met by apparatus containing high purity heavy water in which most of the hydrogen ions in the substance are replaced by ions of the hydro- gen isotope deuterium. The apparatus enhances deuterium ion and lithium ion formation by use of an LiOD electro¬ lyte containing a substantial amount of Lithium 6. Two electrodes, a cathode and an anode, are placed in the liquid, with the first electrode being spaced apart from and surrounding the second electrode within the liquid. For example, a cylindrically shaped anode may surround a rod-like cathode, with the rod longitudinal axis being approximately parallel to the axis of the anode cylinder. A plurality of sheets of material such as planar disks, which are not electrically conductive, are immersed in the liquid at positions between the two electrodes, with each sheet having a surface layer that includes an elec¬ trically non-conductive matrix and particulates of a hy- drogen-permeable metal. The sheets are approximately parallel to and spaced apart from each other and spaced apart from a first electrode and are adjacent to and sur¬ round a plane of material in a second electrode. For example, the plurality of sheets may be a group of ap- proximately planar disks, with each disk surrounding a rod-like second electrode and with the plane of each disk being oriented approximately perpendicular to the longi¬ tudinal axis of the second electrode. The surface of each sheet is covered with a material that includes metal particulates of deuterium ion permeable and lithium ion permeable material such as palladium. The ion permeable palladium particulates (hereinafter called "metallites") may be suspended in a gelatin-like matrix material such as photographic gelatin derived from cattle bones or non- organic gelatin derived from polyvinyl alcohol, where this material is typically between 10 μm and 1,000 μm thick, although greater thicknesses are possible. Alter¬ natively, the metallites may be at the surface of a solid dielectric, plastic, ceramic or other similar material so that at least one surface of each of the surface-mounted metallites is exposed directly to deuterium ions in the liquid. In either alternative, the plurality of sheets are positioned so that a deuteron and lithon that is ini- tially positioned adjacent to the first electrode must pass adjacent to at least one of the plurality of sheets in order to reach the second electrode. In another em¬ bodiment, two electrodes are simply spaced apart with the plurality of sheets positioned between the two elec¬ trodes. Although the metallites are electrically con¬ ducting, each sheet taken as a whole is not electrically conducting. Each sheet should, therefore, not signifi¬ cantly alter the electrical field in the liquid that would be present without these sheets. In general any electrically non-conductive matrix may be used to hold the palladium particulates provided it permits the deu¬ terons and lithons to pass through.

Where ionization occurs and deuterons D⁺ and OD~ radical are each produced from a heavy water mole¬ cule, a deuterium will become accelerated and final reach a uniform velocity by the electrical field produced by the electrodes and will strike and penetrate one of the palladium metallites so that the metallite acquires an electrical charge of +1. Following this event, one of the negatively charged OD~ radical ions will become at¬ tracted by and attached to the positively charged metal¬ lite so that the metallite now acquires an electrical charge of 0. The deuteron and the OD~ ion thus become attached to the metallite, but not necessarily to one another. By this means the palladium metallites become deuterated and may be referred to as p -palladium. This process may take place in the cell or the metallites may be pre-charged in another cell first. At least 65% of the interstitial sites in the palladium should be filled with D and preferably since the solution also contains lithium ions from the ionization of LiOD, lithons will also strike the metallites and penetrate them creating a positive charge, which will be neutralized by other OD~ radical ions become attracted to and become attached to the metallite. The Li⁶ ions are Bosons and the deuterium ions are Bosons. Thus they need not satisfy the Pauli exclusion principle inside the palladium lattice and come very close together and fuse. Excess energy in the form of thermal energy is removed by the liquid. An external heat exchanger captures this energy.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective cutaway view of a first embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional side view of one of the sheets in Fig. 1 for the first embodiment of the inven- tion.

Fig. 3 is a sectional cutaway side view of sur¬ face-mounted metallites according to a second embodiment of the invention.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are perspective cutaway views of other embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 4a is an enlarged view of a portion of an open mesh cylinder used in the embodiment of Fig. 4.

