The new method of controlling nuclear fusion subverts expectations, the first lamp is about to ignite?

Seeing a news yesterday, I subverted my expectations for the future of controllable nuclear fusion. An unknown small startup Zap Engergy is through a new method that saves money and has made major breakthroughs. Some industry experts and media have high evaluation of this technology and believe that it is an important milestone for controllable nuclear fusion technology.

Now, ZAP Engergy is trying to modify this technology and declare that it will be launched in the future. Will this breakthrough really shorten the commercialization process of controllable nuclear fusion? Let's find out.

Let's talk briefly what is controllable nuclear fusion

Controlled nuclear fusion is the use of the principle of internal nuclear fusion of the sun to create long -term release of hydrogenation energy sources on the earth for the benefit of society. In fact, the hydrogen bomb explosion is the energy of nuclear fusion, but it is uncontrollable. The "bombardment" sound is gone. Except for war, it cannot benefit the society.

The controlling nuclear fusion is the huge energy that instantly released this "bombardment" to become a slowly release, so that it can be generated and obtained the inexhaustible energy sources in a long period of time. Because this energy generation is similar to the sun, it is commonly known as artificial sun or artificial little sun.

However, the core of the sun can continuously continue to occur in the hydrogen nuclear fusion because the solar quality is huge, resulting in a huge pressure of the heart. This pressure reaches 300 billion atmospheric pressure. This pressure cannot be made on the planet, which requires a higher temperature of 15 million degrees than the solar core. This temperature requires more than 100 million degrees.

This question comes, how to heat the plasma to 100 million degrees? Moreover, the most heat -resistant metal on the planet melts by thousands of degrees. What container will use the nucleus to condense tens of thousands of thousands of plasma for "installation"? How to make this high -temperature plasma send electricity? This is several major problems that need to be solved with controllable nuclear fusion.

The scientists have made it decades, and now they are finally a little bit eye -catching. There are three methods to solve the "installation" of nuclear fusion high -temperature plasma, namely magnetic constraints, inertia constraints, and gravity constraints. These methods are intangible constraints, that is, not allowed high -temperature plasma to touch the inner wall of the container.

Gravity constraints are the solar method. If you can't do it on the earth, people can only find ways from magnetic constraints and inertia constraints. Former Soviet scientists invented a device called Takamark as early as the 1950s. This device was to generate a magnetic trap in the inside and restrict the high -temperature plasma in the magnetic trap.

The world's magnetic constraints, controlling nuclear fusion development

The use of the Takamak device to develop controlling nuclear fusion technology is a classic magnetic constraint method, which is in the world's mainstream position. China has independently developed a non -circular cross -section full superconducting Toccamak experimental device, referred to as EAST, and is currently in the world's leading position. In the experiment, several world -leading achievements have been achieved, such as 70 million degrees of long pulse and high parameter plasma for 1056 seconds, and the departure temperature of 120 million kWh runs 101 seconds, achieving 1 trillion An plasma single slipping.

The controlling nuclear fusion of many countries, such as the United States, Britain, Japan and other countries, has also made progress, and can generate energy, but the maintenance time is too short, and even if it is sent, the output energy is insufficient. The main problem that needs to be solved in the next step is to allow the plasma for nuclear fusion to be burned for a long time, and the energy output is much higher than the input energy. The symbol means that Q = 1 is above Q = 1.

These issues are simple, but it is easy to talk about it. Therefore, experts from all walks of life in the world have agreed that in order to truly allow the controlling nuclear fusion to realize commercialization, it will take at least 30 years or even longer.

China has also made its own plan, realized Q = 5 in 2025, and gradually reached Q = 10; realized demonstration project power generation in 2030, 200MW power generation under Q = 5 conditions, initially reached Q = 10 steady -state power generation 1GW 1GW 1GW 1GW Essence

Judging from this plan arrangement, if it can be achieved smoothly, it will not be the earliest until 2030 to light up the first lamp in the trial operation, and it will take 2050 to truly form commercial power generation.

Inertial constraints and controlling nuclear fusion development situation

The so -called inertial constraint is a method of using the inertia of particles to restrain the particles itself, thereby achieving a nuclear fusion reaction. The more classic method is to use high -energy laser or charged particles to shoot a very small target pill, which causes the target surface material to quickly melt and spray violently outward. The hydrogen isotol and 氚 in the pills are fusion.

