Chapter 388 Star Simulation
To achieve magnetic confinement, a device that can generate a sufficiently strong annular magnetic field is needed. This device is called a "Tokamak" - TOKAMAK, which is the Russian abbreviation composed of the initials of "annular", "vacuum", "magnetic" and "coil".
"Yes, as early as 1954, our big brother next door, the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy, built the world's first tokamak device!" Wu Tong nodded. Tokamak is indeed the mainstream research in the world.
As Wu Tong is researching controlled nuclear fusion, he would naturally not miss the progress and information along the way of controlled nuclear fusion research and development.
The research started in the 1950s. It seems to be going well, right? In fact, it is not. In order to put it into practical use, the energy input to the device must be much smaller than the output energy. This is called the energy gain factor - Q value.
The tokamak device at that time was a very unstable device. After more than ten years of development, no energy output was obtained. It was not until 1970 that the former Soviet Union obtained actual energy output for the first time on the tokamak device that had been improved many times. However, it had to be measured with the most advanced equipment at the time, and the Q value was about one billionth.
Don’t underestimate this one billionth. This gave the whole world hope. So, under this motivation, the whole world worked hard and built their own large-scale tokamak devices. Europe built the United Tokamak-JET, the Soviet Union built the T20...
Then gradually, there were records broken one after another. In 1991, the European Joint Torus realized the first deuterium-tritium operation experiment in the history of nuclear fusion. Using a 6:1 deuterium-tritium mixed fuel, the controlled nuclear fusion reaction lasted for 2 seconds, achieving an output power of 1,700 kilowatts and a Q value of 0.12.
In 1993, a 1:1 fuel of deuterium and tritium was used on the TFTR across the sea. The fusion energy released in the two experiments was 3,000 kW and 5,600 kW respectively, and the Q value reached 0.28.
When Hong Kong celebrated its return to China in 1998, it joined hands with the European Ring to create a world record of 12,900 kilowatts, with a Q value of 0.60, which lasted for 2 seconds.
After only 39 days, the output power increased to 16,100 kilowatts and the Q value reached 0.65.
Three months later, Japan successfully conducted a deuterium-deuterium reaction experiment on its JT-60, and the Q value of deuterium-tritium reaction was 1. Later, the Q value exceeded 1.25.
Although the latter reaction is not practical, it is also a representative work of the Tokamak theory that can truly generate energy.
China has certainly not fallen behind in the pace of progress. As early as the 1970s, China built several experimental tokamak devices - HL-1 and CT-6. Later, HT-6 and HT-6B were built, HL1M was rebuilt, and HL-2 was newly built...
The core of the tokamak device is the magnetic field. To generate a magnetic field, you need to use a coil and pass electricity. Where there is a coil, there is a wire, and where there is a wire, there is resistance.
The closer the tokamak device is to practical use, the stronger the magnetic field is required, and the larger the current must pass through the wire. At this time, resistance appears in the wire. The resistance reduces the efficiency of the coil and limits the large current that can pass through, making it impossible to generate a sufficient magnetic field.
The tokamak seems to have reached its end.
Fortunately, the development of superconducting technology has brought the Tokamak back on track. As long as the coil is made into a superconductor, the problems of large current and loss can be solved in theory. Thus, the Tokamak device using superconducting coils was born, which is the super Tokamak.
"So far, there are four countries in the world that have their own large-scale super tokamak devices: France's Tore-Supra, Russia's T-15, Japan's JT-60U, and our EAST, which is the Eastern Torus of the Institute of Plasma Physics of USTC!"
Having studied the information in this section, Lu Xiao is quite familiar with this section.
"In China, if I remember correctly, in July, there was a breakthrough close to the world level. The 2012 physics experiment of the EAST superconducting tokamak at the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was successfully completed.
They used low-noise and ion cyclotron radio frequency waves to achieve multiple modes of high-confinement plasma and long-pulse high-confinement discharge, setting two world records for tokamak operation: obtaining a 20 million degree high-parameter divertor plasma for more than 400 seconds; and obtaining a stable and repeated high-confinement plasma discharge for more than 30 seconds! "
Even though Lu Xiao was busy with the Canglong J-35 project, he was not oblivious to the major developments in the scientific research circle.
"Yes, these are respectively the longest high-temperature divertor plasma discharge and the longest high-confinement plasma discharge in the world, indicating that we are at the forefront of the world in the research of steady-state high-confinement plasma!" Wu Tong naturally did not miss the news of this breakthrough. In fact, China has accumulated quite a lot of experience in tokamak.
"However, Brother Lu, although Tokamak is the mainstream of controlled nuclear fusion research, it is not the only research method!" Since they are confirmed collaborators, Wu Tong knew from the initial collision of ideas that Lu Xiao also had a lot of research in this area, so he spoke frankly: "However, this does not mean that this direction is necessarily correct!"
Lu Xiao did not think that Wu Tong was arrogant for denying the international mainstream approach. Scientific research should aim to break the rules and dare to think what others dare not think. Only then can it be possible to make breakthroughs from angles that ordinary people cannot consider.
"Before the breakthrough of controlled nuclear fusion technology, any possibility should not be ignored. This is only the mainstream of world research at present, but not the correct mainstream. Wu Tong, do you want to go in the direction of stellarator?"
A stellarator, as the name suggests, is an imitation of a star. Its essence is a device for studying nuclear fusion reactions.
Nuclear fusion reactors operate by using two types of hydrogen atoms - deuterium and tritium - and injecting these gases into a confinement chamber.
Energy is then applied to the plasma, which releases a huge amount of energy. The plasma is prevented from approaching the walls by a strong magnetic field, which is generated by superconducting coils wrapped around the confinement chamber and by the current in the plasma.
The advanced concept of stellarators actually has a lot to do with Princeton University. Although Germany is currently the main researcher and leader in this technology, the concept was first proposed by Professor Lyman Spitzer, a physicist at Princeton University.
This is because, at the time, this idea was too complicated in design and had insurmountable difficulties and barriers from both the materials science and engineering perspectives. This genius idea was shelved until recent years, when it was brought up again with the advancement of materials and other technologies.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