Fig. 5a is an enlarged view of a portion of a rod surface used on the embodiment of Fig. 5.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

With reference to Figure 1, the apparatus 11 in one embodiment includes a container 13 containing a liq¬ uid 14 of high purity heavy water, D₂0, an amount of LiOD in an electrolyte in a concentration of 0.1 M to 1.0 M, preferably closer to the 0.1 M range to ionize and in¬ crease the conductivity of the liquid. It is important that the electrolyte contain at least seven percent of Li⁶ with the remainder being Li⁷. A higher percentage of Li⁶ would be preferable. A cathode 15 and an anode 17 are immersed in the liquid and spaced apart from each other and are connected by a controllable voltage source 19, that imposes a negative electrical voltage -V_ca on the cathode 15 relative to the electrical voltage of the anode 17. The D 0 and LiOD molecules in the liquid 14 are ionized into negatively charged deuterium oxide ions OD~, which are generally drawn toward the anode 17, and positively charged deuterons D⁺ and lithons Li⁺ which are generally drawn toward the cathode 15. The cathode 15 may be a rod-like, electrically conducting material that has a longitudinal axis AA oriented as shown in Figure 1. The anode 17 surrounds the cathode 15, is also composed of electrically conducting material, and may be formed as a helix, as a collection of approximately concentric rings, or as an open mesh cylindrical surface that con¬ tains certain openings. The anode metal should be chosen so as not to react with the electrolyte or heavy water. Care should be taken to prevent ordinary water from get¬ ting into the heavy water since this can stop the fusion process.

The rod-like cathode 15 is surrounded by a plu¬ rality of adjacent sheets or planar disks, several of which are shown as 21, 23, 25, 27, that are spaced apart from each other and from the anode 17 and from the cath¬ ode 15. The anode 17, which may be coaxial with the cathode 15, may be a helical wire wrapped about an open insulative form or may be a tubular member with slits therein. In either case, the anode 17 should allow for easy ion flow therethrough. Each sheet 21, 23, 25, 27 is oriented approximately parallel to each of the other sheets, and each sheet has a surface layer that include a gelatin-like matrix in which metallites are suspended. The gelatin-like substance may be any of organic gelatin derived from cattle bones or nonorganic gelatin derived from polyvinyl alcohol and may have a thickness typically between 10 μm and 1000 μm. Greater thicknesses are also feasible. The gelatin matrix itself should be permeable to deuterium ions, lithium ions and to the OD^" ions, so that all these ions may easily move through the gelatin matrix to reach the submerged or exposed surfaces of all the palladium metallites contained in the gelatin. Al¬ ternatively, the metallite may be surface mounted on sheets 21, 23, 25 and 27 in Fig. 1, as shown in Figs. 3a and 4a. The apparatus may include a heat exchanger de¬ vice 29 associated with the metallites for conversion or accumulation of thermal energy produced in such metal¬ lites.

Fig. 2 illustrates one of the sheets 21, 23, 25, 27 from Fig. 1 in a sectional side view, showing a surface layer including a gelatin-like matrix 31 of a certain thickness d₂ that is mounted on a structural sub¬ strate 33 of an electrically nonconducting material that provides support for the gelatin. A plurality of partic¬ ulates 35 of palladium metal are distributed throughout the gelatin-like matrix 31, as a part of the surface lay¬ er. The diameters d-^ of the particulates or metallites are preferably less than the thickness d₂ of the gelatin layer 31. The gelatin may be mounted on both sides of the substrate 33, as shown in Fig. 2, or on one side of the substrate.

The palladium metal particulates' diameter d-^ may range from 0.005 mm to 10 mm. and larger, particular¬ ly when the metallites are surface mounted. The particu¬ lates need not all have the same diameters. The volume fraction of metallites in the surface layer may be be¬ tween 10 percent and 90 percent. The surface layers of the sheets 21, 23, 25, 27 form an accumulation structure for the deuterons and lithons that are present through the ionization of liquid 14. Under some circumstances, the metal particu¬ lates or metallites can accumulate deuterons and lithons more efficiently than a continuous structure of the pal¬ ladium metal or a cathode of the metal. By dispersing a large number of metallite particles in the gelatin-like matrix, the total surface area of this collection of par¬ ticles, relative to the surface area of the gelatin vol¬ ume, may be made as large as desired by making the parti¬ cle diameters smaller and smaller. For example, consider spherical metal particles where these sphere diameters d-^ are 0.005 mm and the gelatin-like layer has a thickness d₂ of 0.2 mm. In this situation, the ratio of total sur¬ face area of the spheres to the surface area of the gela¬ tin-like matrix may be larger than 30. Thus, the metal- lite surface area presented for absorption of deuterons and lithons may be made very large compared to the said cathode used in the prior art. Also in the prior art deuterium gas bubbles are created by the electrolysis process at the cathode surface which make the velocities and kinetic energies of the entering deuterons and li¬ thons less uniform. In this invention the deuterons and lithons may enter the palladium with more uniform kinetic energies respectively. The very large number of accumu- lator palladium particulates increases the probability that during any short time interval at least some of the particulates will meet the condition of lithium-deuterium fusion.

