Vitek.Martin.wiki.spring2011

NUCLEAR FUSION

__The Problem __ Through the years, technology has increased. We as a human race rely on technology, and this technology runs on energy. Today’s world is seeing the start of a crisis, the depletion of the earth’s natural resources such as natural gas and oil. What will happen when these resources run out? What will we use to power basically our lives? Not only are we running out of fuel, but we are also destroying the earth’s atmosphere with the fuel we are using now. Cars. A very important need of today’s society. The majority of these automobiles run off of gasoline, processed oil. When this fuel is burned off in an engine, a large amount of CO2 is emitted. CO2 is considered a Green House Gas. The reason a large concentration of Green House Gasses is so bad for the environment is where they sit in the earth’s ozone. They sit right under the earth’s stratosphere, locking in heat and radiation, and not allowing them to escape back through the ozone. This has caused an increase of the earth’s average temperature progressively over the last century since the Industrial Revolution. These Green House Gasses deteriorate the earth’s atmosphere, eating away at it, causing holes in the ozone. With so many automobiles being produced and running on the world’s streets, factories, and power plants producing these green house gasses, the concentration will continue to increase.

This problem has been seriously looked at for the last decade or so. Scientists and engineer s have mainly tried to manage the emissions of automobiles, since over 97% of the world’s transportation relies on oil. There has been a large amount of cars designed to have much more fuel efficient engines. A variety engines have come out like hybrid engines, engines that combine the energy of two sources such as diesel and electric. A hybrid engine has an electric motor that provides additional power to the gas engine, providing a much more fuel efficient car which also produces less pollutant emissions. Some other car makers are also making electric powered, hydrogen powered, and hydrogen fuel cell powered cars. There has been a huge step to conquering fuel emissions but we have just scratched the tip of the ice berg, we have a long time to go before we can rely on another source of fuel other than oil.

__A New Source of Energy __

My partner and I believe the future of energy is the sun. Not harnessing the suns energy, but imitating it. The sun produces enough energy ever second to power earth for one million years. The sun produces its energy by the nuclear of fusion of Hydrogen. At sun’s core under an immense amount of pressure and at 15 million degrees, these hydrogen atoms cha nge into a plasma state. The hydrogen particles fuse with one another producing a helium nuclei and an immense amount of energy. __The Process __ Scientists have started to imitate this process of nuclear fusion. This process is basically as the same as the sun's, however with different numbers. It all starts with two isotopes of Hydrogen, Deuterium and Tritium. Deuterium is very common, mostly found in water. The process of electrolysis is used to extract the Deuterium. Tritium is a very heavy isotope of Hydrogen with weak radioactivity. Tritium has a half life of 12 years so it is very rare in nature, only about 2.5 to 3 kilograms exist in nature, so it has to be made artificially. The source of this rare isotope? Rocks. Lithium 6, commonly found in rocks, is bombarded by neutrons. This produces Tritium and Helium. The energy is created when these to isotopes fuse together. Using the same principles as the sun, the two isotopes are heated to a temperature of over 100,000,000 degrees Celsius to create the state of plasma. Now you might be wondering why the temperature is so extremely high compared to the sun’s 15,000,000 degrees Celsius. This is because there is so much more pressure acting on the hydrogens at the core of the sun, than can be produced on earth, so the temperature must be significantly higher on earth. The temperature must also be extremely high because the two hydrogen isotopes are both positively charged and naturally repel each other. So once the temperature is high enough to create a plasma, the temperature must also be enough energy to fuse the repelling particles. When the Deuterium and Tritium fuse, a Helium nucleus is produced and also one spare neutron is released. When this fusion occurs an immense amount of energy is released. So to sum up the process: Deuterium and Tritium are heated to extreme temperatures to produce the state of plasma. In this state the Deuterium and Tritium fuse and produce a Helium nucleus and a spare neutron. S o now how can this be used to produce power attainable for the human race? The answer is the Tokamak process. The Tokamak process uses the Tokamak device to create the nuclear fusion process. The Tokamak device is a ring shaped chamber in which the fusion takes place. The process starts with a gas mixture of Deuterium and Tritium being pumped into the chamber. An electric coil in the center of the ring then simultaneously moves the gas around the chamber, and begins to heat the gas in the chamber to over 100,000,000 degrees Celsius in just a few seconds. The gas then reaches the plasma state in which the particles need to be in order to fuse. The reason plasma is so key in this process is because plasma allows the mixture of free electrons and ionized atomic nuclei which is need for fusion. Once in the plasma the Deuterium and Tritium begin to fuse and for every Deuterium and Tritium particle to fuse, a Helium nucleus and a spare neutron is produced. The formula for this reaction is 2**H + 3H > 4He + n.**

