I have recently posted quite a bit about the non-permanent electret or dielectric relaxation effect, which I think to be the Rosetta stone in order to understand the technologies of both John Bedini and Stanley Meyer, because the similarities between these technologies are striking, once one digs a bit deeper into the material.
The first thing to look at, is how electrolytic capacitors actually work:
Electrolytic capacitors
The aluminium electrolytic capacitor consists of two foils interleaved with an absorbent paper, and wound tightly into a cylinder. The positive foil, or anode, is made from pure aluminium foil on the surface of which aluminium oxide dielectric has been formed electrolyticallyalso to repair any flaws in the oxide layer when the capacitor is polarised. The function of the aluminium cathode foil is to reduce the series resistance of the capacitor by making contact with the paper over a wide area.
The cathode foil itself has a thin oxide film, and is typically etched to increase the surface area slightly. You may have worked out this gives some capacitance between foil and electrolyte, so that the overall capacitance is that of the anode plus that of the cathode in series. You will be right to think that, but in practice the cathode film is very thin and its capacitance consequently very high.
One would think that both aluminium foils are to be considered as the capacitor plates and that all in between is the dielectric. However, this is wrong. One of the plates is oxidised, forming a very thin layer of dielectric material, typically about 2 um thick. The other plate should be electrically connected to the electrolyte fluid, which is a conductor. So, in fact, the charge of this other plate is allowed to move right up to the surface of the dielectricum. In other words: because of the electrolyte, we have a plate distanance of about 2 um.
Now consider Meyer's tubes. These must also be "conditioned", forming a white layer on the tubes:
This sounds strikingly similar to how an electrolytic capacitor is made:
Electrolytic capacitor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The principle of the electrolytic capacitor was discovered in 1886 by Charles Pollak, as part of his research into anodizing of aluminum and other metals. Pollack discovered that due to the thinness of the aluminum oxide layer produced, there was a very high capacitance between the aluminum and the electrolyte solution. A major problem was that most electrolytes tended to dissolve the oxide layer again when the power is removed, but he eventually found that sodium perborate (borax) would allow the layer to be formed and not attack it afterwards. He was granted a patent for the borax-solution aluminum electrolytic capacitor in 1897.
The first application of the technology was in making starting capacitors for single-phase alternating current (AC) motors. Although most electrolytic capacitors are polarized, that is, they can only be operated with direct current (DC), by separately anodizing aluminum plates and then interleaving them in a borax bath, it is possible to make a capacitor that can be used in AC systems.
Nineteenth and early twentieth century electrolytic capacitors bore little resemblance to modern types, their construction being more along the lines of a car battery. The borax electrolyte solution had to be periodically topped up with distilled water, again reminiscent of a lead acid battery.
Interestingly, electrolytic capacitors are operated at voltages very close to the point that the dielectric will break down:
Electrochemistry Encyclopedia -- Electrolytic capacitors
The reason that electrolytic capacitors have such uniform dielectric stress and can operate at such high field strength, within 80% of their breakdown strength
Then, looking at lead-acid batteries, we find further similarities:
Sulfuric acid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anhydrous H2SO4 is a very polar liquid, having a dielectric constant of around 100. It has a high electrical conductivity, caused by dissociation through protonating itself, a process known as autoprotolysis.
And, remember Bedini/Lindemann saying things about "boiling batteries"?
John Bedini and Peter Lindemann's Medium and Large Motor-Energizer Project
At the end of the charge cycle, these 1600 amp-hour batteries are boiling at 31.2 volts!
Now what is that boiling actually??
Practical considerations : BATTERIES AND POWER SYSTEMS
With lead-acid cells in particular, overcharging leads to electrolysis of the water ("boiling" the water out of the battery) and shortened life.
Any battery containing water in the electrolyte is subject to the production of hydrogen gas due to electrolysis. This is especially true for overcharged lead-acid cells, but not exclusive to that type. Hydrogen is an extremely flammable gas (especially in the presence of free oxygen created by the same electrolysis process), odorless and colorless. Such batteries pose an explosion threat even under normal operating conditions, and must be treated with respect. The author has been a firsthand witness to a lead-acid battery explosion, where a spark created by the removal of a battery charger (small DC power supply) from an automotive battery ignited hydrogen gas within the battery case, blowing the top off the battery and splashing sulfuric acid everywhere.
VRLA battery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
At high currents, electrolysis of water occurs, expelling hydrogen and oxygen gas through the battery's valves.
So, basically we have both with Meyer and Bedini technology:
1) forming of thin, polarizable dielectric layers on the plates of either capacitors or battery plates, the latter essentially becoming capacitors, because the dielectric is non-conducting.
2) the use of high voltage "spikes" to form/maintain the polarization of the dielectric, boosting the "dielectric relaxation" effect, essentially turning the dielectricum into a non-permanent electret
3) COP > 1.
4) "boiling" effects, unwanted in Bedini's technology, while basically utilized by Meyer.
All in all, I think both are using the same energy source: the super-polarized dielectricum and that is which is apparantly able to provide excess energy.
This suggests that Meyer's tubes could be very interesting as capacitors, if you don't let them boil and that Bedini's batteries could be very interesting as electrolysis devices, if you let them intentionally boil and make use of the gas.
