hmm, I don't totally get it, but it's not the fusion process that generates the output energy, rather, fusion is an intermediate step between electrical and kinetic energy? Ultimately the energy is generated by a fission reaction that's not self-sustaining, so I wonder if it's all that different from your average thorium reactor?
I think that it is trying to make the fission and fusion mutually reinforce each other. As I said in my post, I just skimmed the technical details and will double check this tomorrow. But they are using a fusion reaction that produces neutrons (Deuterium-Tritium) and the neutrons will break apart Uranium atoms they hit and enhance the fission reaction and the extra heat and energy put out by the uranium atoms will keep the plasma hot to maintain the fusion.
fusion is an intermediate step between electrical and kinetic energy
I mean almost all energy generation is except for like photovoltaic cells, pretty much everything I'm aware of involves some process of heat ----> steam or something -----> make turbine go
my understanding is that a tokamak reactor is just a particular way of containing the plasma generated by fusion but it still uses that for heat energy to create steam to drive a turbine
I'm not a physicist, I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that outside of photovoltaic materials (which convert light directly into electricity) the only way to generate electricity at industrial scale is to do the whole "spin coiled wire within a magnetic field" thing that we've been doing since the 1800s
So if I understand right, tokamak reactors create the conditions for fusion to happen continually, whereas the z-pinch method creates the conditions for fusion to happen momentarily, and the fusion-fission combination method uses the z-pinch method to both generate heat and hurl neutrons at a mass of thorium (or any other material that won't go critical) to cause fission and generate additional heat.
I guess the thing that makes Z-FFR a fusion-based energy generation method is that fusion is a convenient way to get neutrons up to fission speed?
There are nuclear reactor schemes in which energy is directly captured from the reaction's EM field.
As the plasma expands, it pushes back on the magnetic field. By Faraday's law, the change in field induces current, which is directly recaptured as electricity. This clean fusion electricity is used to power homes and communities, efficiently and affordably.
This is from a us company that's working on fusion (Helion)
differential creates electric charge ----> magnets -----> make turbine go
with heat just being a resistance residual. Modern attempts at fusion have a problem of releasing too much heat and burning out the core components of the engine. Hence the pursuit of "cold fusion", which would get you the differential that creates an electric charge thanks to the energy released by hydrogen bonding without exceeding the heat threshold that melts all your equipment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokamak
Such models were actually developed, but they came with the caveat that they required more energy input to sustain a safe reaction than they produced. The goal, since the pioneering of this reactor, was to reach an efficiency threshold such that reactors were a net positive for the grid.
Here, they use a fusion reaction (which probably won't be net energy positive by itself) to release a flurry of neutrons on demand to induce fission in uranium. As far as I can tell, this means that you don't have to keep your fuel at close-to-critical conditions to sustain useful amounts of fission, you can induce it on demand using the fusion reaction. Full disclosure, I'm a materials scientist, not a nuclear engineer.
this is a fusion-fission reactor so the purpose of the fusion is to help with recycling and efficiency basically rather than being the sole source of energy. its still a huge step up for nuclear physics
source: i know some physics nerds if you want more deets
hmm, I don't totally get it, but it's not the fusion process that generates the output energy, rather, fusion is an intermediate step between electrical and kinetic energy? Ultimately the energy is generated by a fission reaction that's not self-sustaining, so I wonder if it's all that different from your average thorium reactor?
I think that it is trying to make the fission and fusion mutually reinforce each other. As I said in my post, I just skimmed the technical details and will double check this tomorrow. But they are using a fusion reaction that produces neutrons (Deuterium-Tritium) and the neutrons will break apart Uranium atoms they hit and enhance the fission reaction and the extra heat and energy put out by the uranium atoms will keep the plasma hot to maintain the fusion.
I mean almost all energy generation is except for like photovoltaic cells, pretty much everything I'm aware of involves some process of heat ----> steam or something -----> make turbine go
My lack of understanding on how a tokamak reactor works has put me in a precarious intellectual situation here lol
my understanding is that a tokamak reactor is just a particular way of containing the plasma generated by fusion but it still uses that for heat energy to create steam to drive a turbine
I'm not a physicist, I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that outside of photovoltaic materials (which convert light directly into electricity) the only way to generate electricity at industrial scale is to do the whole "spin coiled wire within a magnetic field" thing that we've been doing since the 1800s
So if I understand right, tokamak reactors create the conditions for fusion to happen continually, whereas the z-pinch method creates the conditions for fusion to happen momentarily, and the fusion-fission combination method uses the z-pinch method to both generate heat and hurl neutrons at a mass of thorium (or any other material that won't go critical) to cause fission and generate additional heat.
I guess the thing that makes Z-FFR a fusion-based energy generation method is that fusion is a convenient way to get neutrons up to fission speed?
There are nuclear reactor schemes in which energy is directly captured from the reaction's EM field.
This is from a us company that's working on fusion (Helion)
Tokamak is the magnetic donut thing, right?
China sets up a new kinetic energy station.
Sometimes its
with heat just being a resistance residual. Modern attempts at fusion have a problem of releasing too much heat and burning out the core components of the engine. Hence the pursuit of "cold fusion", which would get you the differential that creates an electric charge thanks to the energy released by hydrogen bonding without exceeding the heat threshold that melts all your equipment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokamak
Such models were actually developed, but they came with the caveat that they required more energy input to sustain a safe reaction than they produced. The goal, since the pioneering of this reactor, was to reach an efficiency threshold such that reactors were a net positive for the grid.
Here, they use a fusion reaction (which probably won't be net energy positive by itself) to release a flurry of neutrons on demand to induce fission in uranium. As far as I can tell, this means that you don't have to keep your fuel at close-to-critical conditions to sustain useful amounts of fission, you can induce it on demand using the fusion reaction. Full disclosure, I'm a materials scientist, not a nuclear engineer.
Well, I'm an accounting software guy, so you're still probably several degrees more savvy on this shit than I am.
this is a fusion-fission reactor so the purpose of the fusion is to help with recycling and efficiency basically rather than being the sole source of energy. its still a huge step up for nuclear physics
source: i know some physics nerds if you want more deets