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BlackLight Power Process BlackLight Power, Inc. has created a potentially commercially competitive, nonpolluting new primary source of energy that forms a prior undiscovered form of hydrogen call "hydrino". The net energy released as hydrogen forms hydrino may be two hundred times that of combustion of the hydrogen fuel with power densities comparable to those of fossil fuel combustion and nuclear power plants. As hydrogen atoms and catalyst atoms are normally found bound together as molecules or are bound in other compositions of matter, BlackLight has invented a solid fuel that uses conventional chemical reactions to generate the catalyst and atomic hydrogen at high reactant densities that in turn controllably generate significant energy in the form of heat. Moreover, molecular hydrino gas and novel hydrogen compounds with potential commercial applications are the by-products. The former is very stable and self-vents from the atmosphere to space due to its high buoyancy and mobility. The BlackLight Process offers a potentially efficient, clean, and versatile energy source. Initial applications of its technology are in heating, electric power production, and cogeneration (electricity production with waste heat recovery and utilization).The Company has developed a breakthrough in solid fuel chemistries that are very efficient at liberating energy from forming hydrinos, and the Company believes that this breakthrough will result in a reduction in the commercialization timeline for products utilizing the BlackLight Process. Importantly, the Company has shown that these solid fuels can be thermally regenerated. At reaction conditions, the forward reaction is spontaneous, but the equilibrium is shifted from predominantly the products to the reverse direction by dynamically removing the volatile reverse-reaction product, the alkali metal catalyst. The isolated reverse-reaction products can be further reacted to form the initial reactants that can be combined to form the initial reaction mixture. The thermal cycle of reactants to products thermally reversed to reactants is energy neutral, and the thermal losses and energy to replace hydrogen converted to hydrinos are small compared to the large energy released in forming hydrinos. Thus, the Company believes that continuous generation of power liberated by forming hydrinos is commercially feasible using simplistic and efficient systems that concurrently maintain regeneration as part of the thermal energy balance. The system is closed except that only hydrogen consumed in forming hydrinos need be replaced. Hydrogen to form hydrinos can be obtained ultimately from the electrolysis of water with 200 times the energy release relative to combustion. The formation of hydrino hydride compounds and molecular hydrino as products of the new chemistries has been confirmed by a number of analytical techniques.BlackLight Power PlantsBased on the observed energy gain and successful thermal regeneration of the solid fuel, the Company believes that environmentally friendly power plants can be operated continuously as power and regeneration reactions are maintained in synchrony using commercially available equipment. The system may be self-contained except that only the hydrogen consumed in forming hydrinos need be replaced as molecular hydrino is released. Hydrogen can be obtained ultimately from the water at an insignificant rate of one-millionth of a liter per second per kilowatt electric power due to the two hundred times energy gain relative to hydrogen combustion. Based on this and other competitive advantages, new power-generation business opportunities of distributed generation may exist even at power scales that are achievable in the near term using readily available commercial equipment. Engineering designs have been invented and developed based on the new chemistries involving hydride-halide exchange reactions. Two designs are thermal based wherein the hydrino reactions are maintained and regenerated alternatively in batch-mode in a given cell of a bundle of cells or continuously within each cell. In both cases, heat from the power production phase of a thermally reversible cycle provides the energy for regeneration of the initial reactants from the products. Since there are reactants undergoing both modes at any given time or simultaneously in each cell, the thermal power output from a bundle of cells or each cell, respectively, is constant. In a third design, the exchange reactions are constituted in half-cell reactions wherein direct electrical power is developed by the reaction of hydrogen to form hydrinos (CIHT cell). The cost is about two percent of thermal systems and operational parameters are enabling of electric, motive, marine, aviation, and other applications requiring no infrastructure. Specifically, the Company has developed chemistries and engineering designs using the corresponding experimental parameters for power and regeneration for two thermal-Rankine systems. One system comprises a multi-tube thermally interacting bundle of cells wherein cells producing power provide heat to those undergoing regeneration. As a system, the power output is constant. The capital costs are projected to be about $1,400/kW electric. The other system comprises an array of reactors wherein power and regeneration chemistries occur synchronously, and each cell outputs constant power. The capital costs are projected to be about $1,050/kW electric. A third design called CIHT utilizes many options of tested chemistry and comprises the direct production of electrical power from the formation of hydrinos. The capital costs are projected to be about $25/kW electric with no infrastructure requirements, and the system is deployable for essentially any application at any scale. The engineering papers entitled “BlackLight Power Multi-cell Thermally Coupled Reactor,” “BlackLight Power Continuous Thermal Power System,” and “BlackLight Power Motive” regarding intermittent and continuous power cycles and motive power applications of BlackLight technology including CIHT provide further details of these designs. BlackLight will license its process for a fee