Another step closer to fusion power?

[jobberone]

A crushed tube the size of a thread spool has brought the United States one step closer to harnessing nuclear fusion as a clean, almost limitless power source.


The experiment at Sandia National Laboratories

in New Mexico tested how well a tiny cylinder could withstand the crushing magnetic force from the lab's "Z machine"

— a pulsed-power accelerator that zapped the cylinder with 25 million amperes of electric current. The "liner" cylinder collapsed on itself, as would be expected, but remained intact enough to theoretically squeeze together deuterium or tritium fuel, triggering nuclear fusion.
"Our experiments were designed to test a sweet spot predicted by the simulations where a sufficiently robust liner could implode with a sufficiently high velocity," said Ryan McBride, a researcher at the laboratories in Albuquerque.


Such careful balance is needed to crush the beryllium cylinder in the right way to achieve sustainable fusion someday. A thicker cylinder would make the crushing implosion less efficient, and a thinner cylinder could rip apart under the stress.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/09/23/another-step-closer-to-fusion-power/#ixzz27PCc5yYk
​

 

[joseephuss]

Nice.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Fusion is definitely the future if they can get it worked out. It's clean like renewable energy, but far far far more capable than any other fuel source.

 

[jobberone]

Probably 2050 although could be sooner for first real commercially viable reactor although they'll have some that will generate more than consumption.

 

[NorthTexan95]

Creating energy and storing energy ... and escaping our gravity well. Improvements in these three areas can rapidly change how we live our lives.

 

[speedkilz88]

Is this related to cold fusion that had some controversial claims in the past?

 

[YosemiteSam]

Is this related to cold fusion that had some controversial claims in the past?

Protons are positively charged. Two protons will repel each other. Fusion is the heating of protons so that can overcome the repulsion and have two nuclei become fused as one. The heat required can be in the millions of degrees.

Cold fusion is the process of fusing the protons at near room temperature. It requires a different process. Usually pressure rather than heat. Thus far, cold fusion has never been proven to be possible.

What they are talking about here is basically the same exact thing that happens inside the sun. Basically we would be generating power the same way the sun generates it's power. By fusing lighter atomic nuclei into heavier atomic nuclei.

 

[speedkilz88]

Protons are positively charged. Two protons will repel each other. Fusion is the heating of protons so that can overcome the repulsion and have two nuclei become fused as one. The heat required can be in the millions of degrees.

Cold fusion is the process of fusing the protons at near room temperature. It requires a different process. Usually pressure rather than heat. Thus far, cold fusion has never been proven to be possible.

What they are talking about here is basically the same exact thing that happens inside the sun. Basically we would be generating power the same way the sun generates it's power. By fusing lighter atomic nuclei into heavier atomic nuclei.

Okay, but from my understanding that this way will require large equipment rather than with cold fusion (if it worked) could be extremely small.