Consider a collection of deuterons and lithons and OD~ ions that have been produced by ionization within the liquid. A deuterium ion D⁺ senses the presence of the negatively charged cathode and moves to¬ ward the cathode. In doing so, the deuteron or lithon must pass adjacent to a surface layer of one or more of the sheets 21, 23, 25, 27, and the passing positive ion may become adsorbed on or absorbed within one of the met¬ allites in the surface layer of that sheet. The metal¬ lite that has absorbed the deuteron or lithon then ac¬ quires an electrical charge of +1 and can attract an ad- jacent OD~ ion to its surface. If an OD~^" ion, having an electrical charge of -l, is attracted to the surface of the metallite, the net electrical charge of the metallite becomes zero. The deuterons and lithons can pass into the interior of the palladium metallite, but the OD~ ions will generally remain on or adjacent to the surface of the metallite. The steps of attraction of positively charged deuterons and lithons, which are absorbed by the metallite, and negatively charged ions, which remain on or adjacent to the surface of the metallite, can be re- peated many times so that the density of the deuterons and lithons within the metallite can increase to whatever density of these ions can be accepted by the bulk metal in the interior of the metallite. This approach completely separates the deuter- on/lithon accumulation function from the electrolytic cell electrodes so that the cathode no longer is required to play a multiple role in creating an electrical field, producing electrolysis and accumulating the deuterons and lithons. A deuteron and lithon within the interior of a palladium metallite, behave as Bosons and act according¬ ly, as discussed above.

Although the above discussion assumes that the sheets are positioned adjacent to the cathode 15 in Fig. 1, the positions of the cathode and anode can be ex¬ changed so that the anode now occupies the position de¬ noted 15 in Fig. 1, with the polarities of the voltage source 19 also being reversed. This is due, in part, to the fact that no electrical charge is externally imposed on the sheets 21, 23, 25, 27 or on the metallites. The cumulative electrical charge on each metallite is self- regulated by absorption of positively charged deuterons and lithons into the metallite interior and of negatively charged ions drawn to the metallite surface.

In a second ("surface mounted") embodiment, shown in a cutaway side view in Fig. 3, the deuteron and lithon permeable particulates 37 are held at the surface of solid dielectric, ceramic or insulating polymer mate- rial 39 that overlies a substrate 40 and are thereby ex¬ posed directly to the adjacent liquid and to the deuteri¬ um ions therein. Deuterons and lithons move to the sur¬ faces of the metallites and pass into the interior of the metallite, and adjacent OD~ ions are attracted to the surface of the metallite in order to neutralize the net electrical charge on the metallite, as before. The choice of suitable dielectric materials, plastics, ceram¬ ics and insulative polymers is limited only by the re¬ quirements that the dielectric material should not de- grade in the presence of the electrolyte and should not contaminate the electrolyte. In the first two embodi¬ ments, the thickness of the surface layer that holds the metallites is preferably 25 microns or greater. An area density of the metallites 37 in the range of 30-90 per¬ cent should be sufficient to attract and absorb an appre¬ ciable number of deuterons and lithons to the surfaces of the metallites over the area of each sheet. In a third embodiment, 41, shown in Fig. 4, two electrodes 43 and 45 of opposite polarity are spaced apart and positioned within a container 47 that contains a liquid 49 containing high purity heavy water and an electrolyte therein. The first electrode 43 may be rod- like, and the second electrode 45 may have a helical con¬ figuration or may consist of a collection of approximate¬ ly concentric rings, where the second electrode surrounds and is spaced apart from the first electrode in the liq¬ uid 49. The rod-like first electrode 43 is also sur- rounded by one or more approximately concentric, open mesh cylinders 51, 53, 55 that are made of solid dielec¬ tric, plastic, ceramic, polymeric or other similar elec¬ trically non-conducting material. The cylinders 51, 53, 55 surround the first electrode 43, are surrounded by the second electrode 45, and are spaced apart from both elec¬ trodes. The non-conductive material of the cylinders 51, 53, 55 serves as a matrix and has metallites (not shown in Fig. 4) mounted thereon at the surfaces of the matrix material. These surface-mounted metallites behave in a manner similar to the behavior of the surface-mounted metallites discussed in connection with the second embod¬ iment above. A heat exchanger 57 is provided to draw off the thermal energy produced by the remainder of the appa¬ ratus. A small region 51a of one of the cylinders 51, shown in greater detail in Fig. 4a, will consist of a first plurality of strands 51-1, 51-2, 51-3, 51-4 of electrically non-conducting material and a second plural¬ ity of transversely oriented strands 52-1, 52-2, 52-3, 52-4 of strands of this material. Metallites, shown as circles in Fig. 4a, are mounted on the surfaces of this matrix material and are thus exposed to flow of deuterons and lithons that flow through the mesh apertures in re- sponse to the electrical field imposed by the electrodes 43 and 45 in Fig. 4. A controllable voltage source 50 is connected between the two electrodes 43 and 45 in Fig. 4 to provide a voltage difference ~N_ca, and a heat exchang- er 57 is provided for energy conversion. The voltages on the anode and cathode may be reversed and the principles of operation will remain the same.