per thermal energy unit (e.g. $x per thermal kilowatt hour or $y per BTU) (see Business & Licensing). BlackLight anticipates licensees contracting for retrofit of existing plants and for turnkey plants to be built by architect and engineering firms and original equipment manufacturers. BlackLight Power Multi-Cell Thermally Coupled Reactor View Paper. The hydrino reactions are maintained and regenerated in a batch mode using thermally-coupled multi-cells arranged in bundles wherein cells in the power-production phase of the cycle heat cells in the regeneration phase. In this intermittent cell power design, the thermal power is statistically constant as the cell number becomes large, or the cells cycle is controlled to achieve steady power. The conversion of thermal power to electrical power requires the use of a heat engine exploiting a cycle such as a Rankine, Brayton, Stirling, or steam-engine cycle. Due to the temperatures, economy goal, and efficiency, the Rankine cycle is the most practical and can produce electricity from a steam source at 30–40% efficiency with a component capital cost of about $300 per kW electric. Conservatively, assuming a conversion efficiency of 25% the total cost with the addition of the boiler and chemical components is estimated at $1380 per kW electric. The system applications for distributed power (1 to 10 MW electric) and central generation retrofit and green-field projects are projected to be very competitive relative to existing power sources and systems. The specifics of a reaction system design are presented. BlackLight Power Continuous Thermal Power System View Paper. The hydrino reactions are maintained and regenerated continuously in each cell wherein heat from the power production phase of a thermally reversible cycle provides the energy for regeneration of the initial reactants from the products. Since the reactants undergo both modes simultaneously in each cell, the thermal power output from each cell is constant. The conversion of thermal power to electrical power requires the use of a heat engine exploiting a cycle such as a Rankine, Brayton, Stirling, or steam-engine cycle. Due to the temperatures, economy goal, and efficiency, the Rankine cycle is the most practical and can produce electricity at 30-40% efficiency with a component capital cost of about $300 per kW electric. Conservatively, assuming a conversion efficiency of 25% the total cost with the addition of the boiler and chemical components is estimated at $1064 per kW electric. The specifics of a reaction system design are presented. View Paper. Rather than being limited by conventional thermal-based systems, a paradigm shifting technology called CIHT is enabled by the unique attributes of the catalyzed hydrino transition. The exchange reactions are the basis of a unique electrochemical cell wherein the power is developed by the reaction of hydrogen to form hydrinos. Being direct electric, the capital costs are projected to be about $25/kW electric, about two percent of thermal systems, with no infrastructure requirements, and the system is deployable for essentially any application at any scale. In general, the chemical power released during the formation of hydrinos from hydrogen can be harnessed for motive power by several types of systems. The BlackLight Process has four principal applications to motive power, (i) on-board powering of the drive train with the game-changing CIHT technology, (ii) charging of electric vehicle batteries (iii) generation of combustible fuels, specifically hydrogen gas by electrolysis of water, and (iv) a hybrid electrical vehicle powered by heat that is converted to electricity to charge batteries that drive electric motors. The advantages and disadvantages are considered for the most to least competitive design. |
Technical
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Presentation Engineering
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Papers BlackLight
Process Theory
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The lower-energy atomic hydrogen product of the BlackLight Process reacts with an electron to form a hydride ion, which further reacts with elements other than hydrogen to form novel proprietary compounds called hydrino hydride compounds (HHCs). BlackLight is developing the vast class of proprietary chemical compounds formed via the BlackLight Process. Test results indicate that the properties of HHCs are rich in diversity due to their extraordinary binding energy (i.e., the energy required to remove an electron which determines the chemical reactivity and properties). Hydrino hydride ions have the potential to be as useful as carbon as a base “element.” Carbon is a base element for many useful compounds ranging from diamonds, to synthetic fibers, to liquid gasoline, to pharmaceuticals. The novel compositions of matter and associated technologies could have far-reaching applications in many industries including the chemical, lighting, computer, energetic materials, battery, propellant, surface coatings, electronics, telecommunications, aerospace, and automotive industries. BlackLight is researching and developing the following: Hydrino-terminated Silicon for Microelectronics Applications BlackLight has synthesized amorphous silicon hydride films containing hydrino that is more stable to air. Ordinary amorphous silicon hydride films are the active component of important semiconductor devices such as photovoltaics, optoelectronics, liquid crystal displays, and field-effect transistors. The published results of highly stable amorphous silicon hydride coating may advance the production of integrated circuits and microdevices by resisting the oxygen passivation of the surface. In addition, an increase in device performance and versatility is anticipated by altering the dielectric constant and band gap. Polycrystalline crystal diamond films and novel hydrogenated diamond-like carbon (HDLC) surface coatings terminated with hydrino hydride ions were synthesized using the BlackLight Process at lower combined temperature and power requirements and at a higher rate compared to conventional techniques. BlackLight believes its novel method involving generation of highly energetic species in the plasma from the BlackLight Process is a revolutionary departure from the limiting process used currently. Diamond and HDLC films have many applications such as cutting tools, thermal management of integrated circuits, optical windows, high temperature electronics, surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters, field emission displays, electrochemical sensors, composite reinforcement, microchemical devices and sensors, and particle detectors. |
