A cutaway view of the proposed ARC reactor. MIT ARC team.


Ah, fusion power. Holy grail of our energy problems. The savior of life on Earth. Our key to the stars. Source of power for Tony Stark's Iron Man .

But the only problem is that people have been saying this for many, many years (except the Iron Man bit). Fusion power always seems like it’s just on the horizon before, a few years later, we seem to be back to square one again.
Now a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) thinks we might finally have a reason to get excited, although we should still err on the side of cautious optimism. Using a new type of superconductor, they say they can reduce the size of a potential fusion reactor while drastically increasing its power output. “It changes the whole thing,” Dennis Whyte, a professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering and director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, said in a statement .
Quite.

Their proposal involves a type of reactor known as a tokamak , which is donut-shaped. A fusion reactor recreates the Sun’s process of fusing hydrogen atoms together to form helium at its core, which releases enormous amounts of energy. One of the hardest parts of replicating this, though, is heating the plasma required for the reaction to temperatures equivalent to the core of a star, about 15 million degrees Celsius (27 million degrees Fahrenheit), while keeping it confined.

Doing so has relied on using magnetic fields produced by copper conductors to trap the heat and particles in the center of a reactor, but producing strong enough magnetic fields via this method is a complicated, not to mention bulky, process.

So, what if there was another way?

In their paper in Fusion Engineering and Design , the MIT team explain that by using rare-earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) superconducting tapes instead of copper, high-magnetic field coils can be created at a fraction of the size. In fact, they say they could actually increase the fusion power by a factor of 10 in their experimental reactor, nicknamed ARC (hat tip to Iron Man), when it is cooled to the temperature of liquid nitrogen, about -200°C (-330°F). This is because the new superconductors produce a stronger field than their copper counterparts.

“The much higher magnetic field allows you to achieve much higher performance,” said Ph.D. candidate Brandon Sorbom from MIT in a statement .


Brandom Sorbom holds the new superconducting tapes, left, and old copper conductors, right. Jose-Luis Olivares/MIT.

These new superconductors also do not overheat quickly, unlike copper, so they can theoretically produce a steady power output. The team said the reactor could produce up to six times as much energy as is needed to actually keep it running, enough for 100,000 people. No fusion reactor has ever been demonstrated to produce as much or more energy as it uses.

“Fusion energy is certain to be the most important source of electricity on Earth in the 22nd century, but we need it much sooner than that to avoid catastrophic global warming,” said David Kingham, CEO of Tokamak Energy Ltd. in the U.K., who was not connected with this research, in the statement . “This paper shows a good way to make quicker progress."

The ARC reactor is simply a proposal for now, but the team said it could potentially be built in just five years. For comparison, construction on a huge $40 billion (£26 billion) experimental fusion reactor in France called the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) began in 2013, and is expected to be completed in 2019. It was designed before these new superconductors were available.

Whether this research proves to be the real deal, or proves no more real than the contraption worn by Tony Stark, remains to be seen. So, let’s all nervously raise a glass to what may or may not be a breakthrough in what may or may not be the answer to our energy woes.

Source: Iflscience

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Guys no need for space booking, it's not going to reach front-page.

I thought they are still looking for funds to further the project?

Omo,


This, is science.

I guess infact sure that they are physicists.


Our physicists here cant even do basic quantum physics.

Ask an average physics student in Nigeria, the equation guiding the operations of the SUPERCONDUCTOR, e go hard pass diamond.


Teempakguy, our NL whiz, wishing you could help in this. I believe you can.


Lalasticlala, oya move am. Since its not EBUBE NWAGBO AND CURVES (i felt like slapping the mod that put it on FP. WHO HER SLUTTY CURVE DON HELP? SMELLO)

Blakjewelry:
I thought they are still looking for funds to further the project?

Really? I never heard about them looking for fund. Of course, it had to be on the principles of the tokamak - what the ITER works with also. The good thing about science and engineering is that it seeks to improve existing design to give a much smaller but more powerful output as can be seen with this breakthrough. Teempakguy, this is another breakthrough in fusion power.
Seems fusion energy is the future now. Yeah! Which movie did I first see the power of the sun being demonstrated? Spiderman 2, the one with Toby Macguire.

