PSU to study Kanzius invention

PSU to study Kanzius invention

Researchers aim to use device to burn saltwater

BY DAVID BRUCE
david.bruce@timesnews.com

Published: November 21. 2007 6:00AM

Another team of researchers at yet another major university will work full time on John Kanzius' external radio-wave generator.

Kanzius reached a joint working agreement Tuesday with Pennsylvania State University to develop uses for the device based on its ability to burn saltwater.

"I think this device will yield a gold mine of scientific material," said Rustum Roy, Ph.D., director and founder of Penn State's Materials Research Laboratory and worldwide expert on the structure of water. "In science, we want to see something really new. This is most unexpected -- to everybody, to every scientist."

Kanzius, a Millcreek Township inventor, will send one of his devices to State College within three to four weeks. A team of Penn State researchers will use it to conduct experiments within a month, Roy said.

Researchers at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center already work on the same device as a way to treat cancer by heating cancer cells until they die.

"This agreement is going to allow this technology to reach its fullest potential," Kanzius said from his winter home in Sanibel, Fla. "Penn State is known throughout the world for its research on material sciences. They have taken enough of a look at the device to get excited about its potential."

What It Means

John Kanzius' joint working agreement with Pennsylvania State University means that a team of highly trained researchers will conduct experiments full time on his external radio-wave generator. Penn State will also gain research funding for the project.

Roy and his researchers will conduct experiments on the energy released from burning saltwater, the effectiveness of desalinating the water, and any other uses for the device other than treating cancer.

Kanzius and Penn State will equally split the profit from any intellectual property gained from the device.

"My guess is that several advances will come from this device," Roy said. "John and the people at M.D. Anderson already have found good things on the cancer front. Now we will investigate this aspect of it."

Killing cancer cells, not creating an alternative energy source, was on Kanzius' mind when he built the radio-wave generator in 2003.

He was demonstrating the device to a Canadian government official in October 2006 when the visitor noticed condensation on the test tube. He suggested Kanzius use the device to desalinate water.

A few experiments later, Kanzius was burning saltwater at about 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit by using 200 watts' worth of directed radio waves.

"A friend of mine sent me a YouTube video of John's experiment," Roy said. "I watched it and thought, 'What the hell is this?' I was very intrigued."

Roy sent Kanzius an e-mail, and Kanzius invited him to Erie in August to see the device for himself.

Kanzius then took one of the devices to State College and permitted Penn State researchers to run experiments with it for a day.

Roy said he believes Kanzius' device uses radio waves to break the hydrogen-oxygen bond in saltwater using relatively little energy. He plans to study the energy released by breaking the bonds, and what is left when the bonds are broken.

"In just the equivalent of two man-days of work, we learned enough to punch out two (scientific) manuscripts," Roy said. "I will present about John's device Tuesday at the Materials Research Society meeting in Boston."

Now that an agreement between Kanzius and Penn State has been reached, Roy said the next step is to get research funding.

"I think we will need a few million dollars for a few years of research," Roy said. "I'm confident we will get at least some funding. A major company was here, and I'm in contact with a half-dozen others."

DAVID BRUCE can be reached at 870-1736 or by e-mail.