Can humans use the "artificial sun" to get energy?

Imagine if, one day, when local ball resources are drying up, can humans use the "artificial sun" to get energy? A group of top scientists from more than 30 countries, including China, is working methodically on the International Thermonuclee Fusion Experimental Reactor Program, the world's largest scientific collaboration project.
the project also has a more graphic name: the artificial sun, as the project simulates the principle of nuclear fusion inside the sun.
to Chengdu, a team of up to 500 people is busy working around the night for the project at the Southwest Institute of Physics, 5 Huangjing Road, Shuanglio District.
last October, by the "Sichuan team" independently developed and manufactured the international thermonuclear fusion core components "first wall", the international first through the authority certification.
this is a major contribution to the project of "Sichuan Wisdom", which has been hailed as one of the great causes in the history of mankind.
October 20, cover news - Huaxi Metropolis Daily reporters walked into the team, in-depth visit to the "artificial sun" project behind the "Sichuan power."
specifically reminded today's cover news video to focus on the "artificial sun" to solve the ultimate problem of human energy, the mission to find new clean energy for the next hundred or even hundreds of years, involving more than 30 countries, the world's largest scientific cooperative project - the International Thermonuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor Program ("ITER") is being carried out in many countries.
ITER experimental reactor is built in France with a construction budget of about $5.5 billion, and on the technical side, China will undertake about 9% of the research and development and manufacturing tasks - specifically undertaken by scientists from the Southwest Institute of Physics of the Nuclear Industry and the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
, the Southwest Institute of Physics of the Nuclear Industry in Chengdu has taken on the task of developing about half of these components.
is the "artificial sun"? How will it solve the ultimate problem of human energy? Download and log on to the cover story APP and follow the lens to experience the "Sichuan Power" behind this great scientific project.
the energy of the solar energy of 100 million degrees C high temperature to achieve plasma controlled nuclear fusion everything growth depends on the sun.
as the main star of the solar system, the sun's interior is constantly occurring nuclear fusion reaction, providing the Earth with a constant stream of light and heat. How can
achieve the "artificial sun"? The scientists thought of a way to put a mass of plasma fireballs in hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius and suspend them with a magnetic field, without touching any of the surrounding container materials.
at this point, it can be heated, controlled, and then to achieve "controlled nuclear fusion", the realization of "artificial sun."
plasma nature "debauchery", preferring to drift. how can
"control" it? At the Southwest Institute of Physics of the nuclear industry, there is a special device to hold this fireball, which is the China Circulator II A Tokamak device.
its main body is doughnut-shaped, with dozens of "tentacles" extending around the edges, shaped like a star.
the device, a closed magnetic field is generated by numerous copper conductor coils that constrain the behavior of dispersed plasma.
if the test device is regarded as a microwave oven, Huang Mei, a researcher and senior engineer at the Southwest Institute of Physics of the nuclear industry, works to continuously warm the device.
many ways to warm up a microwave oven, and Huang Mei's way is one of them, called "electronic swing wave heating".
"simply, it is through microwave injection plasma, to add fire to the microwave oven, so that the internal temperature is rising, so that food more ripe.
", the temperature of the Tokamak unit has risen to 55 million degrees Celsius, the highest temperature ever reached by a domestic device.
", "To achieve a controlled nuclear fusion reaction, it is necessary to achieve a high temperature of more than 100 million degrees C, as well as a sufficiently high density, etc., if for some reason the conditions can not be met, the fusion reaction will stop.
", for Huang Mei, how to continue to warm the device, to achieve the "ignition" requirements, they will continue to face a subject.
40 trillion tons of radon will solve the human energy problem of the team of 100 people, sitting in the operating hall.
to the front of the two large screens, observing the changes in the relevant parameters, the eyes are afraid to blink, for fear of missing any trace.
this high tension, working for ten years, Chung Wuru goes through two rounds a year.
are usually spring experiments from March to May, and winter experiments in November to close to the Lunar New Year.
every experiment, insiders call it "a gun."
experiment is usually 1 to 2 seconds long because of the high power consumption.
as a "full-time doctor" for plasma diagnosis, Zhong Wu law through each experiment, found plasma changes in the binding process.
the two shots were fired at short intervals of only eight minutes.
therefore, they must make a judgment within 8 minutes and adjust the settings of the relevant parameters.
