ZPEnergy.com - More speculation and research

John Franks writes: Happy New Year, A few things for you to chew on for 2004:

The Physics of Zero Point Energy Conversion Devices II, By John P.Franks

In the continuing quest for the answers to the big energy question, “Can we create useful work from the random electromagnetic fluxuations?” the author continues to elaborate his thoughts and work in an area of technology not yet invented.

In review of most of the theories and devices so far it has become apparent that a critical technology necessary for the construction of these devices has not yet been developed. In every credible ZPE experiment, the one stumbling block to the observation of the ZPE flux effects is the presence of oxide layers on the walls of the Casimir cavities used as band pass filters. It will be necessary to create a technology of super clean un oxidised conducting surfaces if the predicted electromagnetic effects are to be observed. As a second step, to create a high temperature superconducting Casimir Cavity with unoxidized surfaces.

This latter advance is especially difficult for the simple reason that most of the HT Superconductors are some form of metallic oxide. A hybrid HTS with an unoxidized sputtered layer of conducting material may prove to be a compromise.

My own approach is to remove oxidation by conventional means and store the material in an inert atmosphere. I have also considered plating in an inert atmosphere of nitrogen or argon . Developmental costs for this type of technology are minimal,involving inert gas pressurised chambers with “glove box” handling.

The technology for microfabrication of other possibly energy producing systems in an inert atmosphere is somewhat more complex and has not yet been undertaken by any research body to my knowledge.

Ground state Molecular Hydrogen

At present the present research subject in ZPE is ordinary hydrogen and any form or compound that has a single hydrogen atom “dangling” (H-F,H-Cl). These forms have a pronounced and sharp single mode ground state internuclear motion and the lowest state of these oscillations is driven exclusively by the ZPE. For hydrogen this absorption line is at 2.2 microns wavelength. Hydrogen is also interesting because of its negative Debye coefficient, where other gases like nitrogen and oxygen cool down on free expansion, hydrogen at room temperature does not, it contains repulsive forces that further speed up molecular velocity on expansion, it is only until hydrogen is at liquid nitrogen temperatures that these forces finally relent and Joule-Thompson effect cooling takes place. These internal forces come once again from ZPE effects generated by molecular motion through the vacuum flux.

An entire spectrum of resonant single mode motions that are harmonic multiples (n+1/2) of that primary ground state energy exist up until n=14, at which time the nuclei break apart into separate hydrogen atoms.

These separate hydrogen atoms can deliver 4.8 ev of energy by recombining to reform molecules, and it may be through this technique that the vacuum may provide excess energy. It has been known that hydrogen does have a pronounced tendency to split apart on a conductive or catalytic surface and wedge into minute defects in materials, leading to hydrogen embrittlement . It may be that in hydrogen embrittlement that energy from the vacuum may have had first appeared as a form of “useful” work from the vacuum. Although in forms that do not appear “useful” to ourselves, embrittlement is a form of work, causing a physical and chemical change in a real object.

As for the form of the reactor for such a process, it would consist of large arrays of nested, concentric cells sized to be resonant with the higher modes of the hydrogen internuclear vibration. These scales are at the very edge of the microfabrication technology as it exists today. It is hoped that by hydrogen molecules traveling in and out of these cavities, vacuum energy will be transported by the hydrogen from the exterior of the cell to the inside, where the energy would not fit into the wavelength restriction imposed by the cavity spacing, and be released.

All this is conjecture, but points to the future trends for this research.