Horace writes: >It would be very useful if someone who has access to the paper would >summarize "Arc-liberated chemical energy exceeds electrical input energy", >Journal of Plasma Physics, Vol.63, part 2, p.115 (2000).
Here's an online source http://journals.cambridge.org/bin/bladerunner?REQUNIQ=1112200824&REQSESS=512365&117000REQEVENT=&REQINT1=18654&REQAUTH=0 if for some reason the above link doesn't work, search around http://journals.cambridge.org for the "chapter and verse" ( another gratuitous biblical reference for the zealots ). Maybe Frank can buy a copy, it's 18USD but only 12GBP, a substantial savings for the unit impaired (grin). The device described on Rich Hull's site is also described in detail in P. Graneau's book Electrodynamics of Metals. I hope Dick has improved the circuit, Graneau was using air core rogowski coils for the current measurements which IMHO can be a misleading way of looking at the currents. Also I am a little surprised he could get away with copper electrodes, when I did this sort of work I was melting tungsten spark gaps like they were butter. The circuit is a basic LC circuit with the spark/arc gap being the cannon barrel you describe. Cap values ranged from 1/4 to 2 microfarads, charge voltages from 2 to 8 KV. Induction was about 900 microhenries. He correctly points out that the currently believed explaination of what causes the explosion is incorrect ( steam from the arc ), but then goes on to attempt to shoehorn the Ampere Neuman longitudinal force to fit the results. Better explainations exist. K.