Then again, it's not only in this ARC reactor that they made a breakthrough; they also made another in creating a superfluid gas - the so called Bose-Einstein condensate. https://newsoffice.mit.edu/2015/new-look-at-superfluidity-0810

Notice the people who funded the research at the end of the above link, same with this thread. Please, Nigeria, start funding research organisations so that we shall not be left behind.

First off, khalhokage, keep up the good work. Bringing things like this to our notice . . .

Second, thanks @Dekatron and @feraz for the worthy mentions . . .

Anyway, I've always had this idea of using superconductivity in nuclear fusions but I've always encountered the problem of cooling. How do you cool a superconductor that handles 15 million kelvin?

But this technology is exactly what I want. They could probably be using high temperature superconductors in the reactor. Cooled with laser cooled liquid nitrogen!

The technology can even be scaled further with strong enough super conductors, making the torus transparent. Just like the one in the iron man movie. One just needs to find a way to trap runaway neutrons for long enough until they disintegrate.

However, I suspect that in the cooling system, the need for liquid nitrogen can be eliminated altogether. If we find a way to apply large scale laser cooling systems.
We could theoretically reduce the size to a bungalow scale with this idea.

But I guess that would be too expensive.

Anyway, those are just sketchy ideas.

Teempakguy:


First off, khalhokage, keep up the good work. Bringing things like this to our notice . . .

Second, thanks @Dekatron and @feraz for the worthy mentions . . .

Anyway, I've always had this idea of using superconductivity in nuclear fusions but I've always encountered the problem of cooling. How do you cool a superconductor that handles 15 million kelvin?

But this technology is exactly what I want. They could probably be using high temperature superconductors in the reactor. Cooled with laser cooled liquid nitrogen!

The technology can even be scaled further with strong enough super conductors, making the torus transparent. Just like the one in the iron man movie. One just needs to find a way to trap runaway neutrons for long enough until they disintegrate.

However, I suspect that in the cooling system, the need for liquid nitrogen can be eliminated altogether. If we find a way to apply large scale laser cooling systems.
We could theoretically reduce the size to a bungalow scale with this idea.

But I guess that would be too expensive.

Anyway, those are just sketchy ideas.

you are right, way too expensive.. and where is The energy to heat a plasma to 15million degrees coming from? What about the risks? Black holes could be formed.. is this really worth it?

bqlekan:
you are right, way too expensive.. and where is The energy to heat a plasma to 15million degrees coming from? What about the risks? Black holes could be formed.. is this really worth it?

First off black cannot form in such process, secondly according to the research team this is first form nuclear fusion were it is capable of self sustaining and produces more energy than it Consume

Blakjewelry:

First off black cannot form in such process, secondly according to the research team this is first form nuclear fusion were it is capable of self sustaining and produces more energy than it Consume

wow, so black doesn't form in fusion reactions but can form when electrons are bombarded at high speed? Still not clear... and the question still remains 'where is that energy coming from' lemme guess, from another nuclear reaction?

bqlekan:
wow, so black doesn't form in fusion reactions but can form when electrons are bombarded at high speed? Still not clear... and the question still remains 'where is that energy coming from' lemme guess, from another nuclear reaction?

The purpose of a particle accelerator is to speed up the colliding particles so as to overcome their repulsive force, when they collides they split thereby revealing what happens at the subparticle level. Now the reason why black hole at that level is, naturally matter obtain a stable form without collapsing into itself because gravity is balanced by the all the other forces of nature. Now when you split up the particles, it releases some of forces as high energy thereby letting gravity to take it course and what you have is black though it very minute and is not stable. A fusion reactor create a new element from a simpler ones and releasing energy in the process

bqlekan:
you are right, way too expensive.. and where is The energy to heat a plasma to 15million degrees coming from? What about the risks? Black holes could be formed.. is this really worth it?

it's not that difficult to produce such a temperature. Ohmic heating, combined with neutral beam and high-speed electromagnetic bombardment solves that problem.

Black holes can never form from this technology. It takes mass of a million times more magnitude to produce that effect.

