Ferrande.Durbin.Foley.MMA.Spring2009.EnergyandWater

=Nuclear Fusion: Ferrande Durbin Foley=

1. What is the problem at hand?
= = The two main problems in today's world from scientific viewpoint are are fresh water and energy. Scientists never doubt that the climate is changing relating to human kind's atmospheric pollution from burning fossil fuels. Regarding climate change, a positive outlook is that fossil fuel supplies that have mostly been utilized will be empty within the next two to three decades. On another note, a negative outlook is that there is barely anything of relevance that could possibly take their place currently in this time. Furthermore, having burned all those fossil fuels and having so much carbon dioxide, it has changed the atmosphere and started global climate change. Nuclear Fusion plays a huge role in this major energy crisis in the world today and in the future. Nuclear fusion is an alternative energy source and can and will make an extreme difference on planet Earth.

2. What is the driving force of the problem?
There are a numerous amount of current problems having to do with the subject nuclear fusion. To start off, nuclear fusion is a main topic relating to the huge energy crisis at hand. The release of nuclear energy can occur at the low end of the binding energy curve through the fusion of two light nuclei into a heavier one. The energy radiated by stars, including the Sun, arises from such fusion reactions deep in their interiors. At the enormous pressure and at temperatures above 15 million ° C (27 million ° F) existing there, hydrogen nuclei combine according to equation and give rise to most of the energy released by the Sun. Other current problems are things such as renewable energy souces that are not benefiting nuclear fusion. Pollution and prices also have a huge effect on the energy crisis. Again, for example, an electric current is generated in a conductive cavity containing lithium and a plasma. The electric current produces a magnetic field and the cavity is collapsed, which results in a massive temperature spike. There are a number of driving forces relating to this problem.

3. What are people currently doing or not doing to solve the problem?
Currently, in today's age people are trying every little thing in their power to make the world a better place and to conserve as much energy as possible. In all reality, especially the United States we, as a whole use way more than enough energy required. Some things possible, to do and attempt at solving the problem are the following: reduce prices by conserving more and more energy, use only what is absolutely necessary in the scientific world, use nuclear fusion more to our advantage, prevent pollution and negative chemical reactions, and much much more.

5. **Explain how it works. THIS IS A BIG ONE!**

 * Nuclear Fusion**


 * Current nuclear reactor technology uses nuclear fission which is the splitting of atoms. High energy neutrons split heavy uranium energy and it produces large amounts of energy. The bad side is that it produces lots of ration and nuclear waste that is difficult to dispose of.
 * Nuclear fusion works just the opposite instead of splitting an atom you join two of them together. In a fusion reactor two hydrogen atoms come together to form helium atoms, neutrons and energy. The same reaction occurs in hydrogen bombs. Nuclear fusion is the future of energy in the United States and the world. If scientists can overcome the obstacles currently in their way it will be the best source of clean unlimited energy the world has ever seen. There are different types of nuclear fusion reactions. They all use isotopes of hydrogen deuterium and tritium. There are a couple different types of Fusion reactions.
 * The first reaction is actually the same one that occurs at the center of the sun and other starts. It starts when two pairs of protons form two deuterium and tritium atoms. Then each of the deuterium atoms combines with another proton and they form helium 3 atoms. The two helium 3 atoms come together and form beryllium 6. Beryllium 6 then splits into two helium 4 atoms. This reaction releases large amounts of energy and very little radiation like fission reactions.
 * The second form of nuclear fusion is called deuterium-deuterium. This is when two deuterium atoms come together and from helium 3, a neutron and energy.
 * There is another form of fusion that is called deuterium-tritium. This one involves combining a deuterium and a tritium atom to form helium 4, a neutron and energy. All of these forms are similar because they involve the combining of atoms not the splitting of atoms like in nuclear fission.

