In this presentation
we will explain what cold fusion is. The term
is not very common and not everyone is likely
to be aware of it. We will strive to elucidate
the concept and the theory behind cold fusion
in very simple and easy to understand language.
Analysis
The dictionary defines the noun fusion as meaning
“the act or procedure of liquefying or melting
by the application of heat”. It would appear
that heat has a central role in the process of
melting. In the context of nuclear science, fusion
is accompanied by the release of a large amount
of energy either in a controlled manner or in
an uncontrolled manner as in a bomb.
In 1989 a story that made headlines concerned
cold fusion. This was when an English chemist
B. Stanley Pons and an American chemist Martin
Fleischmann claimed that they had achieved nuclear
fusion using simple equipment operating at room
temperature.
Controlled fusion was something which the scientists
had been seeking to achieve for quite some time.
It would be a source of inexhaustible amount of
energy that would revolutionize our world. And
in the bargain avoid the environmental hazards
of (i) nuclear waste (coming out of nuclear reactors)
and (ii) pollution from the burning of fossil
fuels like petroleum or coal. Widespread availability
of energy at low prices became a highly coveted
possibility.
As a further example. the Joint European Torus
(JET) has put up a four storey high steeel structure
in England to conduct the largest fusion power
experiment in the world. Fifteen European countries
have put in a billion dollars for the project.
In the nuclear couldron here “deuterium
gas is energized with 7 million amperes and heated
to 300 million degrees Celsius which is 10 times
hotter than the center of the sun. Under such
high temperatures atomic nuclei collide and fuse,
liberating energy that could provide limitless
power.”
Not unlike Pons and Fleischmann a retired U.S.
scientist Edmund Storms has built a simple reactor
using laboratory glassware, off-the-shelf chemical
supplies an old computer etc. He claims that his
equipment works, generating surplus heat for days
at a time. He appeared before a congressional
subcommittee considering the future of fusion.
According to him nuclear reactions can be stimulated
at at room temperature. He says "I am absolutely
certain that the phenomenon is real. It is quite
extraordinary, and if it can be developed, it
will have profound effects on society." Each
home could cool or heat itself. Automobiles could
be run using similar energy.Massive generators
and power lines would become redundant.
For all the excitement it has generated the cold
fusion has not seen the light of day so far. The
U.S. belives it would take five decades before
the research produces positive results and can
be exploited commercially. Even this time span
is too short if only the world could get enery
in abundant and plentiful energy supply at virtually
no cost. Meanwhile Pons and Fleischmann were discredited
and shunned even by their scientific community.
This was inspite of the fact that they had put
up their own $100,000 in the project.
Cold fusion is a still incompletely explained
energy-producing phenomenon. Unlike hot fusion
where the heat is released in the form of radiation,
cold fusion produces energy in the form of heat.
The input output ratio (electrical energy put
in/heat generated) is one is to a hundred or a
thousand times. (Cold Fusion Primer
Besides the sceptics there are highly qualified
researchers who belive that the cold fusion theory
would soon turn into a reality. Because of space
constraints we will produce justa couple of quotes
from reserachers:
• George Miley, eceipient of Edward Teller
medal for innovative research in hot fusion: "There's
very strong evidence that low-energy nuclear reactions
do occur. Numerous experiments have shown definitive
results - as do my own."
• John Bockris, a formerly professor in
physical chemistry at Texas A&M University
and a cofounder of the International Society for
Electrochemistry: "Nuclear reactions can
occur without high temperatures. Low-energy nuclear
transformations can - and do - exist."
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