Fusion energy device sets a record by running for 20 seconds

erek

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"The key was to improve the Internal Transport Barrier that helps with plasma confinement and stability.
There’s a lot of work left. KSTAR’s ultimate goal is to run non-stop for five minutes at the extreme temperature by 2025. The breakthrough is an important step in that direction, though, and could prove vital if fusion reactors are to become a practical reality. That, in turn, could help the planet by further reducing the dependence on coal and other CO2-heavy energy sources."


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https://www.engadget.com/kstar-fusion-device-sets-record-210817623.html
 
This is a serious question... when fusion reactors are able to have a positive output of energy, how is it going to be captured and used? By making steam and turning turbines?
 
This is a serious question... when fusion reactors are able to have a positive output of energy, how is it going to be captured and used? By making steam and turning turbines?
Yeah. Similar.to how conventional fission nuclear power is made. Hot stuff in some way spins a turbine.
 
Hows the energy transferred from the magnetic field to the water? I cant imagine they would have the reactor submerged in water like a fission reactor.... would they?
 
This is a serious question... when fusion reactors are able to have a positive output of energy, how is it going to be captured and used? By making steam and turning turbines?
There are extremely few other forms of generating power and almost no forms of power generation that are direct producers. The old dynamo method is one of the oldest, cost-effective, and efficient today. Sometimes if it ain't broke you don't fix it :D.


Honestly, it's funny. Today everyone's obsessed with electric motors and turbines... but those things have been powering our civilization since they were invented.
I fully expect to see unstable but power positive reactors in the next 20 years. Now it's just a tweaking game. They've got enough material science to technically make it work.
 
The hardest part is changing the magnetic field to keep the fusion plasma contained while it is in flux. Programming the reactive magnetic field here is key and a lot of the latest articles will tag it with the latest buzz word using "AI"..
 
Hows the energy transferred from the magnetic field to the water? I cant imagine they would have the reactor submerged in water like a fission reactor.... would they?
No, you want to keep the reaction hot, so the less energy lost there the better. Most likely there will be something outside the magnetic area that absorbs stuff that pops out in the fusion process that isn't affect by magnetic fields, neutrons & photons, that will get hot and then transfer that heat to a fluid, which transfer to a heat exchanger, and then all the spinny stuff happens
 
No, you want to keep the reaction hot, so the less energy lost there the better. Most likely there will be something outside the magnetic area that absorbs stuff that pops out in the fusion process that isn't affect by magnetic fields, neutrons & photons, that will get hot and then transfer that heat to a fluid, which transfer to a heat exchanger, and then all the spinny stuff happens

The trick is to actually reach the point of burning plasma. Keeping the reaction hot is so vital currently as we can't get to that point. Once its passed there will be additional energy that could be harvested while still maintaining the reaction.
 
Hows the energy transferred from the magnetic field to the water? I cant imagine they would have the reactor submerged in water like a fission reactor.... would they?
The thermal exhaust vents on these things are designed so they just happen to be the same diameter for their coal counterparts in most cases. The hope is that when these things are commercially viable they can be drop-in replacements for coal and natural gas powered ones.
 
I still think fusion power will never happen. Rather we focus on solar and wind power since that's realistic.
 
As Spider-Man gets older, you can expect to see longer and longer runtimes.
 
If Fusion becomes a reality, it could make energy so cheap that mining bills could be close to zero
 
This is a serious question... when fusion reactors are able to have a positive output of energy, how is it going to be captured and used? By making steam and turning turbines?
Probably. But expect early production reactors will be scooped by scalpers. Who sell them at huge markups to power future-gen video cards that require 1.5 gigawatts to reach acceptable 16k frame rates.

On the bright side, with the considerable thermals the hot (unattainable) cards will be dumping into the neighborhood, the lucky owners may qualify for a large promotional discount from the 2nd Law Center of Thermodynamics.
 
The thermal exhaust vents on these things are designed so they just happen to be the same diameter for their coal counterparts in most cases. The hope is that when these things are commercially viable they can be drop-in replacements for coal and natural gas powered ones.
How does one make a thermal exhaust port that can tolerate multimillion degree temperatures?
 
