Nuclear fusion breakthrough. Researchers gain enough energy to boil a kettle.
- Thread starter moon
- Start date
cancel2 2022
Canceled
The SPARC project is looking very promising and is on schedule to be complete by 2025.
That's the takeaway of seven new studies, published Sept. 29 in the Journal of Plasma Physics.
If a fusion reactor reaches that milestone, it could pave the way for massive generation of clean energy.
During fusion, atomic nuclei are forced together to form heavier atoms. When the mass of the resulting atoms is less than the mass of the atoms that went into their creation, the excess mass is converted to energy, liberating an extraordinary amount of light and heat. Fusion powers the sun and stars, as the mighty gravity at their hearts fuse hydrogen to create helium.
But an enormous amount of energy is needed to force atoms to fuse together, which occurs at temperatures of at least 180 million degrees Fahrenheit (100 million degrees Celsius). However, such reactions can generate far more energy than they require. At the same time, fusion doesn't produce greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which drive global warming, nor does it generate other pollutants. And the fuel for fusion — such as the element hydrogen — is plentiful enough on Earth to meet all of humanity's energy needs for millions of years.
"Virtually all of us got into this research because we're trying to solve a really serious global problem," said study author Martin Greenwald, a plasma physicist at MIT and one of the lead scientists developing the new reactor. "We want to have an impact on society. We need a solution for global warming — otherwise, civilization is in trouble. This looks like it might help fix that."
Most experimental fusion reactors employ a donut-shaped Russian design called a tokamak. These designs use powerful magnetic fields to confine a cloud of plasma, or ionized gas, at extreme temperatures, high enough for atoms to fuse together. The new experimental device, called the SPARC (Soonest/Smallest Private-Funded Affordable Robust Compact) reactor, is being developed by scientists at MIT and a spinoff company, Commonwealth Fusion Systems.
If it succeeds, SPARC would be the first device to ever achieve a "burning plasma," in which the heat from all the fusion reactions keeps fusion going without the need to pump in extra energy. But no one has ever been able to harness the power of burning plasma in a controlled reaction here on Earth, and more research is needed before SPARC can do so. The SPARC project, which launched in 2018, is scheduled to begin construction next June, with the reactor starting operations in 2025. This is far faster than the world's largest fusion power project, known as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), which was conceived in 1985 but not launched until 2007; and although construction began in 2013, the project is not expected to generate a fusion reaction until 2035.
One advantage that SPARC may have over ITER is that SPARC's magnets are designed to confine its plasma. It will use so-called high-temperature superconducting magnets that only became commercially available in the past three to five years, long after ITER was first designed. These new magnets can produce far more powerful magnetic fields than ITER's — a maximum of 21 teslas, compared with ITER's maximum of 12 teslas. (In comparison, Earth's magnetic field ranges in strength from 30 millionths to 60 millionths of a tesla.)
These powerful magnets suggest the core of SPARC can be about three times smaller in diameter, and 60 to 70 times smaller in volume than the heart of ITER, which is slated to be 6 meters wide. "That dramatic reduction in size is accompanied by a reduction in weight and cost," Greenwald , told LiveScience. "That's really the game-changer."
In seven new studies, researchers outlined the calculations and supercomputer simulations underlying SPARC's design. SPARC is expected to generate at least twice as much as 10 times more energy as is pumped in, the studies found.
The heat from a fusion reactor would generate steam. This steam would then drive a turbine and electrical generator, the same way most electricity is produced nowadays.
"Fusion power plants could be one-to-one replacements for fossil fuel plants, and you wouldn't have to restructure electrical grids for them," Greenwald said. In contrast, renewable energy sources such as solar and wind "are not accommodated well by the current design of electric grids."
The researchers ultimately hope SPARC-inspired fusion power plants would generate between 250 to 1,000 megawatts of electricity. "In the current power market of the United States, power plants typically generate between 100 to 500 megawatts," Greenwald said.
https://www.livescience.com/nuclear-fusion-reactor-sparc-2025.html
Text Drivers are Killers
Joe Biden - "Time to put Trump in the bullseye."
How many times have we heard this.? "We're almost there. Just give us another trillion dollars."
Scientists have lost their cred thanks to their climate change hoax.
Scientists have lost their cred thanks to their climate change hoax.
moon
Satire for Sanity
moon
Satire for Sanity
That what the sun is. Imagine if we'd poured all those billions of dollars of fusion research into battery tech.
( At this point fusion buffs will claim that battery tech can't be done.
Haw, haw...................................haw )
Who knows the battery tech is also promising. This was funded because it has complicated military implications for nuclear weapons, I don’t completely understand it, but it alleviates the need for currently outlawed nuclear testimg.
moon
Satire for Sanity
Ah. If anything is capable of offering false progression and is detrimental to civil society you can bet that the military is involved in it somewhere.
Ask these folks how enthused they are about going to Mars.
Ah. If anything is capable of offering false progression and is detrimental to civil society you can bet that the military is involved in it somewhere.
Ask these folks how enthused they are about going to Mars.
Nothing happens in our system unless there is big money involved, no big money is going into anything to "help progress" unless they believe the "progress" will benefit some subset with money.
Text Drivers are Killers
Joe Biden - "Time to put Trump in the bullseye."
The answer to the energy shortage is to reduce the population of the world. The covid vaxxes are helping but the real answer is mandatory abortion for pregnant non-whites.
You are especially stupid, but this time you are correct. They oversell it to get funding. Global warming is real. You are back to normal stupid already.
Battery tech is doing fine. Battery manufacturers are building 3 plants in the midwest to build and develop new and better batteries.Ev batteries have been getting better and better at a great rate.
Fusion power is still only 15-20 years away!!!
moon
Satire for Sanity
Faster. Wider. Better. Cheaper.
Gondwanaland
Verified User
An amazing advancement. I think we'll have full scale fusion power within a 100 years.
Indeed you've got yours all the way open, Luddite.
moon
Satire for Sanity
No- battery technology will achieve near-perfection looooooooong before that, thus condemning fusion to the catalogue of white elephants. The sun is free 'forever' - and ready-made.
You really are dummer than you think
I have no idea why a schmuck like you would want to blindside me- but it's my turn next.
Gondwanaland
Verified User
How exactly would battery technology do that? In your depraved little pea brain do you believe that batteries magically produce the energy that they store? Where the fuck do you think that energy comes from you fucking moron?
"dummer"
I think that really says it all.
Shut up luddite cunt.
Mason Michaels
Verified User
By then we will have regressed to living in caves,the few survivors of the Apocalypse.