The Department of Energy awarded a $1.05 million grant to the University’s nuclear fusion device, the Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications, or HIDRA. This grant, the first one for the machine, will allow researchers at the University’s Center for Plasma Material Interactions to conduct experiments with the HIDRA.
“The grant is specifically for developing liquid lithium technology to be run inside the fusion reactor as a component that faces the plasma,” Daniel Andruczyk said, the head of the HIDRA department at the CPMI.
The HIDRA is able to perform a high tech process called nuclear fusion. This involves taking two types of hydrogen atoms and smashing them together at high speeds, causing them to form the element helium and releasing huge amounts of energy.
The Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications (HIDRA) is a medium sized classical stellarator using a l = 2, m = 5 configuration with a major radius R = 0.72 m and minor radius a = 0.19 m. HIDRA will initially be operated with 26 kW of magnetron heating (2.45 GHz) and will operate with a magnetic fields B0 = 0.087 T to 0.5 T. Electron temperatures up to Te = 20 eV and densities up to ne = 1×10^18 m-3 are expected with Bernstein wave heating (OXB). HIDRA has a flexible magnetic configuration due to the addition of vertical field coils. HIDRA will be used mainly in the development of new dedicated plasma material interaction experiments in a fusion type environment. Development of multi-scale and multi phase materials adaptive to extreme environment will be a focus of HIDRA and UIUC’s expertise with in-situ diagnostics of materials will open up new opportunities for innovative material testing. HIDRA will also serve as an education and training the next generation of plasma and fusion scientists and engineers. Basic plasma physics with an emphasis on plasma material interactions will be a focus of HIDRA using established diagnostic techniques as well as the development of new diagnostics for understanding the basic plasma physics and plasma material interactions.
The Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications (HIDRA) is a toroidal plasma device at UIUC, formerly known as WEGA when operated in Greifswald. A limiter can be used with reduced plasma minor radius between 0.10 – 0.15 m. Since HIDRA has the ability for long pulse steady state operation via the classical stellarator configuration, HIDRA has an actual toroidal magnetic field, just like a tokamak. HIDRA also has the capability to operate as a tokamak. Even though these plasma parameters are much lower than that of larger devices like EAST, the plasma and magnetic fields at the first wall are very close to those produced in HIDRA. The steady state and pulsed capabilities of HIDRA make it an ideal test bed for liquid Li science and technology, where flow, ejection and recycling can be assessed.
Powered by WPeMatico
The post University of Illinois stellarator nuclear fusion device receives million dollar grant appeared first on CCTV Cameras.
from CCTV Cameras http://ift.tt/2d3KaAl
via CCTV News
No comments:
Post a Comment