Wendelstein 7-X: hot nuclear fusion reactor now working on second round of testing

A stellarator is a device used to confine hot plasma with magnetic fields in order to sustain a controlled nuclear fusion reaction.

The basics:





It's now working. And they are on the second round of testing:

The objective of fusion research is to develop a power plant favourable to the climate and environment. Like the sun, it is to derive energy from fusion of atomic nuclei. As the fusion fire does not ignite till temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees are attained, the fuel, viz. a low-density hydrogen plasma, ought not to come into contact with cold vessel walls. Confined by magnetic fields, it levitates inside a vacuum chamber with hardly any contact.

The magnetic cage of Wendelstein 7-X is formed by a ring of 50 superconducting magnet coils about 3.5 metres high. Their special shapes are the result of sophisticated optimisation calculations. Although Wendelstein 7-X is not meant to produce energy, the device should prove that stellarators are suitable for power plants. For the first time the quality of the plasma confinement in a stellarator is to attain the level of competing devices of the tokamak type.

For this purpose, further stages of modification are being planned. For example, the graphite tiles of the divertor are to be replaced in a few years by carbon-fibre-reinforced carbon elements that are additionally water-cooled. This will allow discharges lasting up to 30 minutes in which it can be tested whether Wendelstein 7-X will achieve its optimisation targets in the long run: In this way the device is to demonstrate the essential advantage of stellarators, viz. their capability for continuous operation.

Wendelstein 7-X: Second round of experimentation started

Working video:

Ore they basically making a magnetic corona around the reactor to suck in the energy sort of like the sun does?

a reply to: rickymouse

The problem with holding plasma is it's 100 million degrees. 100 million degrees will vaporize every material on the planet. But in order to generate electricity you need a fire place that won't vaporize.

So the idea is to float the plasma in the middle of magnetic field so the 100 million degree plasma doesn't vaporize anything. This may sound like an easy thing to do but it's mind boggling hard to do with magnets.

So based on an initial design a computer model was created for designing the shape of the Stellarator so the magnetic field had the best most accurate containment properties. That's what makes the Stellarator so cool is you need a strong enough computer just to design it! And they you need computer controlled manufacturing to build the parts!

Wendelstein 7-X is probably the greatest feat of engineering ever done by man. The result is by far the most precise hot fusion magnetic containment field ever created:

Physicists confirm the precision of magnetic fields in the most advanced stellarator in the world

Remarkable fidelity

Results showed a remarkable fidelity to the design of the highly complex magnetic field. "To our knowledge," the authors write of the discrepancy of less than one part in 100,000, "this is an unprecedented accuracy, both in terms of the as-built engineering of a fusion device, as well as in the measurement of magnetic topology."

Back in December 10th 2015 when they first turned it on it was like the 1903 Wright Flyer moment. Most people in 1903 did not even know something big even happened. The rate and speed technology advances it wasn't very long before we have commercial flights traversing the Oceans and Continents.

Hot fusion is coming very soon!

a reply to: dfnj2015

stellarator

It's also the name of my new fusion rock band.

Seriously though this is awesome.

"Hot fusion is coming very soon! "

There is something that could be COLD FUSION?!?

In my limited understanding of "FUSION"
you smash 2 atoms together. Resulting
in a MASSIVE burst of energy, and ofc
INSANE amounts of heat...

So, cold fusion... Really

a reply to: Miccey

These guys have the best LENR technology I've seen and I think are the closest to commercial success:

brillouinenergy.com...

Good video. What good is seeing excessive heat if you can't control the reaction. Hydrogen-4 is amazing stuff. Here's a really cool link on why Hydrogen-4 is so special:

brillouinenergy.com...

Page 12 Godes talks about the half-life decay time of Hydrogen-4 which is really an amazing discovery.

Cool animation on how it works: brillouinenergy.com...

a reply to: Miccey

Hydrogen isotopes produce fuse to create helium isotopes. Pressure, heat, and fuel density are needed to cause the reaction.