There is a lot of detail that goes into the Tokamak device that is worth mentionin g, because without this device, nuclear fusion would not be possible.  Every detail to this machine has a purpose. Let’s first start with the shape. The ring is very important, because particles must not be allowed to escape the poles of the magnetic field and a ring is the only shape of plasma to do this. Also the ring is one of the most efficient shapes in nature to be able to hold its energy. Think of smoking cigars or hookah. When a person exhales the smoke normally, the smoke dissipates fairly quickly, media type="youtube" key="g8BZyiggEAE" height="244" width="296" align="right"within a few inches of mouth. However when a person talented enough blows a smoke ring out of the mouth, this ring can carry for a pretty fair distance, one or two feet, before it starts to dissipate, and then it dissipates much slower than straight smoke. The ring can hold its energy, and this is exactly what scientist need when dealing with plasma. The longer the plasma can hold, the more fusions that can occur, the more energy that can be produced. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Another important part, is the magnetic rings that circle the ring chamber. A major detail to making this whole fusion thing work, is that the plasma at no time during the reaction can touch the walls of the chamber. This is for two reasons. The first is that if <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> the plasma comes in direct contact with the walls of the chamber, the reaction will cease instantly. But not only with the reaction stop, but if the 100,000,000 degree Celsius <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">plasma comes in direct with the panels that make up the walls, these panels will be severely damaged, if not destroyed, and these panels are not cheap. This is where the magnets come in. "Plasma consists of positively charged atomic nuclei and negatively charge electrons therefor it can be influenced by electric and magnetic fields." The magnetic ring has a positive charge along the side touching the device. The two positive charges of the magnet and plasma oppose each other and the plasma never touches the walls of the chamber. But the walls are only undamaged for a certain period of time.

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Why aren’t we using it right now? __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">So fusion creates a large amount of energy, actually more energy than any other known fuel, but how come we don’t use it for power? Actually that’s where the problem occurs with this process. Now 80 percent of the energy from the reaction is stored in the spare neutron that was spoken about earlier. Theoretically, the process would go something like this. Fusion occurs in the Tokamak device, a Helium nucleus and spare neutron is produced, 80 percent of the energy is located in that neutron so we want to extract it. The neutrons have no charge so are not acted on by the magnet and freely move out of the chamber into a converter of some type. The energy in the neutron is thermal, so the thermal energy would have to be converted into electrical energy via something like the picture below.



<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Scientist claim that the power required to do the process is around 40 Megawatts. The power the process is estimated to provide is around 500 Megawatts. Scientists have found that one gram of fuel of the fusion, is equal to the combustion energy of 11 tons of coal. Two liters of water (Deuterium) and 250 grams of rocks (Tritium) can power an average home of a family of four for an entire year. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">But like said before, there is a problem. Scientists have not yet figured out how to obtain this electricity. The plasma can only be sustained for a long period under extremely specific conditions and any disturbance, even minor ones, terminates the reaction. Since the scientists don’t know how to extract the neutrons without disturbing the plasma, they can’t derive electricity and power from it. Also like stated in previously the heat is immense and the materials needed to optimize the process have not been found yet. "The neutrons produced from fusion, they damage the walls of the structure and will lead you to have to replace them quite quickly, so we've got to develop new materials."(David Ward) In experiments now, the fusion only lasts several seconds to a couple minutes. In the future the reactor will have to run for months at a time under extreme heat without fail. This is why new materials are needed.This is a fairly new discovery and the technology has not yet allowed scientists to succeed. However, the first nuclear fusion power plant is scheduled to be up and running by the year 2035.

__<span style="background-color: #f00a0a; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">ITER __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Today there are several research centers located around the world, experimenting with this process and trying to produce electricity from it by performing tests. But more excitement is going to a research that hasn't even been completed yet, ITER. ITER stands for International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, but also means "the way" in Latin. ITER was formed in 2007 by a joint agreement by China, European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United states, and " <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;">ITER is a large-scale scientific experiment intended to prove the viability of fusion as an energy source, and to collect the data necessary for the design and subsequent operation of the first electricity-producing fusion power plant." ITER's goal is <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">"Q ≥ 10 represents the scientific goal of the ITER project: to deliver ten times the power it consumes." The reason ITER <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> is such an important role in nuclear fusion power because it is really the first government funded project in the world and once completed will give scientists a huge supply of resources to complete the project. ITER is basically phase 2 in a 4 phase process. Phase 1 was a project called JET, which was on a much smaller scale and only produced around 20 megawatts of energy. ITER being phase 2 is on a much larger scale then JET and produces around 500 megawatts of energy. DEMO is the third phase, in which nuclear fusion is produced on a commercial scale. And the final phase is a nuclear fusion power plant producing electricity for human use. Although the third and fourth phases are not accomplishable for a few more years, ITER is the bridge to these phases. The headquarters of ITER are scheduled to be completed in 2019 with there own Tokamak reactor up and running. However, there are temporary buildings in which the ITER team are conducting tests and experiments.

