Spencer.Simmons.MMA.Fall2009.EnergyandWater

=** ​Nuclear Fusion **=

 One of the biggest problems the world faces today is the declining amount of fossil fuels there are for mankind to burn and use for energy. And further more there is nothing as of right now to completely take their place. Scientists today are desperately searching for a new source of energy to replace fossil fuels and slow down the devastating effects of global warming. The global demand for energy will increase with the years to come, and this rising demand presents many opportunities for our industry to find a new and better energy source to power our world. As we speak scientists are seeking new ways to reduce green house gases from the use of fossil fuels, expanding the use of alternative fuels and renewable and energy efficiency.
 * What is the problem at hand? **

The driving force behind this planets current energy crisis is humans. The United States alone uses over 20,000,000 barrels of oil a day and the worlds oil supplies are depleting rapidly. According to experts, they believe that petroleum will last another 40 years and that is it. Which leaves us with a major problem. How do we energize our current lifestyles? My partner and I looking into different new energy sources believe that in the near future Nuclear Fusion will play a major part in how we power the world.
 * Driving Force of the Problem**

Nuclear fusion is the energy source of the future. It is what provides [|the sun]  and the stars with the energy to shine continuously for billions of years. Fusion has been used here on earth to produce [|nuclear bombs] , but has not yet been controlled so that we can obtain useful energy. Fusion is like lighting a match to a bucket of gasoline. You need that input energy (the match), but what you get as a result is far more powerful.  media type="youtube" key="ERE_gbBWlD0" height="344" width="425"( [] )
 * Back ground on nuclear fusion**
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How it works ** Fusion is what happens when two atomic nuclei are forced together by high pressure, this pressure is high enough to overcome the strong repulsive forces of the respective protons in the nuclei. When the nuclei fuse, they form a new element, and release excess energy in the form of a fast-moving neutron. The energy is 'extra' because the mass of the newly formed nucleus is //less// than the sum of the masses of the original two nuclei; the extra mass is converted to energy according to Einstein's equation [|E=mc2] . The nuclei used by the sun, and in experiments on earth, that undergo fusion, are two isotopes of hydrogen called deuterium and tritium.



The first generation fusion reactors will use deuterium and tritium for fuel because they will fuse at a lower temperature. //Deuterium// can be easily extracted from seawater, where 1 in 6500 hydrogen atoms is deuterium. //Tritium// can be bred from lithium, which is abundant in the earth's crust. In the fusion reaction a deuterium and tritium atom combine together, or fuse, to form an atom of helium and an energetic neutron. It only takes a small amount of these isotopes to produce a lot of energy! The deuterium-tritium fusion reaction results in an energy gain of about 450:1!! No other energy source we can tap releases so much energy for the amount that is input.

This process only produces helium and the energy to be used **__There is no CO2 produced. ( [] )__**   In the sun the energy to force nuclei together comes from the [|sun's immense internal temperatures] , approaching 40,000,000 or more degrees at the center! In order to cause nuclei to fuse here on earth (and release their stored energy), they must either be heated to that temperature, or caused to move fast enough to simulate a correspondingly high temperature. In order for fusion reactions to occur, the particles must be hot enough in sufficient number (density) and well contained. These simultaneous conditions are represented by a fourth state of matter known as plasma. In plasma, electrons are stripped from their nuclei. Plasma, therefore, consists of charged particles, ions and electrons. There are two ways that are being explored for confining these hot plasmas - magnetic and inertial. media type="youtube" key="sSi-zSeS0_Y" height="344" width="425"( @http://EZGasSavers.com )
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There is only one problem… **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">


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Magnetic confinement ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Magnetic confinement is when a powerful magnetic field traps hot deuterium-tritium plasma long enough for fusion to begin.



