#plasma
Plasma is better in colour! Watch one of our latest #plasma pulses in our ST40 tokamak, filmed using our new high-speed colour camera at an incredible 16,000 frames per second. Each pulse lasts around a fifth of a second. What you’re seeing is mostly visible light from the plasma’s edge, glowing pink. The core is simply too hot to emit visible light. In this footage, lithium is dropped into the plasma. As it interacts, it glows red when excited, then turns green as it becomes ionised, losing an electron. From there, it traces the magnetic field lines, revealing the plasma’s path around the tokamak. Lithium is the focus of our $52 million ST40 upgrade programme, in partnership with U.S. Department of Energy and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. This builds on pioneering work at PPPL and others that has shown that lithium can significantly improve plasma performance. This video comes from ongoing research into X-point radiator (XPR) regimes, a promising operating mode for future #fusion power plants that aims to cool the plasma before it reaches plasma-facing components (PFCs), helping to reduce wear without compromising performance. Fusion research just got a lot more colourful! 👇 #Fusion #FusionEnergy #EnergyTransition #Innovation
Tokamak Energy2,083,963 Aufrufe • vor 8 Monaten
Taming the Edge: How lithium could help us control #fusion plasmas. This video captures the first flashes of lithium being injected into the #plasma of our ST40 tokamak, marking the start of our exploration into its effects. Why lithium? In fusion research, we aim for H-mode, a high-performance state with improved plasma confinement. Future fusion power plants are expected to operate in this mode. But H-mode brings a challenge: ELMs (Edge Localised Modes) are bursts of energy at the plasma edge, similar to mini solar flares. These can reduce plasma temperature and damage the divertor with intense heat and particles. Pioneering work by PPPL and others has shown that lithium can suppress ELMs and increase energy confinement time, leading to higher temperatures. On ST40, we’re currently injecting lithium powder during plasma shots to explore its effects. As part of our upcoming ST40 LEAPS upgrade – in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero – we’ll go further, coating plasma-facing components with solid lithium using the ‘lithium evaporation’ technique. We’ll be experimentally testing several mechanisms. One key focus is how lithium absorbs hydrogen isotopes and reduces their recycling back into the plasma, lowering the density at the plasma edge, leading to a more stable edge pressure gradient. We’re starting to understand more about lithium’s effect on plasma performance, and early results show lithium isn't getting into the plasma core, which is good news for avoiding diluting the fusion fuel in future plants. The physics is complex, and we’re still learning. But each step brings us closer to fusion energy. By incorporating lithium into ST40, the world’s highest field spherical tokamak, we’re advancing our understanding of this critical enabling technology. #Fusion #FusionEnergy #Innovation #Limitless #EnergyTransition
Tokamak Energy66,652 Aufrufe • vor 11 Monaten
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