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Hydrino
Hydride Compounds |
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A battery based on the high
stability of a class of the negatively charged hydrino hydride
ions may have an unprecedented high voltage with the advantages
of much greater power and energy density. BlackLight has analytical
data identifying extremely stable negative ions, the hydrino
hydride ions, which can stabilize positively charged ions in
highly charged states. The extraordinarily stable hydrino hydride
ions may balance the charge of the positive ions without reacting
with them and function as an electrochemical compound of an
advanced battery. At least a 10-fold increase in performance
relative to current batter technologies may eventually be possible
using BlackLight Chemicals. BlackLight’s experimental results provide strong support that special formulations of hydrino hydride ions may react to form the corresponding observed much more stable hydrogen molecule called the dihydrino molecule. The more stable the molecule, the more energy given off in its formation. Based on the measured energy difference between the resultant molecule and the starting reactant hydride ion, the energy release may be more than ten-times that of conventional energetic materials. A hydrino hydride-based propellant with the energy release per weight of many factors that of the hydrogen-combustion reaction currently used to propel the space shuttle may be transformational especially given the logarithmic dependence on fuel-weight to lift in the rocketry equation. |
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In an embodiment, the power from the BlackLight Process forms plasma (a hot, glowing, ionized gas) that represents a primary light source, as well as a primary energy source in the form of heat. Systems have been developed that harness the power primarily as light. Prototype lighting devices comprising a cell similar to a conventional light bulb but containing a catalyst of the BlackLight Process as well as a source of atomic hydrogen have produced thousands of times more light for input power using 1% the voltage compared to standard light sources. Projected into a product, these results indicate the possibility of a light that could deliver the power of conventional fluorescent and incandescent lighting, but operate off of a flashlight battery for a year without an electrical connection. The lower-energy molecular hydrogen
(designated dihydrino) having experimentally-confirmed vibration
and rotational energy levels that are at extraordinarily higher
energy levels than known molecules may be exploited as a revolutionary
laser medium. Gas lasers such as the carbon dioxide laser are
extraordinarily efficient and powerful; thus, they are ubiquitous
in industry. Essentially any simple molecule like carbon dioxide
and hydrogen can be made to emit laser light based on the fact
that each vibrates and rotates at many discrete frequencies. The
molecule can be pumped (or energetically excited) to a high vibration-rotational
level and emit laser light by cascading to an intermediate level
not ordinarily populated at the operating temperature of the gas
where the laser transition may be selected based on the laser
cavity design. A laser may be realized using cavities and mirrors
that are appropriate for the desired wavelength similar to those
of current lasers based on molecular vibration-rotational levels
such as the CO2 laser. However, an advantage exists to produce
laser light at much shorter wavelengths such as ultraviolet (UV)
and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths. Such lasers have a
significant application in photolithography, the technique for
manufacturing microelectronics semiconductor devices such as processors
and memory chips. The density of integrated circuits can be increased
by a least a factor of 10 with an EUV laser which would be transformational
in a trillion dollar annual hardware market. Only a free electron
laser (FEL) appears suitable as a light source for the Next Generation
Lithography (NGL) based on EUV lithography. The opportunity may
exist with BlackLight Technology to replace a FEL that occupies
the size of a large building with a table-top laser comprising
a laser tube containing dihydrino gas that is excited by a standard
electron beam. Many other wavelengths from the infrared to soft
X-rays are possible based on the selected electronic-energy state
of the dihydrino gas of the laser medium. A soft X-ray laser has
been long sought for missile defense systems. BlackLight believes that it has demonstrated that the BlackLight Process maintained in its plasma cell may cause population inversion of the ordinary atomic hydrogen lines in the plasma cell. This further confirms that the catalytic reaction releases enormous amounts of energy to cause steady-state inversion in plasma which was not previously possible. This breakthrough of inversion is projected to be the basis of a hydrogen laser having a wide range of commercially important wavelengths that are ideal for many communications and microelectronics applications such as displays, optical sensors, laser printers and scanners, fiber optical communications, medical devices, and higher density compact disk (CD) players. A key distinguishing possibility is the realization of a blue laser since blue wavelengths can see submarines and mines from space, and permit light-of-sight and undersea telecommunications as well as many other applications. A blue laser is also possible using dihydrino as the medium, which may also be pumped by application of power such as electron-beam power. |
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