China Shakes World, Artificial Solar Trials Generate Heat with Temperatures of 160 Million Degrees Celsius

The results of the latest Chinese-made solar tests produced a temperature of 160 million degrees Celsius.

For China, artificial solar is a source of energy for the future.

Of course, what China is doing is extraordinary.

They have prepared their energy for the future for their survival.

China re-ignited one of its "artificial sun" projects in December.

The artificial sun is lit up for new testing to achieve higher temperatures and longer durations.

The report on artificial solar ignition named Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) was reported by Xinhua on Tuesday (12/21/2021).

Launching CGTN, EAST is a nuclear fusion reactor that is expected to be a source of energy for the future.

The device utilizes a magnetic field to produce hot plasma from nuclear fusion.

In May, EAST was tested and produced a temperature of 120 million degrees Celsius for 101 seconds.

In June, EAST was again tested and produced a temperature of 160 million degrees Celsius. This resulting temperature is ten times hotter than the sun.

East is designed to mimic the nuclear fusion process carried out by the sun.

Since it first entered service, EAST has become an open test platform for Chinese and international scientists to conduct nuclear fusion-related experiments.

In the latest round of testing, EAST will be equipped with an upgraded heat generator.

A researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP) Qian Jinping said the test was expected to last for half a year.

In addition to EAST, China is also building a research facility for incubation of core technologies related to nuclear fusion.

The facility is called the Comprehensive Research Facility for Fusion Technology (CRAFT).

CGTN reports that CRAFT will be a platform where engineers will develop and test key components of fusion reactors.

ASIPP said the CRAFT is expected to be completed around 2024.

South Korea vs China

South Korea and China both set new milestones this month, successfully lighting artificial suns.

The innovation that is actually called the nuclear fusion reactor was successfully ignited by China in early December, then followed by South Korea yesterday (28/12/2020).

Both of them also recorded their own high achievements.

The HL-2M Tokamak reactor is China's largest and most advanced fusion experimental research device, while South Korea's superconducting fusion device broke the world record.

So, what's the difference between a South Korean sun and a Chinese sun? Here's the explanation.

Maker

Scientists in China have been working on developing smaller versions of nuclear fusion reactors since 2006.

They plan to use the device with scientists working on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).

ITER is the world's largest nuclear fusion research project based in France, which is expected to be completed in 2025.

China will also resume construction of the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR) as early as next year. Construction of the experimental reactor took at least 10 years.

The South Korean-made sun, made by Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR), harnesses nuclear energy to become a superconducting fusion device.

China's nuclear fusion reactor called Artificial Sun

Their work is the result of a joint study of Seoul National University (SNU) and Columbia University USA.

Running on

The South Korean-made sun set a world record, after retaining high-temperature plasma for 20 seconds.

The temperature of ions produced by the South Korean sun is reported to reach more than 100 million degrees Celsius.

This 20-second time broke the previous operating record of 8 seconds, which KSTAR set last year.

The Chinese-made sun is not known exactly how long it will last, but it is certainly shorter than the South Korean-made sun that broke the world record.

How it works

Reported Kompas.com on December 8, 2020, the Chinese-made sun uses a strong magnetic field to fuse hot plasma, which can reach temperatures of up to more than 150 million degrees Celsius.

Thus, the heat generated by the reactor is about 10 times hotter than the sun's core whose temperature can reach about 15 million degrees Celsius.

Then for the South Korean-made sun reported from Phys Monday (28/12/2020), in an experiment conducted in 2018 KSTAR can reach a plasma ion temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius for the first time, with a retention time of about 1.5 seconds.

To recreate the fusion reactions that occur on the sun on Earth, hydrogen isotopes must be placed inside nuclear fusion devices such as KSTAR.

This is done to create a plasma state, where ions and electrons are separated, then ions are heated and maintained at high temperatures.

Benefit

The lead scientist of the HL-2M nuclear fusion reactor project, Zhong Luwu of the Southwestern Institute of Physics told China National Radio that HL-2M can withstand repeated bombardment by waste particles that can be produced by hot gases, which carry large amounts of energy.

But professor of nuclear physics Wang Yugang of Peking University said some radioactive particles produced by nuclear fusion reactions cannot be dammed by the HL-2M magnetic field.

"It's okay to operate in the short term," Wang said.

No man-made material can withstand the cumulative damage of subatomic particles for several years or decades.

But for the Sun made in South Korea, it has not been revealed in detail what are the benefits of making it.

Nuclear fusion energy itself has long been expected to overcome the problem of energy shortages, which in theory hydrogen from seawater can be used as fuel.

Plan ahead

China has revealed plans to achieve its HL-2M Tokamak reactor fusion energy production target to be commercialized by 2050.

The ultimate goal of KSTAR's artificial sun is to be able to perform continuous plasma operations for 300 seconds, with ion temperatures higher than 100 million degrees Celsius by 2025. (*)