tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35963426535121683252024-03-13T14:47:59.079-07:00Quest for Star PowerDr. Michael Mauelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122735587737129754noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596342653512168325.post-9503073997142386122015-08-26T06:00:00.006-07:002015-08-26T06:00:42.914-07:00Fusion Innovation in the News<h2>
Fusion Innovation </h2>
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This week's fusion news is all about innovation. </div>
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First, MIT's press release by David Chandler entitled <i><a href="http://news.mit.edu/2015/small-modular-efficient-fusion-plant-0810" target="_blank">A small, modular, efficient fusion plant</a>.</i> Prof. Dennis Whyte and colleagues have long advocated for the "high-field" approach for tokamak-based fusion. Advances in superconducting magnet technology could be the key technology that will make fusion energy affordable. As the magnetic field strength increases, the tokamak can be made much smaller (<i>i.e.</i> much smaller than <a href="http://www.iter.org/" target="_blank">ITER</a>). With a smaller size, fusion can develop "in as little as a decade", as oppose the <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/steven_cowley_fusion_is_energy_s_future/transcript?language=en" target="_blank">30-year time frame</a> that has become the joke of fusion research promises.</div>
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The other news is from Irvine, CA. Dan Clery reports in Science <i><a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/physics/2015/08/secretive-fusion-company-makes-reactor-breakthrough" target="_blank">Exclusive: Secretive fusion company claims reactor breakthrough</a>. </i>(Dan Clery has written a nice book about fusion and several news articles about fusion researchers, including<a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/physics/2014/07/fusions-restless-pioneers" target="_blank"> <i>Fusion's Restless Pioneers</i></a><i>.</i>)<i> </i>In truth, Tri Alpha is not so secretive. They publish in <i><a href="http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.255008" target="_blank">Physical Review Letters</a></i> and present invited lectures at the Annual Meeting of the APS Division of <a href="http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/pop/22/5/10.1063/1.4920950" target="_blank">Plasma Physics</a>. They're funded by private equity, and intellectual property is the current state of their business. But, Tri Alpha reports their results frequently, and they're making good scientific progress. </div>
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Interesting contrast between these two stories: while MIT advocates higher and higher toroidal field, Tri Alpha is investigating magnetic confinement without any toroidal field at all.</div>
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Fusion energy has proven to be more difficult than most scientists realized decades ago. But, new technologies (like high-field superconducting magnets) and new ideas (like fusion confinement without a strong toroidal field) the prospects for fusion breakthrough only improve.</div>
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Dr. Michael Mauelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122735587737129754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596342653512168325.post-35487820730706663642014-02-10T07:24:00.003-08:002014-02-11T03:19:31.310-08:0010 Years Ago at Aspen <h2>
10 Years Ago at Aspen</h2>
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<a href="http://physics.nyu.edu/people/hoffert.martin.html" target="_blank">Marty Hoffert</a> organized an influential and optimistic review:</div>
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ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY PATHS TO GLOBAL CLIMATE STABILITY: ENERGY FOR A GREENHOUSE PLANET</h3>
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<a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/298/5595/981.full" target="_blank">Science 1 November 2002: Vol. 298 no. 5595 pp. 981-987 DOI:10.1126/science.1072357</a></div>
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Marty and co-authors (including myself) concluded, "that a broad range of intensive research and development is urgently needed to produce technological options that can allow both climate stabilization and economic development."<br />
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It was an exciting time. Recall also the growing importance of U.S. energy security issues. Each year, the U.S. was importing more and more of its energy abroad, and we were involved with serious conflicts in the Middle East.<br />
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Advanced science and technology promised a long-term solution to our energy and climate needs, but maybe also a short-term solution. Marty and<a href="http://dge.stanford.edu/labs/caldeiralab/" target="_blank"> Ken Caldeira</a> organized a terrific workshop at the <a href="http://www.agci.org/" target="_blank">Aspen Global Change Institute</a>, entitled <a href="http://www.agci.org/dB/PPTs/03S2_MHoffert_0708.pdf" target="_blank">Energy Options and Paths to Climate Stabilization</a> (July 6-11, 2003).<br />
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I was invited to speak about <a href="http://sites.apam.columbia.edu//mauel/mauel_pubs/Mauel-ACGI.html" target="_blank">Fusion Energy: Pipe Dream or Panacea</a>. My lecture was recorded and available online: [<a href="http://sites.apam.columbia.edu//mauel/mauel_pubs/Mauel-ACGI.html" target="_blank">Mauel, Fusion Energy Lecture (July 2003)</a>].<br />
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What has changed in 10 years?<br />
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First, the<a href="http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/er/early_production.cfm" target="_blank"> U.S. energy security has improved</a> due to advances in tight oil and shale gas production.<br />
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Second, our optimism about NIF and ITER has proven to be over stated. Initial experiments during the NIF ignition campaign did not achieved hoped-for results. Serious cost and schedule delays have side tracked an European "fast track" to fusion energy.<br />