This technology was also proposed as early as the 1960s. The former Soviet Union and the United States had conducted a lot of experiments. In my country, China has also started this test since 2000. However, this technology has not yet achieved major breakthroughs. It is also in the laboratory test stage.

In May this year, there were reports that a company named FIRST LIGHT FUSION has a different approach to cause nuclear fusion through high -speed ejection technology. Specifically, through the two large super -air acceleration guns, the fuel accelerates to 10 ~ 20 times the speed of sound, and shoots small pieces embedded into the fuel core to form a collapse shock wave. The instant pressure reaches 1 billion atmosphere, resulting in the fuel is fast enough to be high enough. Self -explosive speed, thereby achieving nuclear fusion reactions.

The high temperature of the nuclear fusion will generate steaming water, and drive the generator into electrical energy by driving the turbine through drive the turbine, so that the controllable nuclear fusion power generation is achieved. The development of this device is inspired by marine gun shrimp. Shrimp is also called drum shrimp, which is about 5 cm in length and lives in a shallow water area for tropical oceans. This kind of shrimp has a "black technology" weapon. When attacking the prey, it will instantly spray a water flow at a speed of up to 100 kilometers per hour to form a very small low -pressure bubble. The instantaneous temperature reached 4700 degrees when blasting, and the prey hit by this bubble shock wave was difficult to escape.

As a result, the high -speed "air gun" developed by FIRST LIGHT FUSIO is named after the "Shrimp". It is said that this "gun shrimp" nuclear fusion method has been a step forward from the ideal of power generation, and the cost is much lower than using an expensive high -energy laser transmitter. At present, the company plans to use this technology to start a experimental factory in 2030 to produce electricity.

This can be regarded as a dark horse. It is a wonderful work in the development of inertia constraints. It is a real innovation and curve overtaking. It is currently very optimistic.

ZAP Engergy's controllable nuclear fusion technology is still magnetic constraint technology

According to reports, this startup in Seattle has developed a system called Z-Pinch. This device uses a line that is completely different from the Takmart device, which abandons a large number of expensive magnets and magnetic magnets in the Thomask device. Coils, shielding materials, and complex networks they need, just use the magnetic field of the plasma itself to restrain themselves in a relatively short pillar.

The report uses an image of an image: "nails" the plasma "in" the pillar and "clamp" it. The plasma itself is charged, and the magnetic field and magnetic trap can be formed in theory. The report only said that this technology is called "shear shaft flow technology", and there is no more disclosure of technical details. We don't need to delve into it, these are things for professionals.

What we now know is that this technology has been successful and has been demonstrated under the current of 500 thousand An Pei. ZAP Engergy's chief technician said that this device is called Fuze-Q, which is the fourth-generation Z-Pinch device. The next generation will be designed as a current of 650,000 Anspei to achieve a balance point of revenue and expenditure, that is, Q = 1.

At present, the Zap Energy team has received $ 160 million in Series C financing, and ambitious claims that the next step will be pushed to the market as soon as possible. They envision to achieve this goal through large -scale manufacturing reactors, which will be modularized by these reactors, which can be placed in the garage.

In this way, these modules can be deployed not only to provide electricity in remote communities, and it can also be combined to form a large -scale collector to provide electricity in the entire city. This device does not require expensive materials, as the classic Takmart device and inertia constraints, the cost is greatly reduced, and it is more likely to be accepted and popularized by society.

So, will these new technologies stand out from the classic controllable nuclear fusion technology, will it cause a blow and impact on the classic conventional technologies of various countries? It's hard to judge. But I think that the technology of the two startups of FIRST LIGHT FUSIO and Zap Engergy is indeed shocking and eye -opening.

When the powerful world -class companies and top -level research institutions supported by the state, for decades, they were immersed in classic technologies for decades and moved forward little by little. The new world has greatly reduced the cost and shortened the expectations. This seems to be truly overtaking.

Of course, Huashan's sword, who has a lord's ups and downs, has not yet settled; it is a mule or a horse, and you have to pull it out; who can light up the first lamp used by the world's controllable nuclear fusion business, is the king. Will it be us? Hope is, but you still have to wait and see.

Say this today, welcome to discuss, thank you for reading.

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