" ion body changes very quickly, reaching the microsecond or millisecond level.
" therefore, there is a saying in the industry, plasma analysis and physics experiments, not enough for 5 years, simply can not touch the edge.
work like Zhong Wu's, there is a more complex division of labor.
so complex and vast, why start the "artificial sun" project? In the eyes of the industry, nuclear energy consists of two ways: nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.
atomic bomb is the principle of nuclear fission, hydrogen bomb, sun is the principle of nuclear fusion.
man-made solar project, also known as "controlled thermonuclear fusion energy", is considered to be the most ideal clean energy for mankind because of its inherent safety, pollution-free superiority and abundant fuel resources. Xu Min, deputy director of the Institute of Fusion Science at the Southwest Institute of Physics in the
Nuclear Industry, further explained that the most easily realized nuclear fusion energy comes from the intense reaction of the hydrogen isotopes, thorium and thorium.
extracted from a litre of seawater, a fully fusion reaction releases the equivalent of burning 300 liters of gasoline.
scientists initially estimated that about 40 trillion tons of thorium were found in the Earth's seawater.
other hand, its environmental acceptability is better, because the fusion reaction, the product is helium, itself is not radioactive.
scientists, nuclear fusion has long been seen as a hope for solving future energy problems.
related link innovation-driven economic transformation to 2020 scientific and technological progress to Sichuan's economic growth contribution rate of 60% of the 10, C919, pterron drones and other world-renowned achievements, are from "Made in Sichuan."
"Beidou" satellite mobile communication system, three generations of nuclear power technology and other major common technologies to achieve breakthroughs, electronic information, aerospace, nuclear technology, such as leading the country.
participating in the International Thermonuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor (ITER) program has made positive progress, nano-film layer preparation, composite material process integration and other key technologies to achieve the international leading level ... With innovation-driven development, Sichuan is making every effort to build a new engine of economic development, a new driving force.
The "13th Five-Year Plan" for scientific and technological innovation in Sichuan Province, issued at the beginning of this year, proposes that by 2020, the scientific and technological strength and innovation ability of our province will have leapt sharply, the comprehensive innovation reform experiment has achieved important stage results, the reform of the scientific and technological system has made a major breakthrough, mass entrepreneurship, innovation and vigorous development, the province as a whole has entered the stage of innovation-driven development, the initial formation of an innovative economic pattern, and accelerated the establishment of a national innovation-driven development-first province and innovative Sichuan.
by the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan, the proportion of research and development support for the whole society will reach 2.0% of the region's gross domestic product, the proportion of research and development investment in industrial enterprises above the scale will increase to 0.8% of the main business income, the patent ownership per 10,000 people will be 7.5, and the number of r and D (research and development) per 10,000 employed people will be Up to 32 people per year / 10,000 people; technology market turnover of 40 billion yuan; the proportion of citizens with basic scientific literacy reached 8%; 5000 high-tech enterprises, high-tech industry output value of more than 2 trillion yuan, of which the total industrial output value accounted for more than 30% of the total industrial output value; scientific and technological progress to economic growth contribution rate of 60%.
is an artificial sun? Suspend a plasma fireball at a high temperature of hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius with a magnetic field and do not come into contact with any surrounding container material.
and control it, and then realize "controlled nuclear fusion" to achieve "artificial sun".
, deputy director of fusion science at the Southwest Institute of Physics of the Nuclear Industry, said that in the process of studying the "artificial sun", a large number of cutting-edge technologies will be produced, expecting the bulb to be lit by nuclear fusion.