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Nevertheless, fusion science and technical know-how continues to advance. Although tokamak instabilities and localized heat flux issues have turned out to be more challenging than expected, <a href="http://www.iter.org/" target="_blank">ITER construction progresses</a>. Nonlinear laser-plasma interactions have become <a href="http://physics.aps.org/articles/v7/13" target="_blank">better understood</a>, but point to the need for higher driver energies to achieve ignition. Smaller research programs have been terminated due to budget cuts imposed to pay for ITER cost over escalations, but even these smaller programs are<a href="https://www.aa.washington.edu/research/HITsi/publications.html" target="_blank"> making progress</a>. (The MIT-Columbia LDX experiments were <a href="http://w.nature.com/nphys/journal/v6/n3/full/nphys1510.html" target="_blank">more successful than expected</a>, but the U.S. DOE narrowed configuration optimization and <a href="http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/magazine/physicstoday/article/64/9/10.1063/PT.3.1252" target="_blank">redirected research overseas</a>.)<br />
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Somehow, I remain optimistic and enthusiastic about fusion energy science research, although 10 years wiser than during my 2003 lecture at Aspen. Fusion inspires innovation and discovery because we need to control ionized matter at 200 million degrees. Very exciting. Someday, these innovations and discoveries will make fusion energy commercially viable, probably, in a configuration that few recognize today.<br />
<br />Dr. Michael Mauelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122735587737129754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596342653512168325.post-56100686609077240372013-11-17T14:33:00.000-08:002013-11-17T14:33:40.984-08:00Video of High-Density He Plasma with 200 micron Polystyrene Dust (and some metal flakes!)<h2>
Video of LDX High-Density Plasma with Dust</h2>
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Here's a fund video from August 16, 2013 showing high-density plasma dynamics (at 66 fps).</div>
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The CH pellets are dropped from the top, and barely penetrate the high-density (high temperature) plasma. Note also some small metal (?) flakes that appear suspended below the superconducting coil.</div>
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Dr. Michael Mauelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122735587737129754noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596342653512168325.post-89420148399638141372013-08-30T05:04:00.000-07:002013-08-30T05:04:00.414-07:00Star Power (the video) from PPPL<h2>
Star Power (the video) from PPPL</h2>
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With gorgeous video records of our sun (from TRACE and SOHO), PPPL has produced an inspirational video about fusion energy research. See</div>
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<a href="http://www.pppl.gov/star%20power">http://www.pppl.gov/star%20power</a></div>
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The video includes speeches by President Obama and Kennedy and notes the long-time international collaboration for fusion research.</div>
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They video makes clear the enormous challenges that must be overcome to make fusion practical. By including the testimony of the young students, they correctly imply that it will be the next generation of fusion scientists that will make fusion practical.</div>
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There are discoveries ahead!</div>
Dr. Michael Mauelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122735587737129754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596342653512168325.post-82748836056458359062013-08-27T13:37:00.001-07:002013-08-27T13:40:08.117-07:00<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">CHENDA NGAK <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 6px; vertical-align: baseline;">/</span> </span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="source" style="border: 0px; color: #202022; font-family: nimbus-sans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">CBS NEWS<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 6px 0px 8px; vertical-align: baseline;">/</span> </span><span class="time" style="border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Time New Roman', serif; font-size: 0.85em; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">August 26, 2013, 5:40 AM</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="time" style="background-color: black; border: 0px; color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Time New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Many thanks to CBS Interactive and to Chenda Ngak for their work in creating a timely and well presented interview and discussion about fusion power.</span></div>
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<span class="time" style="background-color: black; border: 0px; color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Time New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Besides highlighting the differences between fission and fusion, the article put into perspective the time horizon for viable commercial energy. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Time New Roman, serif;">We have discoveries to make along the way to "age of fusion energy", sometime in the later half of this century</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Time New Roman, serif;"><b><i style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">See video and article at</span><span style="color: red;"> <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-35040_162-57599943/powering-the-future-what-will-fuel-the-next-thousand-years/" target="_blank">CBS Interactive</a>.</span></i></b></span></h4>
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Dr. Michael Mauelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122735587737129754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596342653512168325.post-20707568967892169462013-08-26T11:17:00.001-07:002013-08-26T11:17:15.158-07:00<h2>
Energy Secretary Moniz Address's Climate Action Plan</h2>
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Just returned from today's special address from Energy Secretary Moniz:<br />
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http://energypolicy.columbia.edu/events.html<br />
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He focused on urgent tasks in support of President's Climate Action Plan and described the importance of his near-term agenda to the New York City metropolitan area. He delivered a very knowledgable talk and handled well the rude comments about fracking and radiation leaks from nuclear power plants.<br />
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I was disappointed from the lack of any direct comments about discovery-based long-term science research (like fusion science), but this forum was not the place.<br />
