So far 4 independent 3rd party tests have been performed on the E-Cat. The 1st was in November 2012 which failed to complete. The next two in Dec 2012 & March 2013 were completed successfully, while the results of the 4th are yet to be released so we don’t have much info on that one. The whole LENR universe is waiting with baited breath for the results of the 4th test.

The December test lasted 96 hours while the March test lasted 116 hours and both showed an impressive COP of about 3. These first three tests were performed by the following:

Giuseppe Levi – Assistant Professor at University of Bologna, PHD in Nuclear Physics, over 20 years experience in Nuclear & Sub-Nuclear Physics.
Hano Essen – PHD in Nuclear & Electron Motion, Associate professor of Theoretical Physics
Torbjörn Hartman – Senior Research Engineer at The Svedberg Laboratory.
And others from Bologna & Uppsala.

The 1st test from November 2012 failed because the steel in the reaction chamber melted when the temperature got to over 860°C. The input power of 1KW was therefore deemed too high and all subsequent tests had an input power of no more than 360W. For the March test, initial power input was about 120W, gradually stepping up during the following two hours, until a value suitable for triggering the self-sustaining mode was reached.

According to the scientists’ conservative measurements and calculations, the E-Cat has an energy density of up to 61,000,000 Wh/kg. To put this in perspective, Gasoline has an energy density of 12,000 Wh/kg. Both tests were terminated by a deliberate shutdown of the reactor, not by fuel exhaustion, thus the energy densities could be even higher in reality. The E-Cat is seriously impressive I tell you.

Experiment Setup
Giuseppe Levi and Evelyn Foschi setup the experiment within the constraints set by Rossi, but it was done at Rossi’s facilities in Ferreira. The testing Equipment was supplied by Giuseppe Levi, with some input from the Uppsala group. The scientists had leeway to operate the device, measure the heat energy it produced, and compare that to the input energy to calculate the impressive values stated above. They could also assess the prototypes for any potential radioactive emissions, of which they found none. The actual reaction chamber that contains the fuel is smaller than a man’s fist, measuring only 30mm in diameter and containing fuel that weighs a minuscule total of a few grams.

The Dummy Test
To investigate whether there really is something special about the powder fuel in the small cylinder, the researchers also performed a “dummy” test with an empty cylinder. They ran the March test on the E-Cat for about 6 hours, taking measurements exactly as they did when the cylinder was loaded. They found that no extra heat was generated beyond that expected from the electric input. Whatever kind of catalyst is in the fuel seems to them to be indispensable for generating the excess energy.

Criticisms
According to Steven Krivit – The authors of the paper did not perform an independent test; instead, they were participants in another Rossi demonstration and performed measurements on one of Rossi’s devices in his facility. Also the authors of the paper lack full knowledge of the type and preparation of the materials used in the reactor and the modulation of input power, which, according to the paper, were industrial trade secrets. The authors didn’t perform any calorimetry and used a method to measure temperature (Infrared Camera) to extrapolate output power that neither they nor anyone in the field of low-energy nuclear reaction research has ever used to analyze for heat power or energy.

However, in defense of the scientists, for practical reasons the test setup made it difficult to use any other method for collecting data on the E-Cat temperature. And personally I don’t think Krivit’s criticism is intelligent considering the energy densities we’re seeing as well as the inconsequential need of knowing the secret fuel ingredients. The criticism seems to be based more on emotion than reason.