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Andrea Rossi (born 3 June 1950) is an Italian inventor and entrepreneur. He is the inventor of the Energy Catalyzer (also called E-Cat), which is a purported cold fusion or Low-Energy Nuclear Reaction (LENR) thermal power source.

He claimed to have invented a process to convert organic waste into oil for which, in 1978, he founded a company named Petroldragon. In the 1990s, following the collapse of the company, he was jailed for environmental crimes and tax fraud, serving six months in prison. He was ultimately acquitted.

Biography

Andrea Rossi was born in 1950 on the 3rd of June, in Milan. In 1973, Rossi graduated in Philosophy at the University of Milan, with a thesis on Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and its interrelationship with Edmund Husserl’s Phenomenology.

Business ventures

Petroldragon

In 1974, he registered a patent for an incineration system. In 1978, he wrote The Incineration of Waste and River Purification, published in Milan by Tecniche Nuove. He then founded Petroldragon, a company for developing oil from waste, which collapsed in the 1990s amidst allegations of dumping toxic waste.

In the early 1990s the company was disbanded following accusations of dumping environmental toxins, as well as tax fraud. Its assets were seized, together with Rossi's personal assets, and Andrea Rossi was arrested and imprisoned. Subsequently released, Rossi emigrated to the United States, and went on to found Leonardo Technology Incorporated. More than 10 years after his imprisonment, Rossi was acquitted. The government of the Lombardia region spent over forty million euros to dispose of the 70,000 tonnes of toxic waste that Petrol Dragon was storing on site.

Electricity from waste heat

In the US Rossi started the consulting firm Leonardo Technologies, Inc. (LTI). He secured a defense contract to evaluate the potential of generating electricity from waste heat by using thermoelectric generators. Such devices are normally only used for refrigeration (Peltier effect), because the efficiency for generating electrical power is only a few percent. Rossi suggested that his devices could attain 20% efficiency. Larger modules would be manufactured in Italy.

Rossi sent 27 thermoelectric devices for evaluation to the Engineer Research and Development Center; 19 of these did not produce any electricity at all. The remaining units produced less than 1 watt each, instead of the expected 800–1000 watt.

Claims regarding nuclear fusion

In January 2011 Andrea Rossi and Professor Sergio Focardi claimed to have successfully demonstrated commercially viable cold fusion in a device called an Energy Catalyzer, although in an interview Rossi claimed that his Energy Catalyzer does not work on the basis of cold fusion, but weak nuclear reactions. The international patent application received an unfavorable international preliminary report on patentability because it seemed to "offend against the generally accepted laws of physics and established theories" and to overcome this problem the application should have contained either experimental evidence or a firm theoretical basis in current scientific theories. Journalists were not allowed to examine the core of the reactor, and there is still uncertainty about the viability of the invention.

See also

• Cold fusion
• Fischer-Tropsch
• Thermal depolymerization

References

1. Mark Gibbs (2011-10-17). "Hello Cheap Energy, Hello Brave New World". Forbes. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
2. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/22/e_cat_test_claims_success_yet_again/ Richard Chirgwin, The Register: "Italian entrepreneur Andrea Rossi"
3. http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/tecnologie/2011-10-13/fusione-fredda-sfida-continua-210440.shtml?uuid=AaIpikCE Paolo Magliocco, Il Sole 24 Ore,
   "Fusione fredda: la sfida continua. L'esperimento dell'imprenditore Andrea Rossi".
   TRANSLATION:
   "Cold fusion: the challenge continues. The experiment performed by entrepreneur Andrea Rossi"
4. World Intellectual Property Organization publication number WO/2009/125444.
5. ^ "Riciclaggio rifiuti tossici Assolto Andrea Rossi". Archiviostorico.corriere.it. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
6. Mats Lewan (23 June 2011), "'E-cat': Here is the Greek energy box", NyTeknik, retrieved 2012-03-06
7. "Andrea Rossi's E-Cataclysm?". Retrieved 2011-10-29.
8. Mats Lewan (2011-06-23). "'E-cat': Here is the Greek energy box". Ny Teknik. Included was a statement from the University of Milan attesting that Andrea Rossi holds a laurea in philosophy.
9. Herr Rossi sucht das Glück der Menschheit, Der Spiegel: "Bis vor wenigen Monaten Andrea Rossi auf der Bildfläche erschien. Der Italiener mit Hochschulabschlüssen in Philosophie und Technischer Chemie erklärte, dass ihm der Bau eines von ihm sogenannten E-Catalyzers gelungen sei: ein Fusionskraftwerk, in dem Nickel und Wasserstoff miteinander verschmelzen und dabei Wärme erzeugen." TRANSLATION: "Until that Andrea Rossi appeared on the scene a few months ago. The Italian with degree in philosophy and chemical engineering, said that he had succeeded in building one of his so-called E-Catalyzer: a fusion power plant to blend nickel and hydrogen with production of heat."
10. Hambling, David. "Cold fusion rears its head as 'E-Cat' research promises to change the world (Wired UK)". Retrieved 2011-10-29.
11. John Huston, Chris Wyatt, Chris Nichols, Michael J. Binder, and Franklin H. Holcomb (September 2004). Application of Thermoelectric Devices to Fuel Cell Power Generation: Demonstration and Evaluation. Construction Engineering Research Laboratory in Champaign, Illinois, part of Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) (online pdf
12. "Issue #36: Energy Catalyzer: It Works and It's Not Fusion". New Energy Times. 2011-01-31. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
13. Lisa Zyga (2011-01-20), "Italian Scientists claim to have demonstrated cold fusion", Physorg.com
14. Lewan, Mats (February 7, 2011). "Cold Fusion: Here's the Greek company building 1 MW". Ny Teknik.

Template:Persondata

• 1950 births
• People from Milan
• Living people
• Italian inventors