[[image:fusion.JPG width="486" height="322" align="center"]]

 * In order for the atoms to fuse the nucleus must come together but because they both have a positive charge they want to repel each other. In order for fusion to occur you need to create special conditions to overcome the forces holding the nucleus apart. In order for fusion to occur you need high temperature. The heat helps combat the forces holding the nucleus apart. Fusion required temperatures of 1 million degrees Kelvin. This temperature is six times hotter than the core of the sun. At this temperature the hydrogen atoms turn to plasma. In plasma the electrons are striped for the nucleolus and allowed to flow freely. The sun uses its large mass and the force of gravity to achieve these temperatures. In fusion reactors on earth microwaves, lasers and ion beams to achieve these temperatures. This is not enough you also need high pressure in order for fusion to occur. In order for the atoms to fuse they must be within 1x10^-15 meters of each other to fuse. Again the sun uses its mass and force of gravity to achieve this. In a reactor magnetic fields, powerful lasers or ion beams to push the hydrogens together.
 * Today’s technology only allows us to do deuterium-tritium fusion. Once technology improves deuterium-deuterium fusion will be possible. Deuterium is easily obtained from water. Tritium is more complex it must be created from lithium. Deuterium-deuterium reactions will also yield more energy.
 * There are two types of reactors that are used to create the ideal conditions necessary for fusion to take place inertial confinement and magnetic confinement. Let’s look at Magnetic confinement first. Magnetic confinement uses microwaves, electricity and neutral particle beams from accelerators that heat hydrogen gas. This heats the hydrogen and turns it into plasma, and the plasma gets squeezed by the magnets and fusion occurs. The reactor is shaped like a donut and is called a tokamak. The reactor is assembled in sections that can be easily removed for maintenance.
 * Here are some of the major parts of the magnetic confinement reactor.

__-The vacuum vessel__ which is the area inside the tomamak which holds the plasma and keeps it under vacuum. __-Neutral beam injectors__ which fire particle beams to help heat the plasma. __-Magnetic field coils__ which are super magnets that confines and shape the plasma.




 * This is how the reactor will make electricity. It will require about 70megawatts of power in order for the reaction to occur but the reaction will produce 500megawatts. Current technology will only allow it to last 300-500 seconds but eventually continuous fusion will be possible. Lithium outside the chamber will transfer heat to the cooling loop which will then take it to a heat exchanger. This will produce steam and spin a turbine.




 * The internal confinement reactor uses laser to heat and compress the deuterium. Inside the reaction chamber there will be a pea sized portion of deuterium and tritium. The Lasers will all focus on that one point. The lasers will heat the cylinder and turn into x-rays. The heat and radiation will turn the hydrogen into plasma then heat and compress it allowing fusion to occur. The fusion only lasts a millionth of a second but multiple targets to make the process endless. Scientists believe that the targets could only cost about 25 cents making the process cost effective. The reaction will yield 50-100 times more energy than is needed to start it. It will produce electricity the same way as the magnetic confined reactor.




 * The problem with nuclear fusion is the complexity of it. It is very difficult to perform in a non destructive way. Eventually technology will allow this to happen and it will be the greatest from of energy the world has seen to date.

6. determine the amount of CO2 it produces or inhibits (THIS REQUIRES A STOICHIOMETRY EQUATION!)

 * The form of Fusion that will occur in early Fusion Reactors is deuterium-tritium. This reaction does not produce any Co2.
 * Hydrogen 2 and Hydrogen 3 fuse together and form Helium 4 and a neutron


 * ==1^2H + 1^3H -> 2^4He + 0^1n (note the first number is subscript and the number after the carrot is the superscript)==

-As you can see this reaction produces absolutely no Co2!



= Video on Nuclear Fusion =

= =

=media type="youtube" key="sSi-zSeS0_Y" height="344" width="488"=

8. highlight the best aspects of it

 * Large abundance of energy can be generated with it. It has a energy gain of about 450:1. Fusion would be a virtually inexhaustible energy supply that could eliminate most of the world's dependence on other fuels.
 * There is no risk for a nuclear Accident
 * No Air pollution it clean energy
 * No high-Level Nuclear Waste, instead of taking thousands of years to reach it half life it only take a mater of decades. Because there is not high level nuclear waste it can not be use for nuclear weapons.
 * The fuels that could be used are relatively inexpensive and readily available. The two main components for the reaction to occur are both abundant on earth. Deuterium can be easily extracted from seawater which ration is 1 in 6500 hydrogen atoms are deuterium and Tritium can be made out of lithium which can be found on the earth crust.
 * Fusion is not a chain reaction, therefore it can be stopped at anytime and there is no threat of a meltdown.
 * It is one trillion times more efficient than the burning of fossil fuels.

