Posted on 11/20/2018 5:19:10 PM PST by BenLurkin
Currently, the two most popular methods for producing fusion power are the inertial confinement approach, and the tokamak reactor. In the former case, lasers are used to fuse pellets of deuterium (H², or “heavy hydrogen”) to create a fusion reaction. In the latter, the process involves a torus-shaped confinement chamber that uses magnetic fields and an internal current to confine high-energy plasma.
Whereas other tokamak reactors rely on magnetic coils to keep a plasma torus stable, the Chinese EAST reactor relies on the magnetic fields produced by the moving plasma itself to keep the torus in check. This makes it less stable, but allows physicists to increase heat levels.
EAST science team was able to integrate four types of heating power in order to reach a new temperature record. These included lower hybrid wave heating, electron cyclotron wave heating, ion cyclotron resonance heating and neutral beam ion heating. Through these combined methods, the plasma current density profile was optimized.
Once the science team managed to optimize the coupling of the four different heating techniques, they were able to create a cloud of charged particles that contained electrons heated to more than 100 million °C. They also exceeded a power injection level of 10 MegaWatts (MW), and boosted the plasma stored energy to 300 kilojoules (kJ).
…
With this latest experiment, the EAST team not only doubled the temperature of the plasma torus (setting a new record), they also managed to resolve a number of issues that are crucial to achieving steady state operations. For instance, they resolved the confinement of particle and power exhaust, the timing of which has to be just right in order to maintain a sustained fusion reaction.
(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
Until it becomes uncontained.
Deuterium has the symbol “D”, not “H” (and certainly not a symbol resembling H-squared).
100 million degrees. Another example of just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. What could possibly go wrong.
Stir-fry will never be the same
Pyrex container?
Not 100,000,332 degrees......
It’s really not a big deal. Basically it makes non-radioactive helium and a very tiny amount of low level, very short half-life other waste.
Fusion would be a fantastic power source if contained and perfected. basically water as fuel, basically no waste.
You still have to break down water.
High temp is nice, but what really matters is the product of temperature, density, and confinement time.
Deuterium can be denoted with the H. It is heavy isotope of hydrogen after all.
But the convention would be to have the superscript 2 before the H.
2H
Just as Carbon 14 is written as 14C
Until I can get one at Harbor Freight, it didn’t happen.
Now it looks like they've given us four-times-cooked electrons.
What’s the point of such a high temp when all you need is steam to run the electric generators? Or am I missing something?
How exactly can one measure a 100 million degree temperature?
“It’s really not a big deal. Basically it makes non-radioactive helium and a very tiny amount of low level, very short half-life other waste.
Fusion would be a fantastic power source if contained and perfected. basically water as fuel, basically no waste.”
Exactly. Also no worry about containment as if the torus is breached and the plasma escapes it will die before it reaches the magnets that contain it, in a Tokamak style reactor. Main byproduct is helium. 1 gallon of water contains enough deuterium to equal the thermal reaction of 379 gallons of gas.
The only problem with fusion today, which is just the same problem they had in the 90s is getting out more than you put in. The NBI method of heating the plasma requires more energy to heat the plasma to a fusion state that can be extracted from the plasma.
Despite all of the whiz bang new fangled toys we are still not getting a net positive energy returns.
Another correct notation would be
1-H-2
the Atomic number, the Chemical symbol, the Atomic mass.
Eh...I would still need a light sweater.
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