Stabilizing plasma in fusion reactors brings us a step closer to creating an unlimited source of energy.
In 2017, a significant advancement towards stable nuclear
energy fusion was made by researchers. They figured out how to keep the plasma
in fusion reactors stable so that densities and temperatures wouldn't
fluctuate.
As long as scientists can manage this type of power source,
nuclear fusion is thought to be the solution to producing endless green energy.
And now, despite using simulations, it appears that they are getting closer to
stabilising plasma in fusion reactors!
In an effort to stabilise plasma in fusion reactors, a team
of researchers from Princeton University recently conducted a number of
simulations at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory of the US Department of
Energy in New Jersey. And sure enough, they figured out how to pull it off!
One of the states of matter is plasma. In our everyday lives
on Earth, plasma does not meet the criteria for being a liquid, solid, or gas.
It is abundant in stars throughout the universe.
Scientists can create a plasma state on Earth through the
use of highly charged particles created in fusion reactors. That said,
stabilising the plasma is a very difficult procedure.
The nuclear fusion reaction usually comes to an end when the
current becomes strong enough to destabilise and stop the reactions because
plasma is typically found oscillating in density and temperature. This
phenomenon is known as sawtooth instability.
On the other hand, the researchers in New Jersey may have
discovered a means of stabilising plasma in nuclear fusion reactors through
simulation. Scientists attempted to duplicate the same processes inside
multiple fusion reactors by studying the models set by stars in the cosmos.
Atoms split into highly charged ions and electrons when
superheated hydrogen atoms suspended in plasma collide with one another in the
reactors. Helium is then created when the electrons and ions combine.
Large amounts of heat and energy are produced by this
process, which can be used to produce electricity.
A magnetic flux pumping mechanism is used by the reactor to
maintain the current in the plasma's core. Additionally, by doing this, some of
the plasmas remain stable, continuing the reactions instead of stopping them.
Based on the most recent simulations, magnetic flux pumping
can be triggered in two hybrid scenarios. There are two possible scenarios: the
first involves a stable plasma (H-mode), while the second involves some sort of
energy leakage (L-mode).
The flux pumping in the PPPL simulations was developed using
a hybrid scenario in which the plasma pressure is high enough and the current
in the plasma core stays flat. When the two combine, a "quasi-interchange
mode" is produced that distorts the magnetic field and mixes up the
plasma.
This mixing effect prevents the formation of sawtooth
instability while guaranteeing that the current remains flat.
Post-doctoral research associate Isabel Krebs led this study
and discussed the discovery's potential uses in the future, stating, "This
mechanism may be of considerable interest for future large-scale fusion
experiments such as ITER."
Without a doubt, this development in plasma stabilisation is
a positive step towards future environmental progress.
Details of this new research have been published in the Physics of Plasma journal.