artificial Sun created a special magnetic field
A new achievement by physicists at a thermonuclear reactor brings the production of clean thermonuclear energy closer.
In the Huanliu-3 experimental thermonuclear reactor, which is located in China, physicists managed to create a special magnetic field, which is an important step for obtaining clean and limitless energy in the future.
This achievement is important for future experiments at the world’s largest fusion reactor, ITER, which is located in France, writes Popular Mechanics.
Thermonuclear reactors are sometimes called an artificial Sun, because they are capable of reproducing the reaction that occurs in the core of our star, and all stars. We are talking about thermonuclear fusion, when atoms of hydrogen or its isotopes are fused together, which leads to the release of huge amounts of energy.
This energy is clean, that is, waste-free and practically limitless. Scientists around the world are working to obtain it. But it is assumed that it will be possible to obtain thermonuclear energy only in 10-20 years. Nevertheless, it is necessary to create all the conditions for this to happen.
Physicists at the Huanliu-3 fusion reactor have achieved another important milestone on the path to unlimited energy. They managed for the first time to create a magnetic field, which is completely new in its design.
It is worth saying that this reactor is not capable of operating stably or producing more energy than was expended to produce thermonuclear fusion. But the Huanliu-3 rector is a testing ground for testing certain technologies that will help operate the largest fusion reactor, ITER, in France.
Like the ITER reactor, Huanliu-3 is a tokamak, that is, a torus-shaped reactor. The installation holds very hot plasma inside using a strong magnetic field. It is in the plasma that the thermonuclear reaction necessary for the emergence of thermonuclear energy occurs.
The problem is that physicists have not yet achieved long-term plasma stability so that constant thermonuclear fusion continues, as in the core of the Sun.
Therefore, it is necessary to create a completely new magnetic field in its design to contain plasma with a temperature of tens of millions of degrees Celsius. It is this magnetic field that will allow us to obtain clean energy in the future.
There are a number of problems with the way modern tokamaks create magnetic fields. Therefore, work is underway to create super-powerful magnets that are being improved. The new magnetic field configuration could be a huge step forward not only for the Huanliu-3 reactor, but also for the ITER reactor.
