Scientists have built and tested the most powerful thermonuclear magnet in the world
Scientists around the world are working to finally get a fully working thermonuclear installation. Just work on the installation of the ITER - the world's largest thermonuclear tokamak reactor, which is geographically located in France, but scientists from all over the world are working on its creation.
In addition, work is also being carried out by the so-called national brigades. So a new breakthrough could be made by engineers working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They were able to create and test a record superconducting magnet, which turned out to be the most powerful in the world.
Engineers are working on a fusion reactor called ARC (the abbreviation means "affordable, durable and compact") and is a donut-shaped tokamak. He also seeks to recreate in terrestrial conditions the processes taking place in the bowels of our luminary, during which atoms hydrogen merge together under the influence of tremendous temperature and pressure, simultaneously releasing an incredible amount energy.
However, the ARC fusion reactor will be much more compact when compared to the ITER reactor, and will have a radius of only 3.3 meters.
Regardless of the type of reactor, one of the key elements are powerful magnets that necessary to keep the heated plasma within the specified limits, thereby ensuring the flow fusion reactions.
For example, for ITER control, low-temperature magnets are used, which obtain superconductivity when cooled to -269 degrees Celsius.
So the engineers working on ARC went the other way and decided to use high-temperature superconductors, which allow the creation of much more powerful magnets in a much smaller space.
Scientists spent three years and 276 kilometers to create the first high-temperature superconducting magnet. superconducting tape, from which 16 plates were created, folded in a special D-shaped case execution.
The magnet obtained in this way is cooled to about -253.15 degrees Celsius, after which it acquires superconductivity and forms a powerful magnetic field.
After that, the engineers embarked on active experiments, during which they managed to obtain a magnetic field with a force of 20 Tesla. This is for a moment the most powerful magnetic field ever created using a fusion magnet.
According to the creators of the magnet themselves, their work has brought all of humanity one step closer to obtaining a full-fledged commercial thermonuclear reactor. In the future, engineers will continue to work on the reactor and plan to start building a real power plant.
In the video below you can get acquainted with the opinion of scientists on this project.
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