Preliminary Assessment of the "Kinetic Furnace" of Kinetic Systems, Inc.
An apparent Massive Excess Energy-Producing Technology Employing Unknown Non-Chemical Reactions of Water in Contact with Metals
(Adapted from Poster Paper at ICCF-7, April 1998)
(Originally Published May, 1998 In Infinite Energy Magazine Issue #19)
by Eugene F. Mallove and Jed Rothwell

cont'd from page 1

During this test period voltage, current, temperature and air speed were measured and cross checked with redundant, independent instruments. Air speed, the most difficult parameter to quantify, was measured with two instruments based on different physical principles. It is highly unlikely that a combination of errors produced an artifactual C.O.P. greater than 1.0. More likely, the excess was seriously underestimated.

Future Testing
We will establish a permanently operating test bed machine. We may require more machines for factorial experiments. One of the first priorities will be to examine how the machine performs with heavy water. We will begin by mixing a small amount of heavy water with ordinary water, and then we will increase the concentration in steps. We will test water from a variety of different sources. We will check the rotors for anomalous deposits of metals and we will perform autoradiographs. We will monitor the water for gas build-up, elemental change, and tritium. SEM examination of the rotor surfaces will be useful.

Pope stated that these machines have run continuously for 3 to 4 months at a C.O.P. of ~1.5. It is instructive to apply these numbers and speculate about possible low-energy nuclear reactions. The machine holds approximately 4.7 liters of water in the chamber and heat transfer loop, or ~263 moles. This includes 4.05 x 10^-2 moles of D₂O, or 2.44 x 10²² pairs of deuterons. If D-D fusion at the metal surface were the source of the excess energy, there would be 9.13 x 10¹⁰ joules of energy available with

the reaction path D + D Æ ⁴He + 23.8 MeV (thermalized). When the excess power is 1,000 watts thermal, the deuterium fuel would last 9.13 x 10⁷ seconds, or 151 weeks.

The Kinetic Furnace is known to operate for a very long time on a single charge of water. Other nuclear reactions involving hydrogen and rotor metal (mainly aluminum

with Fe-alloy for orifice-surround strengthening inserts) might yield an even longer operating period. We emphasize however, that no investigations of the nuclear hypothesis have been performed yet.

It is obvious that sustained 1,000 watt excess energy cannot possibly come from chemical reactions in the chamber. In point of fact, there is no accepted chemical reaction in the chamber (such as from standard water corrosion) that could account for even one minute of 1,000 watt excess power.

Perkins and Pope found that the source of the water is important. Water from different sources has widely varying efficacy. The best water is from a well over 100 meters deep, extending below granite formations. Distilled water produces excess energy, but not as much. Atlanta city water does not produce any excess. These differences are probably due to trace amounts of gas or mineral contamination that either enhance or corrupt the reaction. If these performance differences can be confirmed, they will be an important clue about the nature of the reaction on the microphysical level. It is well known, for example, that the sonoluminescence phenomenon is connected with the gas content of water.

Pope says he has tested fluids other than water in the device to see whether they generate excess energy. He found that various oils used in place of water do not produce excess energy. He tested mineral oil, automobile transmission fluid, and thermo-oil used in pumps (Shell and Exxon). Pure ethylene-glycol does not appear to produce excess energy, but mixtures of ethylene-glycol and water works. Tests with other fluids and with water that does not work constitute control runs. Pope has not calibrated with a joule heater. We plan to do this. We will install a joule heater in the equipment cabinet near the device, turn off the device, and run the joule heater and the air blower at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 kilowatt power levels.

The temperature of the water in the chamber has reached as high as 600 °F in some tests, although it usually remains below 200 °F. The cause of occasional sudden rapid rises in temperature is not known. Additional evidence of high heat is seen in the fact that the aluminum rotors sometimes partially melt.

The rotors are generally made of aluminum, with steel inserts that harden the walls of the peripheral holes. When steel inserts were not used, the aluminum was severely damaged by melting after about 10 minutes of operation. Deposits of copper-colored material have plated onto the aluminum after prolonged use. It is not clear whether these deposits are contaminants from the heat exchanger, steel, aluminum, or the water itself. An EDS (energy dispersive spectroscopy) analysis of the deposit was performed and the following element composition was found:

A subsurface sample of the aluminum was tested, and only low levels of contamination were found. This analysis was performed by a university chemist who wondered how the material were deposited on the rotor. The material looks as if it was electroplated to the aluminum surface, but there are no known electric currents in the water to drive electrolysis. The analysis of changes in materials before and after the operation of this machine will require considerable effort.

Conclusion
The Perkins-Pope Kinetic-Furnace produces massive excess energy, as shown by extensive testing over twenty years. It shows great promise as a research tool for investigating the class of reactions that produce nuclear-scale excess energy in more traditional cold fusion cells. The reactions responsible for the excess energy in the Perkins-Pope device may be novel nuclear reactions or the tapping of energy reservoirs that others have proposed (e.g. new hydrogen energy states or zero point energy). There is no possibility that this device can be explained by chemical energy or "storage energy." The Perkins-Pope device is also a near term excess energy technology that will have application in water and air heating, and perhaps in self-standing electric power production and rotary mechanical power production.

References and Notes
1. See a list of over 90 references to experimental results in cold fusion (http://www.infinite-energy.com)

2. Other U.S. Patents for other "frictional heating" devices:

1,758,207 1930 Walker
2,316,522 1943 Loeffler
2,683,448 1954 Smith
2,991,764 1961 French
3,333,771 1967 Graham
3,402,702 1968 Love
3,508,402 1970 Gray
3,690,302 1972 Reynolds
3,720,372 1973 Jacobs
3,791,349 1974 Schaeffer
3,813,036 1974 Lutz
4,143,369 1979 Frenette
4,147,301 1979 Halma et al
4,153,199 1979 Ellmer
4,226,364 1980 Utsech
4,256,085 1981 Line
4,277,020 1981 Grenier
4,357,931 1982 Wolpert et al
4,372,254 1983 Hildebrandt
4,381,762 1983 Ernst
5,188,090 1993 Griggs
5,279,262 1994 Muehleck
5,419,306 1995 Huffman, Michael (see Infinite Energy Issue #1)

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