Suncell
The SunCell
The engineering of a new power source: 2014 - present.
After 25 years of research and development, Brilliant Light Power is commercializing a new energy source based on hydrino-catalysis.
The Suncell is an explosive plasma reactor concept which is now in alpha-prototyping stage in collaboration with Columbia Technologies and Masimo Semiconductor.
The reactor, which may feasibly generate 250 kW of clean power at about 45% efficiency, will deliver clean, inexpensive power that consumes only hydrogen.
Since hydrino-catalysis delivers 200 times the energy of hydrogen combustion, the long term cost of the electrical generation is estimated to be substantially below existing energy sources.
The Suncell is now in the alpha-prototyping phase after several years of rapid advancement, which BLP has documented in videos that reveal the awesome power of the catalysis reaction.
The 2014 Breakthrough
After 25 years of research into hydrino catalysis, BLP discovered, in 2014, that they could create explosive reactions. A small capsule containing 70 mg of water and 30 mg of metal (or metal oxide) powder could be made to explode with a combined gravimetric power density (power per unit weight) of twice that of TNT.
The metal powder, acting only as a conductive medium, could theoretically be recaptured from the reaction. The water acts as both the hydrogen source and the catalyst, which through a combination of bond breakages and electron ionization provides the needed enthalpy to enable the formation of one-fourth (1/4) hydrino atoms. The capsule is placed on an electrode capable of delivering 12,000 A of current at very low voltage to ignite the reaction.
The following video is a 17,000 frames-per-second capture of the explosion.
2014-2015 Rotating-Electrode Concept
After BLP's initial 2014 breakthrough in which they were able to explode small pellets containing water and metal (or metal oxide) powder, BLP focused on developing a reactor composed of rotating electrodes that could generate a thousand explosions per second and provide a continuous light source for a PV array to capture. They exploded individual pellets fed between the electrodes, and later, a loose mixture of water and metal powder. This concept ultimately proved unfeasible, as the explosions were destroying the electrodes.
Discovery of Molten Silver as the Reaction Medium
Illustration by Matt Schmidt
On November 11th, 2015, BLP discovered that they could pour molten silver between two electrodes, while injecting water vapor, and produce a sustained reaction with a brilliant light emission. This discovery led BLP to design a reactor concept in which molten silver is pushed upward into a basin with an electromagnetic pump, where it comes between two solid tungsten bar electrodes.
The reactor generates a brilliant plume of light which could then be absorbed, and re-emitted, by a tungsten shield in a range of light frequencies which can be absorbed by the PV array, overhead.
BLP never integrated the tungsten and PV array. This concept also proved infeasible for two reasons: the reaction was melting down the reactor apparatus in long runs, and more worrisome, the reaction continued to destroy the electrodes by vaporizing the tungsten (vaporization point: 12,000 degrees). Whoa.
Initial November 11th, 2015 experiment in which silver was simply poured between the electrodes.
Demonstration video from January 28th, 2016.
2016 Testing: Maximizing the Power Density
July 2016 test which is great to watch (turn on the sound!).
Pulsed ignition tests.
2016 Carbon Sphere Reactor with Liquid Electrodes
In 2016, Mills had another brainwave. The new, incredibly high power density that they had achieved was proving fatal to the tungsten and molybdenum electrodes, which were vaporizing in mere seconds. His idea? Get rid of the electrodes entirely, and introduce two independent silver streams into the reactor, with the ignition current arcing between them.
It worked. The reaction is now taking place inside a carbon sphere, which is heated up to thousands of degrees to become a powerful light bulb, thousands of times brighter than the sun, emitting a visible spectrum of light capture with photovoltaics.
Looking into the carbon reactor sphere.
This is a 3D visualization of the latest prototype reactor being developed at BLP in collaboration with Columbia Tech and Masimo Semiconductor. It is estimated that this refrigerator-sized unit will max out at 250 kW of generation capacity with a triple junction PV array.