9. describe how the critics would discuss it

 * Like any form of Alternative fuel there is going to be two sides to the debate. Unlike other types of Alternative fuel Fusion has the capability to provide very large amounts of energy. That is why it is getting so much traction. It is also possible to see fusion plants being constructed relatively soon. At a recent Clean Energy Investor meting scientist Van Lineup said "that he expects large energy companies to start thinking about building fusion plants within the next five years." Nuclear Fusion provides with a very clean way of producing large amounts of energies. Where It will take some criticism from is in its safety. The forces that this reaction needs to occur and the energy it produces are massive and it is not yet clear how modern technology will stand up to these forces. Although it is not possible to melt down because there is no chain reaction it is not yet clear how current reactor structures will handle the forces. So any criticism of this power source is going to come from the safety of it and the location of the plants. It has an advantage on nuclear fission because it will produce very little atomic waste. That is one of the major criticism that nuclear fission phases today. Unlike fission we will not have to store the waste for extremely long periods of time. That is what is out there for criticism right now but we will only know more as we get closer to creating these reaction and when the construction of the first plants come. Safety will be biggest criticism as nuclear fusion becomes more and more popular.

11. If it doesn't make up much of the world's fuel/energy supply explain why.

 * Scientist cant maintain the reaction long enough to have significant net energy.
 * It is hard to maintain a substances at these high temperature they are in the plasma state which is very difficult to contain.
 * At this moment in time it is to costly to create the technology.
 * Also the energy needed to start the reaction is very difficult to produce.

14. Explain how it could help solve some of the problems or contributes to those problems.

 * This type of energy has it pros and cons and well contributes to solving the problem and also bring us new problem that we well need to solve.


 * Pros
 *  It would limit are use of fusel fuel.
 *  Lower air pollution because it don’t not release CO2.
 *  It is a renewable energy.
 * It is f airly clean.
 * Once is it developed it well be abundant and inexpensive.
 * Con
 *  Expensive to develop.
 * It is hard to control and contain because of it high temp and energy.

15. Explain what it would take to do your thing better or in a larger scale.

 * The first thing that needs to occur before this takes place on a larger scale will be to actually make one of these reaction happen. Scientists are very confident that they will be able to do it but we still have not seen one to date. As technology improves it will only make these reactions easier and increase the chances of seeing one of these plants built. The other problem that fusion faces is the large cost. Everything needed for this reaction to occur is very state of the art and that makes the price very expensive. For example the ITER reactor in France is going to cost an estimated 10 billion dollars. The amount of energy these plants will produce will eventually pay off the cost but scientists first need to figure out the cheapest and easiest way of creating fusion reactions. The ITER reactor is expected to produce 500MW of power.It will take large investments from energy companies or government funding to get these plants constructed.

16. Explain who uses that technology and why. If it isn't used very much explain that instead.

 * The technology isn’t use at all, scientist are still in the development poses.
 * Mainly scientist are trying to overcome the many obstacales that nuclear fusion has.

17. After learning about it what would you do next to change how its used? why?
In all honesty, one really cannot change much about how nuclear fusion is used. Its point is to produce energy and keep the energy crisis's away from negativity in the scientific world. As you have learned it involves the combing of atoms and the result is large amounts of electricity. There are no other real applications for this reaction other than producing energy. Without energy, this world would be at an incredible loss. Nuclear Fusion has almost limitless amounts of energy and will be cleaner and safer on the environment than any energy source to date.It will answer the energy crisis and put political and scientific debate to rest. Nuclear Fusion can help every single person on the planet.

Citation:

 * Freudenrich, Ph.D., Craig. "How Nuclear Fusion Reactors Work." 11 August 2005. HowStuffWorks.com.  31 May 2009.


 * http://library.thinkquest.org/17940/texts/fusion_dt/fusion_dt.html


 * http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1364/