Thanks to Alan Smith for letting me know about a new patent application that has been recently published by the World Intellectual Property Organization by IH IP Holdings, which is connected with Industrial Heat, LLC for “Methods and apparatus for triggering exothermic reactions”
Inventors listed are Dennis G. Letts, Joseph A. Murray, Julie A. Morris and Tushar Tank
https://www.google.com/patents/WO2017127423A2?cl=en
Here’s the abstract:
“Methods and apparatus are disclosed for triggering and maintaining an exothermic reaction in a reaction material comprising a metal occluded with hydrogen. The reaction material is prepared by loading a hydrogen absorbing material, e.g., a transition metal, with a hydrogen gas that comprises one or more of hydrogen isotopes. Different conditions and system configurations for triggering the exothermic reaction are also disclosed.”
From the Summary:
“In some embodiments, a device comprising a metal container and an electrode is used for triggering an exothermic reaction. The metal container is plated with a hydrogen absorbing material. The metal container has one or more open ends. The electrode is received through a first open end into the metal container. The metal container is filled with a pressurized hydrogen gas. To trigger an exothermic reaction, a voltage between the metal container and the electrode is applied. In some embodiments, the magnetic field may be optionally applied. The strength of the magnetic field is set above a pre- determined threshold. For example, the strength of the magnetic field may be between 500 and 700 Gauss. In some embodiments, the voltage applied between the metal container and the electrode is selected to be dependent on a dimension of the metal container. For example, the voltage may be dependent on the distance between the metal container and the electrode. In one embodiment, the hydrogen absorbing material plated on the interior wall of the metal container comprises nickel, palladium or other metals or metal alloys capable of forming a hydride or deuteride. In one embodiment, a layer of gold is plated underneath the hydrogen absorbing material. In another embodiment, a layer of silver or other metals that do not dissociate hydrogen or deuterium is plated underneath the hydrogen absorbing material.”
