Chapter 407: Flourishing
"In addition, just like burning coal will produce coal ash, when helium burns, helium ash will be produced. Based on all of this, we need the first wall material to be able to withstand high temperatures of hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius, to be able to withstand neutron impact, and finally, to have the function or design of recovering helium ash!"
When these conditions were laid out one by one, the team members in the conference room immediately understood why controlled nuclear fusion was so difficult to achieve. The materials for the first wall alone and the difficulties listed now were enough to give them a toothache and a headache. If they were asked to develop it themselves, the pressure would be as great as the Himalayas.
In short, the first wall of the nuclear fusion reaction equipment is constantly corroded and harmed by the nuclear reactor. If the first wall material is not up to standard, it will only last for a few seconds. Therefore, once you enter the deep sea of controlled nuclear fusion, you will know how difficult it is to manufacture the first wall material of the nuclear fusion reactor.
The sun has been conducting continuous fusion reactions for billions of years, but the world's controlled nuclear fusion is still at a standstill, hovering in seconds. It has just broken through 120 seconds and there has been no major breakthrough. One of the biggest difficulties is the limitation of the first wall material.
Fortunately, they are not relying solely on their limited abilities to challenge the world's top problems. They have Mr. Wu, who is already at the top of the world, to guide and support them. They are just throwing out some ideas.
"Among the currently available materials, the first pure metal material that comes to mind is tungsten! Among the currently known materials, tungsten has basically the best heat resistance. Under the bombardment of the reactor plasma, our common stainless steel will turn into molten iron in an instant, or even be vaporized!" Therefore, among all the materials on the earth, only tungsten has the best high temperature resistance, with a melting point of 3410℃.
"You can consider tungsten alloys, but using pure tungsten directly is probably not an option. Tungsten also has a very big weakness, which is that it is too brittle and has poor ductility. This greatly limits its application." Tao Ran spread his hands. If it was really that easy to solve, pure tungsten would not be easily abandoned.
Speaking of tungsten plates, people around the world have already tried to use pure tungsten plates for fusion reaction plasma reactions. However, even though tungsten has an extremely high melting point and excellent heat resistance, it still cannot withstand temperatures of hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius.
Secondly, tungsten is used as the first wall material. Although it can barely last a few seconds longer than other materials in terms of heat resistance, it will still suffer great damage when facing radiation and particle impacts.
In particular, the outermost tungsten may be knocked out and form tungsten ions. These tungsten ions have a certain chance of entering the plasma flow of the reactor. These tungsten ions are highly toxic to the plasma beam, and a slightly larger amount may cause the plasma beam to rupture and cause a safety accident.
Why is it so serious? Here is an example.
On a two-lane highway, if there is no restriction on the lanes for large vehicles, large vehicles can move freely, and small cars cannot slow down to avoid them, what will happen? It will definitely be a very serious traffic accident.
Tungsten ions in the plasma flow are like heavy-duty trucks, slow and heavy, and other ions will be knocked away when they encounter them. The knocked-away plasma will run out of the main lane and hit the first wall.
Moreover, if there are slightly more heavy ions like tungsten, it is possible to cause a serious plasma accident, causing the plasma beam to break, thereby instantly transferring heat to the first wall, causing burning or even explosion accidents.
Therefore, these are the areas that need to be overcome when developing new alloy materials using tungsten as the substrate.
"In addition to tungsten, we can also consider carbon. In terms of thermal tolerance, the higher the melting point, the better. Carbon is the most heat-resistant substance in nature. As long as there is no oxygen, carbon materials can withstand temperatures of more than 3,500 degrees Celsius, which is more than 100 degrees Celsius higher than the temperature of tungsten. At the same time, some carbon materials also have good thermal conductivity, which is conducive to the extraction of surface heat.
Therefore, some nuclear fusion devices will choose to use carbon materials to make the first wall. But carbon also has a big disadvantage, that is absorption! The fuel for nuclear fusion is mainly deuterium and tritium, both of which are isotopes of hydrogen and have the chemical properties of hydrogen.
Once the high-temperature plasma of these two substances hits the carbon material, it is easily absorbed by the carbon. In addition to the adsorption effect, there is also a chemical reaction, which turns the carbon into organic matter. In this case, it is easy to change the properties of the material and affect the performance of the first wall!
On the other hand, it will also consume the fuel for nuclear fusion and reduce the efficiency of nuclear fusion, especially the absorption of expensive and radioactive tritium, which we do not want to see. "
The advantages and disadvantages of each material were presented and arranged one by one, becoming alternative conditions for them to try to improve and screen. Everyone spoke freely and tried to figure out how to improve.
They have passed the stage of being afraid of making mistakes and not daring to speak easily. This is not their first such seminar. With the encouragement of Mr. Wu, they have built up enough confidence.
No matter how wild their ideas are, as long as they have a basis and are not fabricated, Mr. Wu will encourage them. Even if they are wrong, Mr. Wu will help them point out where the mistake is and why it is wrong, so that they can improve from their mistakes.
Therefore, they are not afraid of making mistakes, and every such opportunity will be a step for their progress.
"If we continue to use conventional tungsten plates, can we also start with coating materials? We can consider starting with..." Coating is also their specialty. When they first met Mr. Wu, they assisted Mr. Wu in completing a research and development project, which was a high-temperature resistant coating. Later, they independently developed Hongli, which was still a coating material. Under Mr. Wu's guidance and based on Mr. Wu's research and development, they made a reinforced coating. "
It can be said that coating materials are also their forte. The proposal did not surprise those present. Based on common sense, everyone would definitely start with the areas they are familiar with and good at.
Wu Tong and Cheng Lao, sitting at the head of the meeting room, listened to the team members' active speeches, and smiled. Wu Tong was delighted by the team's strong sense of participation and activeness. She had laid a good foundation and made a good start.
Cheng was more pleased with Wu Tong's team's enthusiasm and spontaneity in scientific research. What is most needed in scientific research is this kind of fearless motivation and positivity!
This kind of vigorous vitality is the cornerstone of the development of scientific research. The progress of scientific research requires the support of such vigorous vitality!
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