
Andrea Rossi has started commercializing ECAT nuclear fusion devices - adnam
http://ecat.com/ecat-products/ecat-1-mw
======
lutusp
> The ECAT 1MW plant contains 106 smaller ECAT units mounted in a shipping
> container. Valve for filling the Hydrogen is on the front of each unit,
> together with electrical connection to the immersion heater used to start
> the reaction.

Not mentioned in the article is that the "immersion heater" required power --
to sustain the cold fusion reaction, of course -- totals just over 1 MW
continuous.

> Current delivery time is estimated to four months.

That should be enough time to sign up an adequate number of perfect fools.

~~~
zokier
> Not mentioned in the article is that the "immersion heater" required power

The tech data page specifies 200kW input power

~~~
pavlov
The first shipping generators will have an unfortunate bug that caps the
output at approximately one-fifth of maximum capacity. The company will
promise that, as soon as the bug is fixed and some new parts are installed,
the machines will deliver the promised 1 MW.

~~~
VonGuard
Think this is what happened with the ECAT the DoD bought?

~~~
lutusp
The DoD did not buy one of these with my tax dollars -- tell me it isn't so.
Because if they did, by now they would have exposed this scammer to justify
the expenditure of public funds. It's a hoax -- the "fact sheet" has more
holes than a Swiss cheese.

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makerops
On the one hand, I just can not believe that someone would be audacious enough
to try such a scam, when there is such a relatively huge amount of people with
their eyes on this. On the other hand history has shown us that this happens A
LOT. Human nature is a funny thing.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Madoff](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Madoff)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Weil](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Weil)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Lustig](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Lustig)

~~~
AKifer
You're right, saddly the law of nature made that there will always be people
who will buy such an ideas. With one customer, he would pay the cost of web
design, content creation, web hosting, domain name and 3D stuffs. With 2
customers, it would be profitable.

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lafar6502
As stated in technical parameters: the water pump output is 30-1500
liters/hour, it means max 0.4 liter per second. Assuming it raises the
temperature of water by 40 degrees K, the energy output per second is 4200J/kg
_K_ 0.5kg * 40K = 84000 Joules/sec = 84 kW. Assuming it draws 167kW, it's much
worse than any electric water heater.

~~~
gus_massa
Nice finding!

But let’s be optimistic! If we pick the maximum range in the technical
specification [1] and suppose that the temperature difference were 120°C then
it would only generate 0.21MW [2]. Just in case, I checked and at 4Bar, the
boiling point of water is 144°C [3], so the device is not producing vapor,
only hot water.

[1] [http://ecat.com/ecat-products/ecat-1-mw/ecat-1mw-
technical-d...](http://ecat.com/ecat-products/ecat-1-mw/ecat-1mw-technical-
data)

[2]
[http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=1500+kg%2Fhr+*+1+cal%2F...](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=1500+kg%2Fhr+*+1+cal%2F%28g%C2%B0C%29+*+120%C2%B0C+to+Mwatts&a=UnitClash_*cal.*CaloriesThermochemical.dflt--&a=UnitClash_*g.*Grams.dflt--&a=UnitClash_*Mwatts.*Megawatts.dflt--&a=UnitClash_*%C2%B0C.*DegreesCelsiusDifference--)

[3] [http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/boiling-point-water-
d_926....](http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/boiling-point-water-d_926.html)

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donquichotte
Nice. Now the question whether Andrea Rossi is a conman will be settled once
and for all. I'm looking forward to the first reviews.

~~~
bglazer
Judging by the extremely unfavorable picture portrayed by his Wikipedia
articles [1][2], that question has already been answered.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Catalyzer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Catalyzer)
[2]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Rossi_%28entrepreneur%29](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Rossi_%28entrepreneur%29)

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AKifer
"ECAT 1 MW Plant produces energy through a so-called cold fusion process. No
combustion takes place; instead Nickel and Hydrogen merge to produce Copper.
Per unit of weight, this process is at least 100,000 more efficient than any
known combustion process" Seriously, even a monkey would see it's impossible.

~~~
gus_massa
From Wikipedia:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon)

> _A thermonuclear weapon weighing little more than 2,400 pounds (1,100 kg)
> can produce an explosive force comparable to the detonation of more than 1.2
> million tons (1.1 million tonnes) of TNT_

The energy/mass of this atomic bomb is 4.2 10^12 J/Kg=m^2/s^2
[http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=1200000+tons+of+TNT+%28...](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=1200000+tons+of+TNT+%28Energy%29+%2F+1100+kg)

The energy/mass of gasoline is 4.5 10^7 J/Kg=m^2/s^2
[http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=specific+combustion+hea...](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=specific+combustion+heat+gasoline+to+m%5E2%2Fs%5E2)

So the atomic bomb is 100000 more “efficient” than gasoline.

In spite of this, I’m sure this device will “mysteriously” not work.

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orenbarzilai
He should produce a sexy video & start a kick starter campaign...

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tosiabunio
Indication of anomalous heat energy production in a reactor device

[http://arxiv.org/abs/1305.3913](http://arxiv.org/abs/1305.3913)

~~~
deletes
Paper describes two experiment conducted on ecat prototypes. It should be read
by anyone interested in the subject.

------
fauxscot
Wow. This is a scam on a truly impressive scale.

Note that they are looking for a beta site customer... lower right corner...
next to the impressive list of folks who have validated cold fusion, which
would be zero by my count. At least from places that don't feature folks with
funny hats made of foil.

100,000 times more efficient?

Wow. Just wow.

------
cjg_
Is there conclusive evidence that this device actually work yet?

~~~
voidlogic
Kickstart buying one an trying it out? j/k :)

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zokier
If it actually produces 1MW of power from a shipping container, even if all
other claims were false, I'd think this would be useful in emergency/disaster
zones.

~~~
darky3041
Thermal power only, though. Not 1MW of electricity

~~~
lutusp
Because of the ready availability of efficient thermoelectric converters, this
is a distinction without a difference.

~~~
darky3041
Thermocouples are only 5-7% efficient. Any sort of steam turbine you can't use
efficiently due to 120C max output temperature.

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matponta
Well, it's drawing 200kW form the input, and the other 800kW from harvesting
radiowaves and alien probes, I guess.

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busterarm
$2/MWhr to run? That seems unbelievably cheap. I hope those figures aren't
overly optimistic.

~~~
rs232
From a guy selling cold fusion? Nah, it's legit.

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mlamat
I have a bridge to sell you.