Pinghuai, chief engineer of the Chinese project for the core components of the
"artificial sun": the timely transfer of heat requires a special structure, only to overcome the two material connection processes, the project team submitted as many as a dozen national patent applications. Huang Mei, a researcher and senior engineer at the Southwest Institute of Physics of the
Nuclear Industry: Plasma nature is "debauchery", and the China Circulator NO. 2 A Tokamak device is designed to restrain the behavior of dispersed plasma.
plasma diagnosis "full-time doctor" Zhong Wulaw: ion body changes to microseconds or milliseconds level, must be in the experimental interval of 8 minutes, to make a judgment and adjust the setting of relevant parameters.
expression becomes calm, determined, not smiling. Wang Pinghuai, the chief engineer of the Chinese project at the "first wall" of the "artificial sun" core component,
, has a standard "scientific face" or a "engineering man" face.
any outside noise, it's hard to make too much waves on his face. when
speak, that rigorous to the ultimate style, so eager to find a burst in the conversation of the listener, can not help but get mad.
only when the mention of the "first wall", his expression will be like the thawing spring water, slowly stretching, the face of the expression of undisguised joy, a circle of ripples.
last December, the international thermonuclear fusion core components independently developed and manufactured by Wang Pinghuai team, "first wall", the first in the international community through the certification of authoritative institutions.
has put China behind the U.S. for 20 years of technology, leaping from "running" to "leading the way."
looking for a decade to find materials to reduce the cost of monopoly technology in the United States by 90% What is the first wall? The fusion material in the experimental device releases high-intensity thermal radiation at all times.
temperature in the core area can reach 100 million degrees Celsius, and if the material is not performing well, it will either melt instantaneously from the heat or cause the reactor boiler to go out.
Said Wang Pinghuai said that to build the core of the "artificial sun", special materials need to build a "firewall" to resist the device's internal high temperature environment of hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius.
has developed such high-temperature core materials throughout the international thermonuclee fusion reactor program.
material, developed by Chinese scientists, is at the core of the reactor and faces the high-temperature fusion material directly, making it known as the reactor's "first wall."
2006, China officially joined ITER and accepted the development of core components of thermonuclear fusion reactors.
more than 10 years, through five clearances cut six generals, Wang Pinghuai team opened the "first wall" of the long scientific research road.
Wang Pinghuai said, looking for the "first wall", the first pass is the material.
in the face of hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius heat scorching, any ordinary material will instantly fly out of smoke.
, it was generally accepted that a special metal material with high heat resistance was the best choice.
, the United States was in a technology monopoly among the countries in the world with high-purity extraction and manufacturing technology for this material.
this high-purity metal material, a kilogram of external sales of more than millions of yuan.
because of the scarcity of materials, the U.S. sells only a small amount.
" most of the time, money can't be bought.
," Wang Pinghuai said.
, in 2004, team members began a decade of special material development from high-purity metal material extraction.
90 percent reduction in U.S. monopoly prices after the advent of materials developed by Wang Pinghuai's team.
Lost molds determine the fate of a year and a half time failed more than a dozen one-way nearly 30 hours of train, all the way from the Chengdu Plain across the top of Qinling, to the yellow sand outside the plug and kill, and finally arrived at the terminal in Ningxia, a small town.
from 2014 to October 2015, the 1,300-kilometer railway line became a nightmare for 32 members of Wang Pinghuai's project team, and the project ran into a real downturn.
solved the "first wall" material problem, Wang Pinghuai next to crack the structural problem.
developers came up with a special structure to transfer heat away in a timely manner.
it was a structure that looked like a sandwich, with stainless steel underneath and copper alloy in the middle, with a special high-purity metal material on it.
use a special method to combine these materials together.
how to form a complete functional piece of two "personality" completely different materials becomes a new challenge for them.
" it was arguably the most painful journey we've had in the last five years.
" Wang Pinghuai admits that the physical difference between the two is too great.
the metal material above is the lightest and most active alkaline metal element, with a thermal conductivity that is more than twice as bad as copper and gold.
the two are forcibly connected together, forming a new phase of object, brittle and fractureable.
especially at the end of 2013, ITER changed its design situ at the "First Wall" to make it more demanding.
the high difficulty of this process, but also let the "first wall" research and development team experienced more than a year of downturn.
changes to the design, they make modules with a success rate of less than 20%.
Wang Pinghuai still remembers that dark days.
because Sichuan does not have the relevant machining plant, each module of the final machining to Ningxia.
each time it takes about three weeks from design to detection.
30-hour journey, exhausted, but hopeful for those who send modules.
the landscape has changed from Chengdu to Serbia.
all this makes no sense to the team members.
the kilos of modules in the bag, it's more like carrying the whole.