In a fourth embodiment 61, shown in Fig. 5, two electrodes 63 and 65 of opposite polarity are spaced apart and positioned within a container 67 that contains a liquid 69 which is primarily heavy water and an elec¬ trolyte. The first electrode 63 may be rod-like, and the second electrode 65 may have a helical configuration or may consist of plurality of approximately concentric rings, where the second electrode surrounds and is spaced apart from the first electrode in the liquid 69. The rod-like first electrode is also surrounded by one or more approximately concentric rings, each ring including a plurality Of rods 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, 83, 85, 87 that are oriented more or less parallel to the first electrode 63. Each of the rods 71, 73,..., 87 is made of solid, electrically non-conducting material, such as a dielectric, plastic, ceramic or polymer material, and each such rod has a plurality of metallites mounted on its surface. The non-conducting rods 71, 73,..., 87 are spaced sufficiently close together that the gap or dis¬ tance between two such adjacent rods in the same ring is of the order of 10-1000 μm. The two electrodes 63 and 65 are connected by a controllable voltage source 89 that provides a voltage difference V_ca_. The voltages on the anode and cathode may be reversed and the principle of operation will be the same. A heat exchanger 90 is pro¬ vided for energy conversion.

Fig. 5a illustrates in more detail a small re- gion 81a on one of the non-conducting rods 81 with metal¬ lites (shown as small circles or spheres on Fig. 5a) sur¬ face mounted on the rod 81. The surface-mounted metal¬ lites behave in a manner similar to the behavior of the surface mounted metallites discussed in connection with the second embodiment above. The metallites are exposed to flow of deuterons and lithons that flow around a non¬ conducting rod or between two such adjacent rods, in re- sponse to the electrical field imposed by the two elec¬ trodes.

In another embodiment 91, shown in Fig. 6, a container 93 holds a liquid 99 with high purity heavy water and an electrolyte therein, and two electrodes 95 and 97 are immersed in the liquid within the container and spaced apart from one another as shown. The two electrodes 95 and 97 are electrically connected by a con¬ trollable voltage source 100 that provides a voltage dif¬ ference -V_ca between the two electrodes. A plurality of sheets or plates, several of which are shown as 101, 103, 105, 107, are positioned between the two electrodes 95 and 97 so that these sheets are approximately parallel to one another and are spaced apart from each other, with each sheet being oriented so that its surface orientation of the electrodes 95 and 97, relative to the surface ori¬ entation, ranges from approximately parallel to approxi¬ mately orthogonal. A heat exchanger 110 is provided for energy conversion here. Each sheet 101, 103, 105, 107 may have a surface layer onto which metallites are deposited or adhered. The manner of adhesion of small particulates onto the surface of a support substrate is also known from the manufacture of fine abrasive sheets and saws. The absorption of deuterons and lithons into the particu- late metallites, and neutralization of the electrical charge on each metallite, proceeds as discussed in con¬ nection with the prior procedure.

Deuterium ions may be produced by ionizing heavy water, which has a high concentration of deuterium atoms present in the form D₂0. The two electrodes in Figures 1, 4, 5 and 6 may be of conventional design and materials, with a controllable voltage difference (static or time varying) -V_ca in the range of -100 to -1 volts impressed between the cathode and the anode. Reilly and Sandrock have discussed the use of metal hydrides as a storage medium for hydrogen and its isotopes in "Hydrogen Storage in Metal Hydrides", Scien¬ tific American (February 1980), pp. 119-130. These au- thors have noted that materials such as those set forth above for the surface layer of the screen have a higher hydrogen storage or acceptance capacity than an equal volume of liquid hydrogen or gaseous hydrogen maintained at a pressure of 100 atmospheres. Theoretically, palla- dium, which has characteristic valences of +2 and +4, could accept and store two to four times as many deuteri¬ um atoms or ions as the number of palladium atoms present. However, a more realistic ratio of the maximum number of deuterium atoms or ions present to the number of palladium atoms present may be about 0.6. The numeri¬ cal density of solid palladium is about 6.75 x 10²² Pd atoms cm^-3 so that a realizable average density of deute¬ rium atoms bound into a Pd-based lattice could be about 4 x ιo²² D atoms or ions cm^" . This density of deuterium within the lattice has the potential to produce deuteri¬ um-related fusion reactions and excess energy.