<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> In November 1997, researchers exploiting the magnetic confinement approach created a fusion reaction that produced 65 percent as much energy as was fed into it to initiate the reaction. It was a doughnut-shaped vessel in which the plasma is magnetically confined. A commercial fusion reactor would have to produce far more energy than went into it to start or maintain the reaction. A 'Tokamak' reactor. Powerful magnets keep the charged nuclei moving in a circle, at high speeds.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The plasma is confined not by the material walls but by magnetic fields. There are two reasons for using a magnetic confinement. First, no known material can withstand the hundred-million degree temperatures required for fusion. Second, keeping the plasma in a magnetic bottle insulates it, making it easier to heat up. These reactors are inherently safe. If the plasma escapes, it immediately cools down, and the reaction stops. Escaping neutrons and energy would heat a body of water; a steam turbine and generator would produce electricity. ( [] )
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Inertial Confinement ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Inertial confinement makes use of intense laser or electron beams to implode a fuel pellet. The pellet of deuterium or tritium fuel - a peppercorn-size fuel pellet - must be bombarded by two million joules, delivered in 4 nanoseconds. This is a power demand of 500 terawatts, and the equivalent of condensing up to ten hours' worth of electricity used by half a dozen homes into a fraction of a second. Many pulsed laser beams hit the fuel pellet simultaneously, causing the surface of the pellet to become very hot plasma. This plasma expands inward, compressing the remaining deuterium and tritium so much that its temperature rises to the required 100,000,000 degrees. For about one tenth of a billionth of a second, there are the same conditions inside the pellet as those inside a star, and fusion takes place.



<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; msospacerun: yes; text-align: center;"> ( [] ) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 132%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Currently there is noone using this technology to create energy. This reaction requires temperatures reaching into the 100,000,000's. In labs scientists have been able to create this reaction for seconds but because of the high demand of heat it dies out rapidly. Currently they are developing reactors that are able to reach these high temperatures and allow this reaction to take place. The Institute of Plasma Physics in Germany are currently leading the pack in developing a way to harness this great energy. ( [] )
 * So who is using this technology?**

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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How much energy it could produce? ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Fusion fuel is very energy dense. A thimbleful of liquid heavy-hydrogen fuel could produce as much energy as 20 tons of coal. Or, more realistically, one pick-up truck full of deuterium would release the energy equivalent of approximately 2 million tons of coal (21,000 rail car loads), or 1.3 million tons of oil (10 million barrels), or 30 tons of Uranium Oxide (1 rail car load). Clearly, with seawater as our energy source, our energy problems would be over forever! There is only one problem that researchers are having today with nuclear fusion. Scientists can not figure out how to sustain this process long enough to gain adequate amounts of energy. The plasma circulating around the magnetic fusion reactor, is only able to stay hot enough for a few seconds and can only produce small amounts of heat and energy then shuts down. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; msospacerun: yes;"> **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Why Will Fusion Power Be Important? ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman';">By the middle of the next century, the world's population will double, and energy demand will triple. This will be due in large part to the industrialization and economic growth of developing nations. Continued use of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) will rapidly deplete these limited and localized natural resources.

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There is, perhaps, another 50-100 years supply of oil and natural gas, and enough coal for several hundred years. Burning these fossil fuels threatens to irreparably harm our environment.



On the other hand, the deuterium in the earth's oceans is sufficient to fuel advanced fusion reactors for millions of years.



The waste product from a deuterium-tritium fusion reactor is ordinary harmless helium. Solar and renewable energy technologies will play a role in our energy future. Although they are inherently safe and feature an unlimited fuel supply, they are geographically limited, climate dependent and unable to meet the energy demands of a populous and industrialized world. Another option, nuclear fission, suffers from a negative public perception. High-level radioactive waste disposal, and the proliferation threat of weapons-grade nuclear materials, are major concerns. The fuel supply in this case, uranium, is large, but ultimately limited to several hundred years. The prospect of successful nuclear fusion technology, on the other hand, promises virtually unlimited energy, with very little danger. The radiation from a magnetic containment device is easily shielded, and (unlike uranium-fuelled fission power plants), if there is an accident and the magnetic containment is breached, the reaction immediately stops! Nuclear fusion indeed looks like it may be the power source of the future!<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">