Heavy Water Usage (D2O)

[Mark Rowley]

After 18 months of Fusor, linear pinch, and various activation experiments I’ve used about 35 grams. As of this posting UN charges $90 for 100 grams so my monthly expenditure is mere pocket change. Can’t complain one iota.

Decided to add one more 100 gram container to the reserve. Based on my slow rate of usage (PEM cell) it’s doubtful I’ll be cracking this one open anytime soon.

Mark Rowley

[Rich Feldman]

Very good.
Do they put it up in 90 ml bottles, or in standard 100 ml bottles with more ullage?

How careful are you all about handling D2O as a hygroscopic substance? I would guess that if the bottle sat for 10 minutes with cap off, the amount of normal H2O picked up is unlikely to exceed the amount of D2O lost to evaporation. Depending of course on ambient humidity.

[Bob Reite]

I'm quite religious about capping the bottle right after withdrawing the amount needed to hydrate my PEM cell. I also plug all the ports on the PEM cell when not using it.

[Mark Rowley]

In the 18 months I've had the bottle, uncapped time probably totals to just a couple minutes. Drawing a couple drops into a syringe for the PEM cell takes seconds and then the bottle is closed up.

I haven't measured the container but 100 grams only fills it to about 75%.

Bob brings up an excellent point.... cap the PEM cell ports when not in use. Many folks who bought the Horizon PEM cells for the toy cars have complained the cells go bad when not kept air tight. I've made it a habit to disconnect and install the port caps on the cell prior to initiating a fusor run.

Mark Rowley

[Jim Kovalchick]

This is a great conversation because it isn't necessarily intuitive to all that D2O could get contaminated simply by over exposure to humidity in the air. For example, I didn't think about that when I scored this 100 ml bottle for a great price on eBay recently. Fortunately for me it was sealed and unopened.