It's a better Magnetic felid that has been applied to the same task in the past.

Factored into a stable fusion reaction like this is creating a stable environment for the fusion reaction to occur.

Indicative of a ratio.

And the downside? What happens if is fails...massively? Just asking cause I'm a box of rocks.

a reply to: hiddenNZ

Well, one way of understanding this is a lot like comparing a Harley Davidson to a Military Helicopter, compared to a Commercial Helicopter meant to be sold privately.

What potentially we are looking at are commercial versions of other projects involving, particle accelerators that are not commercial.

a reply to: Kashai

Yeah OK,but if it fails what can happen,on a Harley you may lock a chain up and lay it down,in a chopper if you lay it down you're dead?

a reply to: hiddenNZ

That depends on what you happen to be doing with the Harley.


A conjecture would be that gravity and magnetic fields have something in common.

Another more fringe perspective would be that the Big Bang was an event that occurred in space-time and matter as a result are curled up versions of space-time. Structurally it would be consistent with a fractal nature in that the reciprocal would be that what we comprehend as space-time at some scale we as of yet do not comprehend is another form of matter.

Thoughts?

I've always had a hard time understanding how a fusion process could possibly result in net gain of energy... fission reactions work because atoms are separating and releasing their binding energy, however it's the opposite situation with fusion, you need to put energy into the system to force the atoms to bind together, then harvest excess energy released in the fusion process, hoping the energy harvested is greater than the energy put in. I'm not completely convinced it's possible to get out more energy than they put in with fusion, it works for the sun because it has an immense gravitational force which compresses the particles enough the cause fusion, but we have no way to generate that kind of pressure without expending a great deal of energy. If it were so clear that this machine worked they wouldn't need to say things like "Wendelstein 7-X is not meant to produce energy"... do we even have solid mathematical calculations to prove this type of fusion could theoretically produce a net energy gain?

originally posted by: hiddenNZ
And the downside? What happens if is fails...massively? Just asking cause I'm a box of rocks.

Not very much as far as I understood the process (reading about it since the early 80s.. Took about as long to build Wendelstein VII).

- You have a hot, but very sparse plasma. Not radioactive. (I think?) The thermal energy in this plasma isn't enough to destroy anything more than the coating of the casing, if let loose.
- You have a casing which is indeed radioactive by neutron radiation from the fusion reactions. The plasma does not have enough pressure to make the casing go *BOOM*, therefore no chance of radioactive particles to escape the experiment without external influences like removing the walls or the complete house..

The second round of testing is almost over! They take a break over the holidays and setup for the final tests.

Did you even search? Only asking because I’be been following this for years. The reason I joined ATS was that there was an announcement about Wendelstein 7-X that was not posted!

Here, see this thread...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

And this one for a bunch of fusion links and stories...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

ATS always seems to have a thread about a topic even if it is not current. Search is your friend!

There are even more stories here on ATS than these. Think. If you can create electricity from fusion 24X7, then what do you do when it is not in demand?

W7-X will not put electricity on the grid. It is more a POC project to demonstrate it can be done and learn the boundaries of how a nuclear fusion reactor would work. The thing is it is working!!

Check out either link to take a virtual tour of this reactor!!

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

Erm...

E=mc^2

That is your mathematical proof.

a reply to: hiddenNZ

A bit of sticky radioactive material is spread around the reactor. Or it’s surroundings. The temps fall and the reaction stops.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

The project attempts to replace gravity with an EM field. Indicative of a conclusion that there is a valid reason to do so.

What I found interesting as well as how the field is being shaped for the sake of dynamics structurally of what we are emulating.

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

I'm not saying fusion cannot produce energy, the sun clearly does produce energy using fusion, I'm questioning whether it's possible to get more energy out of the process than what we put in... until I see that rigorously demonstrated I have to assume energy is being conserved in such a way to make it impractical.