And what about when the warp cores' containment field collapses? Then you've got an antimatter explosion! Warp core breach is no fun for anyone and bye bye expensive power plant!
 
How does one make a thermal exhaust port that can tolerate multimillion degree temperatures?
No clue, I do know it was the focus of a recent $55 Million dollar study and has something to do Tungsten and how it reacts with neutron radiation. Dealing with the exhaust is one of the main design challenges for making these things work.


Found this in part of the ITER project documents.

CAPTURING THE ENERGY​

The helium nucleus carries an electric charge which will be subject to the magnetic fields of the tokamak and remain confined within the plasma, contributing to its continued heating. However, approximately 80 percent of the energy produced is carried away from the plasma by the neutron which has no electrical charge and is therefore unaffected by magnetic fields. The neutrons will be absorbed by the surrounding walls of the tokamak, where their kinetic energy will be transferred to the walls as heat.
 
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what I'd like to know is how they come up with this stuff in the first place

View attachment 313737

Russians, I think the tokamak design came from Russia;

“ toroidal magnetic confinement
The tokamak (an acronym from the Russian words for toroidal magnetic confinement) was developed in the mid-1960s by Soviet plasma physicists. It produces the highest plasma temperatures, densities, and confinement durations of any confinement device. Tokamak.Jun 15, 2020”
 
And what about when the warp cores' containment field collapses? Then you've got an antimatter explosion! Warp core breach is no fun for anyone and bye bye expensive power plant!
Hehe

what about this though?

GoodBoy

 
The sun does it so why can't we :p

And solar and wind are both terrible means of producing power.
The also has 2000 billion billion billion kilograms of mass squeezing all the atoms together so it doesn't have to be quite so hot as we're doing. Otherwise we'd already have licked that fusion problem.

And solar and wind are perfectly fine ways to produce power, what's terrible is the fact people demand that power be as constant as the proverbial wind blows (no pun). Also power is typically someone one else's problem, they need to invest in infrastructure, they need to invest in storage (if it's not constant), and people in general want to basically buy it as they use it they don't want to (or can't) invest in it.
 
The sun does it so why can't we :p
The sun uses the crushing force of gravity to generate fusion while we spin right round baby for an amazing 20 seconds.
And solar and wind are both terrible means of producing power.
Seems better than 20 seconds of fusion. All we need is batteries to make them reliable.
 
If Fusion becomes a reality, it could make energy so cheap that mining bills could be close to zero
I don't know about that. This isn't Mr Fusion from back to the future. They need a very specific type of material to make fusion happen here on Earth, and it's rare. Keep in mind they can't generate enough energy to produce extra, let alone to sustain the reaction for more than 20 seconds. Unless we have some massive breakthrough, we'll just be inching that to 25 seconds and then 30 seconds. Meanwhile we need an indefinite amount of energy so long as we can feed the reaction with fuel.
 
How does one make a thermal exhaust port that can tolerate multimillion degree temperatures?
Only the plasma, which is confined in the magnetic field is extremely hot. You have other convection heat and radiant heat which is exhausted/captured by heat exchangers or steam generators. Think of it like a camp fire or even lighting a match.. the fire itself is very hot, but you can get relatively close. For good quality dry steam to put through a turbine, you need around 525F degree steam temperature.
 
The hardest part is changing the magnetic field to keep the fusion plasma contained while it is in flux. Programming the reactive magnetic field here is key and a lot of the latest articles will tag it with the latest buzz word using "AI"..
gonna need some of those star trek anti matter containment fields lolol... let me see if I can ge Jordi LaForge on the case
 
Only the plasma, which is confined in the magnetic field is extremely hot. You have other convection heat and radiant heat which is exhausted/captured by heat exchangers or steam generators. Think of it like a camp fire or even lighting a match.. the fire itself is very hot, but you can get relatively close. For good quality dry steam to put through a turbine, you need around 525F degrees.
Also, being extremely hot doesn't necessary mean it'll burn anything. Our thermosphere reaches 2,500°C in the day, but you'd freeze to death up there.
 
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