Letter of Dr. J. K. Bajaj to the DST regarding CPS experiments on Ramar’s herbal fuel conducted in January-February 1995
Dr. J. K. Bajaj
Director
September 14, 1996
The Secretary
Department of Science & Technology
Technology Bhavan
New Mehrauli Road
New Delhi – 110 016
Dear Prof. Ramamoorthy,
I and my colleagues have been watching and reading various media reports regarding the work of Sri Ramar Pillai with keen interest. We happen to have studied Sri Ramar’s process in some detail last year, and we feel it is our duty that we should bring the information we gathered then to your notice.
Sri Ramar visited the Centre in January, 1995 and carried out a demonstration of his process before a small group. Many of the people in this group were trained scientists and engineers. During the small-scale demonstration carried out by Sri Ramar, a rough record of the input and output weights was kept, and at the end of the demonstration we were a bit surprised to note that the output weight of the whole demonstration material exceeded the input weight, by roughly the amount of oil that was produced. The total weights involved however were small, and our measurements not all that accurate. So it was certainly not fair to draw any conclusions at that stage.
Later, from January 29 to February 2, 1995, a more controlled experiment on a somewhat bigger scale was undertaken by Sri Ramar at the Centre in the presence of a team of trained scientists, which included a couple of physicists, a retired senior chemist, a working metallurgist and a young microbiologist. During this experiment we tried to keep an accurate record of all inputs and outputs, recorded the temperature and pH of the experimental material at regular intervals and also sampled the material at regular intervals to test for possible microbiological activity.
The experiment was undertaken in two separate vessels. The experimental material was prepared for both vessels together by Sri Ramar, and then divided into the two vessels. The volume of materials in the first pot was 10 liters and the other 8 liters.
Nothing much seemed to be happening in the two vessels for the first two days. On the third day one of the vessels acquired a thick layer of transparent oily substance. On the fourth day Sri Ramar more or less abandoned one of the vessels, saying that the experiment has gone wrong for that vessel. On the fifth day, after some heating, the layer of oily substance in the second vessel was decanted and filtered. And, all output volumes and weights were measured as at the beginning.
The total oily substance decanted was 1.8 liters with a density of 0.74. The volume of the remaining liquid was 10.1 liters with a density of 0.95. About 300 g of wet solid substances were left behind. About 200 ml of liquid was spilt. So that the total weight of the output was 11.5 kg. We also weighed the output before separating it into different volumes, and the weight was 11.470 kg. The input weight was 10.2 kg. Thus the output exceeded the input by 1.3 kg, and that was exactly the weight of the oily substance produced.
When people with scientific training encounter such a phenomenon, their first surmise is not that some miraculous processes have occurred, but that some extraneous materials may be entering the experiment. Incidentally, our temperature and pH records indicated that no significant chemical activity was taking place in the experimental vessels. Later we also found the samples taken from the experimental vessels to be microbiologically inert. Therefore, we had even more reason to believe that our experiment had not been entirely free of extraneous incursions.
We requested Sri Ramar to repeat the experiment again. The repeat experiment was begun on February 6. This time we tried to carry out the experiment under fully secure conditions, with all access to the experimental vessels being observed and guarded. Sri Ramar abandoned the experiment on the third day. He left the Centre saying that he shall return after a couple of days by which time the experimental materials would have matured. He did not return.
I have recounted this experience with the intention of bringing whatever information we have to your notice. We do hope that Sri Ramar’s experiments prove successful, and we wish him all luck.
With my best regards,
Yours faithfully,
J. K. Bajaj
Letter of Dr. J. K. Bajaj to the Prof. S. Subramaniam, Head, Regional Sophisticated Instruments Centre, IIT Chennai. The letter was faxed to Prof. Subramanian at his request on the morning of Mr. Ramar’s demonstration at IIT Chennai on September 25, 1996.
URGENT
From: Dr. J. K. Bajaj, Director
To: Prof. S. Subramaniam, R.S.I.C., IIT/M, Fax:2350509
September 25, 1996
Dear Prof. Subramanian,
I am sending a copy of a letter that I had addressed to Prof. Ramamurthy, in the context of the experiments on herbal oil being conducted by the DST and the various IIT’s. Prof. Ramamurthy has been kind enough to acknowledge the letter. The information provided may be of help in your current experiments.
I have talked to Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala in some detail about our experiments in this context. Probably he shall be getting in touch with you.
With my best regards,
Yours sincerely,
J. K. Bajaj