Gell cells do not survive long in this application. Kromrey Converters will run self powered for far longer than can be easily explained, but it's quite difficult to rule out shock excitation of the battery electrolyte. The quick depletion of the battery might support this hypothisis. Due to the high frequancy components accross the battery while in operation, measurments are difficult, and the power factor is unsteady, making it quite hard to analize the exact performance of the system. Over unity operation may be present, but is hard to prove.
Special cells add cost faster than they add useable life to the system.
No gain there so far. The environmental impact of battery manufacture and disposal appear to rule this design out from any large scale applications. I lost interest in tis design some years ago due to these factors, and due to the fact that operating a Kromrey converter apparently produces an imballance in the virtual particle flux near the device, as it is electrically unballanced operation. This might easilt be addressed, but the battery issues are more complex. Interesting, but a dead end in my opinion.