“Artificial sun”: How can nuclear fusion impact the energy future?

Did you hear about the Chinese project to create an “artificial sun” here on earth? In fact, the initiative is focused on the development of new technologies for clean energy - as current models, especially those based on coal, natural gas or oil burning, need to be reviewed, as in addition to demand energy supply does not stop increasing, they produce a huge volume of emissions.

More specifically, the Chinese initiative is to build a nuclear fusion reactor - much more efficient than nuclear fission currently operating in the world - that generates the same kind of heat produced by the sun and can revolutionize the way energy is obtained. in the future.

Artificial sun?

Before we talk more about the reactor, let us explain what this "artificial sun" talk is. You may have heard that our star "works" from burning the hydrogen in its core, right? What happens is that because of the extreme pressure there, due to the extremely high gravitational force, hydrogen atoms approach and collide against each other, melting into helium - and releasing colossal amounts of energy in the process, which causes it is emitted by the star throughout the solar system and allows life to exist on earth.

Obviously, replicating these same conditions in a reactor here on our planet is quite a challenge, but it has been something that scientists from around the world have been trying to reproduce for some time. To get an idea, nuclear fusion produces at least 4 million times more energy than would be achieved in thermal power plants by burning coal, gas or oil, and 4 times more than that generated by nuclear power plants, which work with nuclear fission.

However, the Chinese have made significant progress on nuclear fusion and many other countries have joined the effort. The “artificial sun” built in China consists of a donut-shaped reactor known by the acronym EAST - from Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak or Tokamak Experimental Advanced Superconductor in free translation - which has become the first in the world to provide the necessary conditions for nuclear fusion could happen.

It was at EAST, by the way, that scientists were able to sustain fusion reactions for more than 100 seconds - 102, to be more exact, which is a record - and to reach temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius, equivalent to 6 times the temperature. Sun's core temperature. Impressive, don't you agree? For when we are finally able to control and sustain nuclear fusion efficiently, the promise is that reactions will become virtually inexhaustible sources of energy. And most importantly: clean energy.

Where the magic happens

About Tokamak functioning, as here on our planet we cannot reproduce the gravitational force that exists in the Sun's nucleus, hydrogen isotopes need to be exposed to absurd temperatures until they become a plasma and begin to fuse their atoms, releasing, with that, energy. There needs to be a large amount of particles to ensure as many collisions as possible, as well as very powerful magnetic fields to achieve a high confinement time for these "bumps" to happen faster and faster.

These reactions all take place inside a vacuum chamber filled with sensors and other equipment. Its walls absorb the heat produced - which, in turn, is used by a power station to generate steam and then produce electricity from turbines and alternators. The great thing about the process is that, besides employing materials with very low levels of radiation and whose by-products can be reused in the reactions themselves, it does not result in greenhouse gas emissions or radioactive waste, as is the case with thermoelectric plants. nuclear fission, and offers less risk of accidents.

Energetic future

Today there are 18 testing Tokamak reactors in the world, including this famous from China, and there is a billionaire international cooperation project called the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) - which has the participation of 35 countries, including the USA, Russia, India, South Korea, Japan, China and the European Union. This reactor is expected to produce temperatures in the order of 150 million degrees Celsius.

The initiative is focused on the construction of a Tokamak in the south of France, in the Provence region, which will incorporate technologies from EAST and other nuclear fusion reactors to conduct research. In addition, there is another center under construction in China's Sichuan province that will be able to produce temperatures 13 times higher than the Sun's core - or on the order of 200 million degrees Celsius - which will allow research related to the nuclear fusion further.

If all goes as expected, the construction of the reactor in Sichuan should be completed by 2021, as well as that of ITER, and the site should begin the first plasma tests in 2025. And if the experiments are satisfactory and the technology progresses, the expectation It is that by 2035 it will be possible to build an industrial prototype - and by 2050 a plant with the capacity to produce large-scale commercial energy will come into operation.

“Artificial sun”: How can nuclear fusion impact the energy future? via TecMundo