Solar-energy liberation from water by electric arcs

Abstract

This paper reports progress in an experimental investigation, started in the Hathaway laboratory in 1994, dealing with the liberation of intermolecular bond energy from ordinary water by means of an arc discharge. Photographic evidence of fog generation and explosion during the arcing period is included. A new fog accelerator is described and a table of results of the kinetic energies of fog jets is provided. A renewable water energy cycle is outlined. The fog kinetic energy has been found to be greater than the difference between the capacitor input energy and the heat losses. Given energy conservation, the only external energy input that can account for the fog kinetic energy is solar heat from the atmosphere.

Evidence of thunder being a chemical explosion of air

“…The discovery of cold fog explosions in water (Hathaway et al 1998) focused attention on explosion mechanisms that exploited chemical energy rather than electrodynamic or thermal causes. It is well known that lightning and air arcs in general, do produce chemical reactions with attendant bond energy changes.…”

“…It has been previously demonstrated that a small amount of electrodynamic (magnetic) energy can trigger the liberation of a much larger amount of stored chemical bond energy in water arc explosions (Graneau and Graneau 1996, pp. 249-277;Hathaway et al 1998;Graneau et al 2000). During these discharges, a few joules of electrodynamic energy are able to release a much larger quantity of kinetic energy in the form of accelerated fog.…”