Jones et al. in "Observation of Cold Nuclear Fusion in Condensed Matter", Nature (1989), reports on detection of neutrons resulting from deuterium-deuterium fusion in a metallic titanium or palladium electrode. These workers used an electrolyte as a mixture of 160 grams of deuterium oxide D₂0 plus 0.2 grams of each of the metal salts FeS0₄.7H₂0, NiCl₂.6H₂0, PdCl₂, CaC0₃, Li₂, S0₄.H₂0, NaS0₄.10H₂0, CaH₄ (P0₄)₂.H₂0, TiOS0₄.H₂S0₄.8H₂0. The pH of the electrolyte was ad¬ justed to less than 3.0 using the addition of HN0₃. After electrolysis was begun, oxygen bubbles were ob¬ served to form immediately at the anode. However, hydro¬ gen or deuterium bubbles were observed to form at the negative electrode (Pd or Ti) only after many minutes of electrolysis, suggesting the rapid absorption of deuteri¬ um into this electrode initially. No generation of ex¬ cess enthalpy was reported. Fleischmann, M. and Pons, S., 1989 Electrochem- ically Induced Nuclear Fusion of Deuterium, J. Electro. Anal., Chem. vol 261 and the First Annual Conference on Cold Fusion, March 28-31, 1990 report on the generation of thermal energy in palladium in an electrolysis cell using heavy water, a palladium cathode, a platinum helix anode and a 0.1 M LiOD electrolyte solution. Generation of excess enthalpy was reported. In the Fleischmann-Pons cell the cathode plays a multiple role of accumulating the deuterons and lithons, establishing the electrical field and converting deuterons to bubbling deuterium....

The invention disclosed herein physically sepa¬ rates the step of electrolysis by the positive and nega¬ tive electrodes from the step of accumulation of deuter- ons and lithons within the interior of the accumulator material. The tendency of a metal particulate such as palladium to accumulate net positive electrical charge from absorption of the deuterons and lithons is self-reg¬ ulated by the negatively charged ions on the surface of the metal particulate.

The deuterons and lithons can pass into the palladium accumulator at a relatively uniform velocity and kinetic energy since there are no deuterium bubbles to disturb them. The palladium particulates have a much greater area than an accumulator cathode in the prior art thereby potentially increasing the fusion process rate. The particulate accumulator structure increases the prob¬ ability for any short time interval at least some of the particulates meet the conditions for lithium-deuterium fusion.

Claims

Clai s

1. A cell for energy conversion comprising: an electrochemical cell for the ionization of heavy water and of an electrolyte and LiOD having first and second spaced apart electrodes establishing ionic flow therebetween; a dielectric member positioned to intercept the ionic flow in a flow-by relation, the member having a surface layer of particulates of a deuterium ion-perme¬ able and lithium ion-permeable metal; and removal means for removing thermal energy from the cell.

2. The cell of claim 1 wherein said particulates are palladium or palladium alloy particles.

3. The cell of claim 1 wherein said particulates have a dimension less than ten millimeters.

4. The cell of claim 1 wherein said particulates are supported on a surface of said insulative members.

5. The cell of claim 1 wherein said particulates are supported in a matrix layer applied to a surface of said insulative members.

6. The cell of claim 1 wherein said dielectric member comprises parallel, spaced apart annular disks with one of said electrodes passing through the disks.

7. The cell of claim 1 wherein said dielectric member comprises stacked, parallel, spaced apart plates with said electrodes disposed near opposed sides of the plates.

8. The cell of claim 1 wherein said means for removing thermal energy comprises a heat exchanger.

9. The cell of claim 1 wherein said dielectric member comprises a thin member with two opposed major surfaces, with said particulates being positioned on at least one of the opposed major surfaces.

10. The cell of claim 5 wherein said matrix layer is drawn from the class consisting of a gelatin matrix and a polyvinyl alcohol matrix.