There are no risks. Unlike fission reactors, if this reactor were to malfunction, it would immediately cool down, with zero radiation. One way to understand all of these is that, scientists are building a mini sun on earth!

You might wonder what container could possibly hold a plasma at 15 million degrees.
Well, the answer is none, really. At least, not the kind you think. Instead, it's held by a magnetic field that repels the plasma and confines it to the core of the reactor.

The energy required to bring the temperature to 15 million degrees, can be gotten from anywhere. Probably another reactor, or from fossil fuels, or from geothermal plants, the list is endless. But at a certain stage, the reactor becomes self-sustaining and produces it's own energy, as well as excess that can be tapped.

bqlekan:
wow, so black doesn't form in fusion reactions but can form when electrons are bombarded at high speed? Still not clear... and the question still remains 'where is that energy coming from' lemme guess, from another nuclear reaction?

black holes cannot form even if electrons are bombarded at high speed. What you're looking for is Bremsstrahlung radiation or ionization.
Black holes form when the amount of cold mass around is above the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit, which is around 2-3 times the mass of our sun. That, is very interesting. Notice the world "cold" a black hole can NEVER form with hot mass. Like our fifteen million degree reactor. So, you've got nothing to worry about.

Teempakguy:

black holes cannot form even if electrons are bombarded at high speed.

It can. Scientists at the world biggest particle collider are working on it. They believe it's possible though they are yet to detect any so they are trying to do some adjustments

Blakjewelry:

It can. Scientists at the world biggest particle collider are working on it. They believe it's possible though they are yet to detect any so they are trying to do some adjustments

link please?

Teempakguy:
link please?

I actually stumble on it a couple of years back when I was doing some research on force field shield. Can't get the exact link but here is a couple.
www.einstein-online.info/spotlights/accelerators_bh
m.livescience.com/27811-creating-mini-black-holes.html

Teempakguy:
it's not that difficult to produce such a temperature. Ohmic heating, combined with neutral beam and high-speed electromagnetic bombardment solves that problem.

Black holes can never form from this technology. It takes mass of a million times more magnitude to produce that effect.

There are no risks. Unlike fission reactors, if this reactor were to malfunction, it would immediately cool down, with zero radiation. One way to understand all of these is that, scientists are building a mini sun on earth!

You might wonder what container could possibly hold a plasma at 15 million degrees.
Well, the answer is none, really. At least, not the kind you think. Instead, it's held by a magnetic field that repels the plasma and confines it to the core of the reactor.

The energy required to bring the temperature to 15 million degrees, can be gotten from anywhere. Probably another reactor, or from fossil fuels, or from geothermal plants, the list is endless. But at a certain stage, the reactor becomes self-sustaining and produces it's own energy, as well as excess that can be tapped.

black holes cannot form even if electrons are bombarded at high speed. What you're looking for is Bremsstrahlung radiation or ionization.
Black holes form when the amount of cold mass around is above the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit, which is around 2-3 times the mass of our sun. That, is very interesting. Notice the world "cold" a black hole can NEVER form with hot mass. Like our fifteen million degree reactor. So, you've got nothing to worry about.

wow wow wow! Thanks so much.. lemme read up too.. but at the emboldened.. black can really form from bombardment.. read it somewhere, lemme search for the link

bqlekan:
wow wow wow! Thanks so much.. lemme read up too.. but at the emboldened.. black can really form from bombardment.. read it somewhere, lemme search for the link

yeah. Seems you were right.
However, there are certain conditions that can apparently be met.

And if such a black hole were created, it wouldn't be as dangerous as the big ones and most likely would quickly disintegrate due to emitting hawking radiation. And even at that ridiculously small size, it would be hopelessly harmless. You could totally hold it in your hand and even swallow it. And absolutely nothing would happen.

Wow, science is moving so fast now that one has to be very careful before making statements.

khalhokage:
Guys no need for space booking, it's not going to reach front-page.

I still havent heard from u, regarding d lappy.

kenee24:

I still havent heard from u, regarding d lappy.

Sorry I forgot, I'm not ready for it.

khalhokage:

Sorry I forgot, I'm not ready for it.

OK...gimme a call wen u r.08131874398

kenee24:
OK...gimme a call wen u r.08131874398

Ok sure thing.