-----Original Message----- From: Terry Blanton > It now occurs to me that he is flowing current between these two "heaters" causing a huge surplus of electrons within the Ni powder.
OK. It could be diode or triode, and it could involve dielectric breakdown as well. If this is a triode then it is a lot closer to the Naudin/Moller MAHG then anyone has yet realized. This gets back to what appears to be a single lead on the band heater. This lead would be positive polarity, more than likely. If the reactor is fits tightly into the sleeve of the outer copper tube (it can be grooved to allow fluid flow), there is still a conductive pathway direct to the powder fill. This means that the negative must be coming through the axis. If Ed Storms and myself are correct: that there is a single axial tube, then that tube can in effect be the cathode, correct? Is that the way you were envisioning it? There would need to be ceramic insulation to keep the electrodes isolated - which is not all that tricky and since the powder needs to be supported by a dielectric, it is not fully conductive and acts as a semiconductor so there is no short circuit. How the grid would be placed is not clear, but it could be nickel mesh cloth, which is formed into an open tube, and sits between the cathode and anode, surrounded entirely by the supported powder, which is not fully conductive. In principal, this is a triode, and not unlike the MAHG except that the fill is a semiconductor instead of a gas. Crazy but possible. Jones
