Scientists Are Pursuing Clean And Inexhaustible Power From Nuclear Fusion Through Various Experimental Reactor Designs. A More Interesting Example Is A Nearly Circular Device Called Stellar. Although These Devices Usually Have Irregularly Shaped Magnetic Coils, Scientists Have Now Developed Simpler And Straighter Versions That They Say Can Provide Some Important Benefits.
The Star Simulator Has Some Similarities With Another Popular Nuclear Fusion Reactor Design Called Tokamak, Because Both Are Designed To Limit The Flow Of Superheated Plasma In The Circulation Chamber Through A Series Of Magnetic Coils. In Doing So, They Create The Heat And Pressure Needed For Nuclei To Collide At Incredible Speeds, Forming Helium And Releasing A Lot Of Energy.
However, When The Tokamak Takes A Neat And Relatively Simple Ring Shape, The Star Simulator Sends Its Plasma Flow In Irregular Circles, Which Distort And Rotate, Which Actually Provides Greater Stability. These Flows Are Guided By Equally Irregular Magnetic Coils, Which Are So Complex That Some Need Supercomputers To Design.
If The Parts Of These Coils Are Relatively Straight, Things Will Become Easier, Which Will Not Only Make The Construction Of The Star Simulator Easier, But Also Make The Maintenance Easier. However, This Will Come At The Cost Of Reactor Performance.
The First Author Of The New Study Nicola Lonigro, A Doctoral Student At The University Of York In The UK, Said: "in Principle, You Can Always Make Straighter Coils, But The Price Is That Their Magnetic Fields May Not Limit The Plasma As Those Produced By More Distorted Coils. But Our Research Found That You Can Make A Simpler Coil With Straighter Parts, So That It Has The Same Magnetic Field Shape And Intensity As Traditional Coils."
Lonigro And Her Colleagues Achieved This Understanding By Experimenting With A Mathematical Technique Called "spline Representation", Which They Used To Improve The Computer Code For Generating Magnetic Coil Design. This Makes The Cross Section Of The Magnet Design More Straight, And There Is Still A Strong And Accurate Magnetic Field To Limit The Plasma. As A Demonstration, Scientists Designed A Straighter And Simpler New Magnet For An Experiment At The University Of Wisconsin Madison.
"In The Future, People Will Have To Replace The Parts In The Star Simulator When They Are Worn, Which Requires A Large Opening Between The Coils Of The Magnet. But It Is Difficult To Have A Large Opening In The Star Simulator, Because The Electromagnetic Coil Is Zigzag And Really Complex," Said Cao Xiang Zhu, A Physicist And Author Of The Paper From The University Of Science And Technology Of China
Although This Breakthrough Is Impressive, It Also Reminds Physicists Of The Countless Complex Problems They Face When Trying To Make Nuclear Fusion A Reality. These Straighter Coils Are Just A Small Piece Of An Incredibly Complex Puzzle, But It May One Day Prove Very Important To Help Unlimited Clean Energy Become A Reality.
"In The Long Run, This Work Is A Contribution To Greater Efforts To Make The Satellite Simulator Commercially Viable," Lonigro Said