Chapter 476 Cold Nuclear Fusion
The dream of exploring the universe is always accompanied by a desire for energy.
Only when they control endless energy can they dare to pursue higher and farther goals. Only when they have sufficient energy supply can they dare to talk about speed.
The vast universe and the sea of stars are boundless and the speed required is extraordinary!
The speed of light in a vacuum is as high as 299792.458 kilometers per second. At this speed, it only takes the blink of an eye to reach the distant moon. This seems ridiculously fast, but if people look further away, things will become different.
At the speed of light, it takes at least 3 minutes to reach Mars, more than 5 hours to reach Pluto, and 1 year to get out of the solar system. Taking the Oort Cloud as the boundary, it takes more than 4 years to get to the nearest star system. It takes at least 100,000 years to get out of the Milky Way, and 2.5 million years to get to the Andromeda Galaxy. The diameter of our local supercluster alone is 110 million light years...
In the vast universe, relatively speaking, the speed of light, which is nearly 300,000 kilometers per second in the blink of an eye, is as slow as a snail.
The concept of the curvature engine was proposed based on this principle. However, considering the curvature engine is still a little far away, they will first land on the moon steadily, use the lunar resources as a jump step, and then continue to plan for more distant goals.
Small-scale nuclear fusion is the first target to be conquered.
"If you want to use electricity as the power supply for the thrusters and propel a spacecraft weighing more than 100 tons to an acceleration of at least 1G, the output of electricity must reach at least the MW level. This is a terrifying amount of energy consumption. Ordinary batteries can't even think of meeting this requirement. Only nuclear fusion batteries can meet this requirement!"
"Battery?" A flash of inspiration suddenly appeared in Wu Tong's sea of consciousness, and in an instant, a series of information waves surged out.
"For reusable nuclear fusion batteries, it is too difficult to find materials that can withstand the impact of fusion reactions for a long time. On this basis, can we make a compromise? Reduce some engineering difficulties and save precious carrying space on the space shuttle!"
After all, the cost of one square meter of aerospace construction is much higher than most housing prices today, so how can we bear to waste it!
As information gathers, the light of inspiration becomes brighter and brighter, forming a halo of wisdom.
"Batteries are basically disposable. Can we also design a model to integrate fusion materials in the core and discard the entire core directly after use?
Relatively speaking, this is not a waste, either in terms of R&D difficulty or long-term operation. Instead, it is a more economical option that can reduce a lot of complex designs such as neutron recovery systems.
In addition, more complex heat exchange systems and observation systems for monitoring the operation of the core, these useful and expensive settings can be concentrated on the engine or avionics system, and the core will only be used as a fuel.
In contrast, this design is similar to the solid fuel column of a rocket, and it only needs to achieve a fusion power supply effect. The estimated research and development difficulty is much simpler than the Jinwu demonstration reactor!"
Inspiration came suddenly, and Wu Tong took out a pen and paper and started to deduce on the paper. Her explanations were partly to explain her ideas to Lu Xiao, but more to clarify her own thoughts and ideas. As Wu Tong's deduction unfolded, lines of complex formulas appeared on the paper, her voice disappeared, and she was unconsciously immersed in her own world of deduction.
The rough composition slowly took shape under her absolute deduction.
Lu Xiao laughed. He was familiar with Wu Tong's state of being fully focused on the deduction, so he immediately left the meeting room with light steps. "Boss Wu is fully focused on the deduction, please do not let anyone disturb him. I'll go get some paper and pen and bring it in later!"
Those who are familiar with Wu Tong know that when Mr. Wu does deductions, he likes to use pen and paper to write his deduction manuscripts. Therefore, sufficient paper and pen are necessary.
The Jinwu Demonstration Reactor uses plasma confinement, and multiple designs are required to confine high-temperature plasma of hundreds of millions of degrees. The cost of the Jinwu Demonstration Reactor is extremely high. The space in the spacecraft is limited, and she wants to use it once and throw it away, so the cost cannot be too high.
They needed a composite material that was anisotropic in heat conduction and resistant to high temperatures as the closed structural material for the core. To ensure safety, one layer of this structure was not enough. Nano-ceramic composite materials came into Wu Tong's mind.
The deduction continued, Wu Tong's brainstorming was out of control, and a clear route slowly emerged in her deduction space.
Cold nuclear fusion, these four big words are like the last piece of a puzzle, completely detonating the final storm of inspiration.
This design is very different from thermonuclear fusion reactions. It will greatly reduce the reaction requirements and allow the use of more common and simpler equipment, while also making fusion reactions safer.
This is a new type of low-temperature nuclear fusion device, which, with its unique magnetic confinement mechanism, can provide new possibilities for space travel and exploration. In fact, its application field should not be limited to space, but can also be used as a safe power source for ships, aircraft carriers and submarines.
This device uses electrostatic confinement and inertial confinement, combined with high-pressure power, Lorentz force, shock wave confinement, radio frequency electromagnetic waves, and pulsed electromagnetic fields, to achieve a local high-temperature nuclear fusion ignition, thereby driving the overall nuclear fusion reaction.
Therefore, in this case, continuous ignition cannot be used, because the kinetic energy supply of the spacecraft must be controllable, and pulse ignition is the best option.
They want to use this double-layer structure design to control the spatial design of the reaction chamber and the fuel consumption arrangement, so as to control the engine power.
Compared with traditional nuclear fusion devices such as laser ignition, tokamak, Z pinch, etc., this new device is simpler in design and easier to control. It has higher density and efficiency, and can achieve nuclear fusion reaction with less input energy, thus reducing energy consumption and equipment costs.
This is another technical route that is completely different from magnetic confinement. It can use inertial confinement to set up a laser ignition device and use the Hall unit to provide an alternating magnetic field...
An increasingly clear and complete composition appeared in Wu Tong's deduction space. The absolute deduction given to her by the Enlightenment Stone verified the correctness of this path with extreme calmness!
The potential for safe miniaturization is endless and no one can deny it!
This also means that this device has great application prospects in the fields of space exploration, as well as aerospace, surface and underwater ships.
It can be used as a power plant for spacecraft, making interstellar travel possible for humans. It can also be of great value in the military field and can be used to develop new nuclear military equipment.
Even further ahead, due to the strong electromagnetic pulse interference it generates, it can also be used to attack the enemy's communication and power systems... The benefits are endless!
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