The miniature sun provides endless energy for people

US scientists are developing a reactive, fusion-like power plant that takes place on the Sun, capable of providing endless energy.

According to Nature World News, physicists at the Princeton Plasma Energy Laboratory, US (PPPL) created a "Miniature Sun" in test form. It is capable of providing clean, safe and almost endless energy to humans, ending the dependence on fossil fuels.

The test device has the form of a seamless spherical tokamak. Tokamak is a device used to create reactive combinations controlled in plasma environments. Currently, there are only two such devices in the world, including the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade device (NSTX-U) at PPPL and Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST) at the Center for Heat Energy Research. Culham gang, England, according to Eurek Alert.

Nuclear power plants now use fission, producing energy through nuclear decay. Although highly efficient, this reaction is expensive and dangerous because of the creation of a byproduct of radioactive waste.

The whole scene where the thermonuclear reaction reactor is located.(Photo: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory).

In contrast, thermonuclear reactions produce energy by combining the nucleus so it is safer and does not produce radioactive waste. However, this reaction requires a warmer temperature than the Sun. This is why the spherical Tokamak is used. Tokamak can produce plasma, the fourth state of matter at very high pressures and temperatures, which activates the fusion reaction with relatively low and inexpensive magnetic fields.

Operation of the device consists of three steps. First, the plasma will be created by using super hot hydrogen gas (about 150 million degrees Celsius) in the laboratory.

Next, the pressure is increased to compress the plasma and push the nuclei to collide with each other to create a fusion reaction. The strong magnetic field generated from superconducting coils wrapped around is used in this process. Scientists hope the reactive heat radiates enough to sustain itself and convert part of it into electricity.

While the traditional tokamak has a torus-like torus, the spherical tokamak is more compact and looks like an apple core. Tokamak fusion reactors can create the basis for fusion energy.

"We are opening new options for future power plants , " said Jonathan Menard, lead author of the study, director of the NSTX-U upgrade program at PPPL.

However, there are still many challenges, such as increased turbulence when the plasma is introduced into the magnetic field, the reaction interruption occurs when the plasma density in the furnace is too high or mixed due to the interaction process. with oven wall. Researchers at PPPL, Culham and around the world need to find ways to address these challenges for future reactor generations.