There has been quite a bit of news recently on the impressive progress being done on fusion energy by the Sandia National Laboratory. While there have traditionally been two approaches to fusion energy – magnetic confinement fusion and inertial confinement fusion – Sandia is using its MagLIF approach. A hybrid of the two, MagLIF uses both magnets and lasers to create fusion energy. They believe that they will achieve the “break-even” point (more energy out than was required to be put in) by the end of 2013. Over at Oilprice.com there is an interesting article on the steps Sandia is taking to enhance their process. From the article:

The process involves placing a tiny cylinder, about 7mm in diameter, filled with the deuterium and tritium plasma, inside their Z machine. The Z machine is an electrical pulse generator, capable of delivering 26 million amps in a short pulse lasting just milliseconds. As the vast current passes along the walls of the cylinder it creates a magnetic field that exerts a huge force on the walls, instantly crushing the cylinder and compressing the fuel inside.

After initial tests the scientists discovered that the Z machine was not powerful enough to produce sufficient heat to trigger a break even reaction. Researcher Steve Slutz led a team to investigate how they might enhance the process, and with the help of various computer simulations they discovered three changes that they could make to increase the heat of the reaction.
They would apply the pulse of current in an even shorter period of time, just 100 nanoseconds, in order to increase the speed of the implosion.

1. They would apply the pulse of current in an even shorter period of time, just 100 nanoseconds, in order to increase the speed of the implosion.
2. They would preheat the fuel inside the cylinder with a laser pulse just before their Z machine delivered its pulse, so that the starting temperature of the reaction is much higher.
3. They would place the cylinder in a magnetic containment field to prevent any heat from escaping in the form of charged particles.

To read the full article, click here.

Share on Facebook

Tweet