11. An electrochemical cell for production of energy, the cell comprising: a liquid containing high purity heavy water and containing an electrolyte with Li⁶0D therein; a container for containing the liquid; a first electrode immersed in the liquid and spaced apart from the container; a second electrode immersed in the liquid and spaced apart from the container and from the first electrode; a plurality of mutually spaced apart sheets immersed in the liquid at positions between the first and second electrodes, each sheet having a surface layer that includes particulates of a deuterium ion-permeable and lithium ion-permeable metal, the sheets being approxi¬ mately parallel to one another; a controllable voltage source, connected be¬ tween the first and second electrodes, to supply a volt¬ age difference between the two electrodes sufficient for establishing ionic flow between the sheets from one elec¬ trode to another electrode; and removal means for removing thermal energy from the cell.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said permeable metal is drawn from the class consisting of the materials palladium and alloys of palladium.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein each of said sheets is composed primarily of said permeable metal par¬ ticulates.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein each of said plurality of said sheets is an approximately planar disc.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein two of said sheets that are adjacent to one another are spaced apart by a distance of between 0.1 mm and 10 mm.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said surface lay¬ er comprises a gelatin-like matrix layer in which said permeable metal is suspended as particulate matter.

17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said surface layer comprises a polyvinyl alcohol matrix layer in which said permeable metal is suspended as particulate matter.

18. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said electrodes are coaxially positioned with said sheets positioned therebetween, said sheets being aligned to permit ionic flow therebetween.

19. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said surface layer comprises a layer of electrically non-conducting material having deuterium ion-permeable and lithium ion- permeable metal particulates adhered at the surface thereof.

20. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said electrodes are parallel plates with said sheets positioned therebe¬ tween, said sheets being aligned to permit ionic flow therebetween.

21. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said surface layer has a thickness greater than 25 microns.

22. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said electrolyte LiOD has a concentration ranging between 0.1 M and 1.0 M.

23. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said electrolyte with LiOD uses lithium which contains at least six per¬ cent of the isotope Li⁶.

24. An electrochemical cell for the production of ener¬ gy, the cell comprising: a liquid containing high purity heavy water and containing an electrolyte with Li⁶0D therein; a container for containing the liquid; a first electrode immersed in the liquid and spaced apart from the container; a second electrode immersed in the liquid, spaced apart from the container and spaced apart from and surrounding the first electrode within the liquid; an open mesh structure having a solid matrix of electrically non-conducting material, the surfaces of the matrix material having a plurality of particulates of a deuterium ion-permeable and lithium ion-permeable metal mounted thereon, where the open mesh structure surrounds the first electrode and is surrounded by the second elec¬ trode; -20-

a controllable voltage source, connected be¬ tween the first and the second electrode, to supply a voltage difference between the two electrodes sufficient for establishing ionic flow between the electrodes; and removal means for removing the thermal energy produced from the cell.

25. An electrochemical cell for production of energy, the cell comprising: a liquid containing high purity heavy water and containing an electrolyte with Li⁶OD therein; a container for containing the liquid; a first electrode immersed in the liquid and spaced apart from the container; a second electrode immersed in the liquid, spaced apart from the container and spaced apart from and surrounding the first electrode within the liquid; a plurality of rods, each made from a solid matrix of electrically non-conducting material, the surfaces of the matrix material having a plurality of particulates of a deuterium ion-permeable and lithium ion-permeable material mounted thereon, where the rods are spaced apart and form a cylinder that surrounds the first electrode and is surrounded by the second elec¬ trode; a controllable voltage source connected between the first and the second electrode, to supply a voltage difference between the two electrodes sufficient for es¬ tablishing ionic flow between the electrodes; and removal means for removing the thermal energy produced from the cell.

26. An electrochemical cell for production of energy, the cell comprising: a liquid containing high purity heavy water and containing an electrolyte with Li⁶OD therein; a container for containing the liquid; a first electrode immersed in the liquid and spaced apart from the container; a second electrode immersed in the liquid, space apart from the container and spaced apart from the first electrode within the liquid; a plurality of approximately parallel, spaced apart sheets of electrically non-conducting material, positioned between the first and second electrodes in the liquid, each sheet having a surface layer that includes particulates of a deuterium ion-permeable and lithium ion-permeable metal; a controllable voltage source, connected be¬ tween the first and second electrodes, to supply a volt¬ age difference between the two electrodes sufficient for establishing ionic flow between the electrodes; and removal means for removing thermal energy from the cell.