Progress in Development of a Low Energy Reaction Cell for Distributed Power Applications

Power units using Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENRs) potentially offer a radical new approach to power units that could provide distributed power units in the 1–50 kW range. As described in prior ICONE papers [9, 23] these cells employ thin metallic film cathodes (order of 500 Å, using variously Ni, Pd and Ti) with electrolytes such as 0.5–1 molar lithium sulfates in light water. Power densities exceeding 10 W/cc in the films have been achieved. An ultimate goal is to incorporate this thin-film technology into a “tightly packed” cell design where the film material occupies ∼ 20% of the total volume. If this is achieved, power densities of ∼20 W/cm³ appear feasible, opening the way to a number of potential applications involving distributed power. Recent studies reported here have concentrated on new electrode designs intended to maximize the proton loading in the films while maintaining the required proton and electron current densities.