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Standing room only.<br />
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Wonderful to be at Columbia University!Dr. Michael Mauelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122735587737129754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596342653512168325.post-62144515730412427502013-08-16T08:44:00.002-07:002013-08-16T08:49:16.605-07:00Laboratory Magnetospheric Experiments at MIT<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week, August 14-16, 2013, I was part of the LDX Team conducting new experiments with the world's largest laboratory magnetosphere. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <a href="http://www.psfc.mit.edu/ldx/">MIT-Columbia LDX experiment </a>is the U.S.'s only steady state plasma confinement device. Very sophisticated superconducting magnets. A circular, high-field magnet is charged with 1.2 MA, and a carefully controlled "levitation" magnet is used to suspend the dipole magnet for hours of continuous experimentation. Scientists for today's run: Jay Kesner, Darren Garnier, Phil Michael, Alex Zhukovsky, Rick Lations, Matt Worstell, Paul Woskov, Mark Chilenski, and (my daughter) Marin, shown in photo below:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first day of running was productive in every respect. Fortyseven "shots" were taken. Cryogenics, control, power, heating, data acquisition systems were flawless. (Congratulations to the LDX Team!)<br /><br />The new 0.4 mm CH pellet shaker worked well, showing interesting "pinch"/"pump-out" phenomena. New microwave diagnostics showed promising results. New multifrequency ECRH programming showed a clear relationship between resonant zone location, hot electron production, and plasma density.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Key Results</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The direction of the particle pinch following pellet drop reverses depending upon the rate of gas fueling and plasma density. Pellet drops with low fueling (low density) result in an inward particle pinch. (See shots 011-013.) At higher fueling, the pellets caused particle "pump-out", an outward pinch. (See shots 025 and 035.) At intermediate fueling, pellet drops caused no change in the density profile. In all cases, with full-power multi-frequency ECRH, the plasma profile appears "stationary" (and strongly peaked) indicative of the turbulent self-organization we've seen previously. Fast videography indicate that the pellets do not penetrate deeply into the plasma, so these overall "pinch"/"pump-out" effects are dramatic examples of non-locality: fast changes in the edge cause global responses to the plasma density profile.<br /><br />The programmed timing of the 2.45 GHz changed from our usual "wedding cake" program (early shots < 014) to an "inverted wedding cake", where the 2.45 GHz was on from 2-8 sec. This made the production of trapped, hot/warm electrons by the 2.45 GHz obvious. 4 kW of 2.45 GHz heating produced > 100 J of plasma energy (> 25 msec energy confinement). (Probably, it also broadened the pressure profile and increased the radius of the plasma ring current.) Interesting, the 2.45 GHz did not change the plasma density to the same degree as it changed the plasma energy. In contrast, higher frequency ECRH produced plasma energy less efficiently, but it was much more efficient at producing plasma density.<br /><br />Reflectometer results showed effects from the plasma cut-off, but further analysis (and signal processing) is required to determine whether a density profile can be obtained. Wed's run scanned only 4-6 GHz, but today's run will scan 4-8 GHz.<br /><br />Broad-band fluctuations were observed with the 28 GHz homo-dyne receiver, which may become a useful diagnostic on global plasma fluctuation levels.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">More Experiments Today!</span></h3>
Dr. Michael Mauelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122735587737129754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596342653512168325.post-81018217258056021352012-02-18T18:38:00.000-08:002012-02-18T18:38:35.034-08:00All about fusion energy<br />
Strong magnetic force fields confine high-temperature ionized gas, called “plasma,” throughout the universe. At the surface of our sun, magnetized tubes of hot plasma, several millions of degrees, are launched with tremendous energy through the solar system. Around the earth, the strong magnetic field that we measure with a compass extends tens of thousands of kilometers into space and forms a protective atmosphere of ionized matter called the “magnetosphere.”<br />
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Scientists have been studying how strong magnetic fields confine high-temperature matter since the dawn of the Space Age. Today, a grand challenge of applied physics is to use our know-how of plasma physics to achieve one of the world’s most important technical goals: a source of energy that is clean, safe, and available for thousands of years.<br />
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Fusion energy is the most promising source of energy meeting these requirements. Fusion uses the heavy isotope of hydrogen, called deuterium, to form helium and release huge amounts of energy. Every bottle of water contains enough deuterium to generate the equivalent of a barrel of oil when used in a fusion power source. But a major challenge remains: deuterium must first be heated to the temperature of the stars before fusion energy can be released.</div>
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My interests are building experiments that test whether or not the magnetic fields used to confine high-temperature plasma at the surfaces of stars or in planetary magnetospheres can be used in the laboratory to produce the conditions that will make fusion energy work. Together with my colleagues, the experiments I've built have achieved temperatures of more than 100 million degrees and demonstrated numerous techniques for magnetic confinement. </div>
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Much more work is needed. We still need to explore how the shape of the magnetic force fields allows the hot plasma to be confined and heated; how the plasma mixes and swirls within the containment vessels; and how sophisticated high-speed control systems maintain the perfect symmetry required to maximize fusion power output.</div>
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Reporting this <i>Quest for Star Power</i> will the the goal of this blog.</div>
<br />Dr. Michael Mauelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14122735587737129754noreply@blogger.com0