Fusion reactor Wendelstein 7-X successfully created plasma twice as hot as in the core of the Sun
Experimental thermonuclear reactor Wendelstein 7-X Stellarator, designed specifically for active experiments to achieve sustainable thermonuclear fusion, received the first plasma in the already distant 2015 and since that time only increased the temperature and time of plasma confinement in a stable condition.
As a result of the last experiment on Wendelstein 7-X, scientists received plasma twice as hot as the temperature in the center of our star. This event will be discussed.
Stellarators and their role in the future of thermonuclear fusion
So Stellarators differ from the more common experimental thermonuclear reactors of the tokamak type in a significantly more complex configuration, in which there are many bends and various turns.
But, despite the design differences, the purpose of the Stellarators is exactly the same as that of other types of fusion reactors. And it lies in obtaining controlled thermonuclear fusion, during which controlled flows of plasma under high pressure and extremely high temperature will create conditions for the collision of atoms and their further fusion with the release of a huge amount energy.
So, the experimental thermonuclear reactor Wendelstein 7-X has such a complex configuration that the power of supercomputers was even involved in its design.
In the design of the reactor, 50 superconducting magnetic coils were provided at once, the main whose task is to hold the plasma in place as it rotates around a rotating circular cameras.
So in 2018, the engineers who are working on this project set another temperature record and heated the plasma to temperatures of 20 million degrees Celsius, which is a minute higher than the temperature of the Sun by a considerable 15 million degrees Celsius.
But as it turned out, this is far from the limit, and in order to further increase the temperature, scientists had to solve one important problem. During the operation of a fusion reactor, there is a type of heat loss called neoclassical heat transport.
Such heat losses are possible due to the presence of insignificant "gaps" in the complex magnetic field, through which the superheated particles fly away.
To avoid this, the magnetic field of the Wendelstein 7-X has been carefully tested and optimized.
After completing all the adjustment and verification work, the scientists decided to check the result and started the installation. So, as the analysis of the data collected by the X-ray spectrometer of crystals showed, the scientists succeeded achieve a sharp reduction in neoclassical heat transfer and thus show a new temperature record.
Of course, this is just one of the steps (but very important) towards achieving full controlled thermonuclear fusion, and scientists still have many tasks to further optimize and modernization of installations.
But this achievement instills optimism and belief that humanity will nevertheless receive practically an inexhaustible source of energy that will fundamentally solve the problem of global warming and energy deficit.
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