Rossi on New Hot Cat [Update #5: 1350 C for 10 Hours, Self-Sustaining 80% of the Time (First Model now Broken)]

Here are some recent comments from Andrea Rossi on the performance of the new version of the Hot Cat that he is currently testing. Most recent information at the top:

UPDATE #5 (July 28, 2015)

Andrea Rossi has just posted that the first model of the new Hot Cat has broken down. He wrote:

Tom Conover:
As I explained in another comment on this blog few hours ago, the new Hot Cat has been destroyed, but we are making another with a correction that should resolve the problem.

It makes me wonder if the Hot Cat went into some kind of thermal runaway mode. Rossi says that over the years hundreds of reactors have been destroyed by one means or another, sometimes intentionally. His experience should be helpful in making the needed adjustments.

UPDATE #4 (July 28, 2015)

It looks like there are some improvements in the new Hot Cat design. I asked Andrea Rossi about the performance so far coming from the new Hot Cat testing:

Dear Andrea,

So far, is the New Hot Cat showing longer overall SSM times than the Classic Hot Cat?

Andrea Rossi
July 28th, 2015 at 4:06 PM
Frank Acland:
Yes.
Warm Regards,
A.R.

A response to another who asked about the maximum value of temperature the new Hot Cat can reach is more revealing:

Andrea Rossi
July 28th, 2015 at 4:01 PM
Gerry Carillon:
We reached 1380°C and resisted for about 10 hours at that temperature, of which 8 hours in ssm.
Warm Regards,
A.R.

I think this is the most detailed information we have yet received from Andrea Rossi about the performance of the Hot Cat. He has previously said they have been getting very long self-sustain periods with the Hot Cat, and this comment states that it was self-sustaining 80 per cent of the time during a 10 hour period. We can’t calculate COP from this as there is no information about overall power-in/power-out, but anything maintaining a temperature of 1380°C with no input power is certainly remarkable!

UPDATE #3 (July 26, 2015)

Andrea Rossi
July 26th, 2015 at 4:20 PM
KD, Paul:
Here is a first update.
Here the time is now 05.00 p.m. of July 26. The 1 MW E-Cat is stable and regular. The New Hot Cat has worked out his first day of operation and so far the components have operated well. The efficiency so far is the same of the classic Hot Cat, but I am giving Her time to assess all the components. Anyway: it works. How well it works has to be seen yet.
Warm Regards,
A.R.

UPDATE #2 (July 26, 2015)

The new model Hot Cat has apparently started up:

Andrea Rossi
July 26th, 2015 at 12:22 AM
Paul:
In this moment here it is 01.20 a.m. of Sunday July 26.
The new Hot Cat is just started. She is promising well, but obviously before saying anything worth to be listened is necessary a period of several days.
Warm Regards
A.R.

UPDATE #1 (July 25, 2015)

Andrea Rossi was asked on the JONP why he was so excited by this new iteration of the Hot Cat, when he has made many changes over the years. His response:

Andrea Rossi
July 25th, 2015 at 8:11 AM
Albert N.:
Because I made a revolution in it. It is a completely new thing that, by my calculatons, should ( SHOULD) improve the “classic” one. It is an attempt: if it goes, the improvement, in term of ssm, will be strong. Otherwise, it is a wrong idea. The only way to know is to make an experiment. The funny part is how I got this idea: after the hernia surgery, when I woke up from the total anesthesy I got through, I had to stay some hour in a room, with pain. I am used to overcome pain relaxing and focusing strongly in something; obviously I focused on a new reactor and it came out. Now we did it, tomorrow goes in action. We’ll see if she is an abort or a baby. If she is a baby, is a M.me Curie!
Warm Regards,
A.R.

It seems that while Andrea Rossi is monitoring the performance of the 1MW plant (all recent reports from him about the plant are quite positive), he is also busy with the development of the Hot Cat (high temperature E-Cat), a test reactor which is also being subject to a year-long test in the shipping container where he is working.

Rossi has recently stated that he has had an idea on how to ‘revolutionize’ the performance of the Hot Cat, based on data that his team has been gathering during its test run. Here are some recent comments he has made about the current status of the Hot Cat R&D:

July 24:

“About my “life in the container”: it’s now 09.20 p.m. of Friday July 25 where I am, and She is working stable.Sunday, the day after tomorrow, the new version of the Hot Cat will be put in operation too, and, honestly, I am very excited about it.”

Q: “1. How much time does it now take from start of the hot cat until it achieves COP >1?” A: 1- 1 hour circa

“We are trying to obtain a direct production of electric power [with the Hot Cat]. Just R&D so far, but we are getting something. I cannot comment further.”

“some hint of direct electricity production has been measured”

“Direct production, I can’t comment further. It could not work, as well as it could. This is just one of the many targets we have in program with the R&D upon this new concept of Hot Cat; the main target remains an ssm as long as possible, to raise the COP as high as possible. Production of electricity can anyway and without any doubt made by means of well known cycles, mainly the Carnot cycle. Direct production remains intriguing, though, and we have measured direct current exiting from the Hot Cat in some amount, so that we want to know better the issue. So far it is not technology, it is just a pursue of knowledge: ” Fatti non foste a viver come bruti…”

It does not sound then, at this point, that the Hot Cat is at a point where they can think about it being able to provide useful energy directly — but Rossi’s comment above about production of electricity being possible “without a doubt” using well known cycles is a strong indicator of the Hot Cat being able to deliver heat at high enough temperatures and COP for efficient electrical production.

To me it sounds like direct electrical production for a domestic unit is still quite a distant hope, but that using the Hot Cat to generate electricity via steam turbines is very probable. It’s highly unlikely that domestic reactors will be shipped with a mini steam turbine, but larger scale power plants could well use the E-Cat as a heat source. It will be interesting to hear what Rossi says about how the revamped Hot Cat performs.