The key is stronger magnetic fields, which shrink the size of tokamak [chamber] required, and subsequently simplify all that follows.
It “just ripples through the whole design. It changes the whole thing,” said MIT nuclear scientist Professor Dennis Whyte.
Achievable fusion power increases with the fourth power of magnetic field increase, so 2x the field produces 16x fusion power. “Any increase in the magnetic field gives you a huge win,” said post-grad Brandon Sorbom.
2x is not available, but enough magnetic increase to get 10x fusion is, said MIT.
By combining REBCO magnets and proven fusion principles, the team has designed a fusion research reactor, and potential prototype power plant, and described it in a paper in the journal Fusion Engineering and Design.
Half the diameter of the ITER fusion reactor to be built in France, which was designed before the new superconductors became available, said Sorbom, power output would be the same without any any new physics. As with ITER, continuous operation would be possible.
“We’re not extrapolating to some brand-new regime,” said Whyte.
Suiting it to research, the core of the MIT reactor can be removed without dismantling the entire machine. device. That makes it especially well-suited for research aimed at further improving the system by using different materials or designs to fine-tune the performance.
Most of the solid materials that surround the fusion chamber are replaced by a liquid that can be circulated and replaced. “It’s an extremely harsh environment for [solid] materials,” said Whyte.
Estimates are that power out would be 3x power in, increasing to five or six times with improvements in the design.
“Devices of a similar complexity and size have been built within about five years,” said MIT.
from News http://ift.tt/1MvHLeh
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