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Benefits __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Even though scientists have not yet mastered the process of nuclear fusion, there are many benefits when they do. First off, the obvious reason is the amount of power this process produces and so little fuel is needed. A bath tub of water and a pile of rocks could supply one man’s power needs, home electricity, transportation etc., for thirty years. This is ground breaking. There is literally a limitless amount fuel. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Second, there would never be fear of radiation. Even though Tritium is mildly radioactive, if the gas mixture were to ever escape the chamber, scientists and workers could still go in and fix the problem without any special gear and not have to worry at all about radiation poisoning. This is a huge benefit. Look at Japan right now. They are in the midst of a crisis that could take several decades to recover from. Nuclear fusion would completely erase this danger. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Thirdly, there is no chain reaction. “Chain reaction” means once the process has started it can’t be stopped. Nuclear fission, the process of splitting an atom to derive power, is an example of a chain reaction. This chain reaction is the reason for the scare in Japan. Without a chain reaction, the process is completely controllable and can be stopped at any time. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fourth, the process is cheap compared to the amount of energy produced. It produces around ten times the amount of energy put in. This says enough for itself, but wow. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The fifth benefit, D Reich you’re going to love this one, it leaves 0, none, nothing, nada CO2 emissions. This would significantly make a dent in the total Green House Gas emissions around the world and would provide a much healthier climate which would be less likely to change. The atmosphere would also be able to rebuild itself, filling the hole that Green House Gases have created.

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Critics __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">However there is one believed con in this whole project. First off there is going to be billions of dollars and a lot of time being put into this project, that is in no way guaranteed to work. Many think this money should go into research in other areas such as improving nuclear fission, building less wasteful automobile engines, hydrogen fuel cells etc. “Critics argue against the billions spent and yet to be spent of fusion research, saying energy sources like wind, solar and geothermal are far more achievable on commercial scale far sooner.”The money definitely could go to places in which we would see a result much quicker.

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt;">Supporters __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">My partner and I have one thing to say to these critics. Billions now, will save trillions in the end. This statement is true. So the question, can scientists justify spending so much money on such a big project? Chris Llewellyn Smith believes so. “Absolute yes. You got to realize that sum is dwarfed by the scale of the problem we are trying to tackle. Its dwarfed by the scale of the energy market which is about five trillion dollars a year. Its dwarfed by subsidies to renewable which world wide are about 45 billion dollars and even more, believe it or not, by subsidies to fossil fuels which are running over five hundred billion a year. We’re getting 13.3 terawatts from fossil fuels right now, that numbers going up and if you ask what can replace them. We cannot afford not develop fusion.” The input power to output power ratio is like nothing seen before and if this project, should I say, when this project is successful, the way the world runs will totally change. Society will advance and along with it technology. This is a stepping stone to more advances in all of science. This could literally change the world.

__<span style="background-color: #f00a0a; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 160%;">Conclusion __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 23px;">After researching nuclear fusion we have realized that mankind is on the brink of discovering something that can not only change our planet but save our planet. With the production of no green house gases this is truly a clean energy source. Also the materials are literally limitless. Within the next century the worlds population is expected to double, and with technology improving every day, the world's energy demand is expected to triple. Fossil fuel deposits are close to being dried up and unusable, leaving the world left with very few options for power. Nuclear fusion, when perfected, will meet this demand. It might be in the next ten years, it might be in fifty, but nuclear fusion is the energy source of the future. It has all the human race could ever ask for, 0 pollutants or green house gases, fuel is limitless, and the power out put is more than has ever been seen before. It is now all up to the scientists to provide us with this energy, but my partner and I feel comfortable in saying that in our lifetime, we will see houses powered by nuclear fusion.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: 31px;">Picture and Video Sources []

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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 160%;">﻿Research Sources [] (Fusion- From here to reality)

[] (ITER- a fusion facility worth building)

[] (ITER, the way to fusion power (1 of 2)

[] (ITER, the way to fusion power (2 of 2)

[] (Nuclear Fusion Power Plant- Clean Infinite Energy)

[] (Nuclear Fusion video from National Geographic)

[] (Fusion 2100) (this one’s cool)

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[|www.iter.org]

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