Power !!!! We are getting closer. [NUCLEAR FUSION REACTORS]

[Ebenesh]

Finally after so many years of research we might be moving to a point of clean, safe and sustainable energy. Scientists at the National Ignition Facility(NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory just announced that the reactor that was being used for the research of Hydrogen Fusion process finally produced more power than it took in. This means that the research might very well be a major step toward the availability of Fusion reactors that require very little fuel and gives a huge amount of energy. But now there is one obstacle and that being that the reactor in the facility would need to be able to sustain the enormous heat and pressure generated. The current facility may not be adequate as of now.

 

 

No!! ^^ This is not an egg !

 

 

Nuclear Fusion is the process by which 2 small atoms collide to form a bigger single atom. This requires a large amount of energy but also the yield is multiple times the input.

 

 

A view inside the gold cylinder where hydrogen is compressed to incredible densities

 

 

A view of the amplifiers that amplify the lasers

 

 

 

 

 

SOURCE :wired

 

 

 

 

EDIT: IF U HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ON HOW IT WORKS

 

 

How nuclear fusion works

 

How will a fusion power plant work?

[Jeroen1322]

I don't understand it but that's fucking cool!  

[Oshino Shinobu]

That's pretty nice. 

 

(Feeling sorry for all us night theme users)

[Legend666]

A great news for the entire world !!!! ^^

[tonychau77]

Will we be able to get unlimited power one day?

[Qwertious]

Wouldn't there be efficiency problems harvesting the energy it gives off? So even though it gives off more energy than we put into it, we might only get 60% of that or something

[chicksoup]

Wouldn't there be efficiency problems harvesting the energy it gives off? So even though it gives off more energy than we put into it, we might only get 60% of that or something

there's just so much of it, and you have to keep in mind that the technology will evolve over the generations

[Kilerbomb]

How many times do I have to say this?... Please remove text formatting, I literally cannot read it without highlighting it, and neither can anyone else on the night theme.

[mr moose]

Wouldn't there be efficiency problems harvesting the energy it gives off? So even though it gives off more energy than we put into it, we might only get 60% of that or something

This is the case for all energy generation, however once they get fusion working, not only will it be substantially better than what we have currently but we can only improve on it from there.

 

EDIT: fixed up a poorly worded sentence.  It read like it was farted out the bum of a dyslexic 2 year old.

[qwertywarrior]

still confuses me on why  they bothered making ITER

[Ebenesh]

That's pretty nice. 

 

(Feeling sorry for all us night theme users)

That kinda came in when I copied the image... Sorry bout that !

[Lyons]

Too bad oil companies own the universe...

[The_Strict_Nein]

Wouldn't there be efficiency problems harvesting the energy it gives off? So even though it gives off more energy than we put into it, we might only get 60% of that or something

 

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. Even if we only achieve 60% efficiency the only by-product is helium (which is pretty rare on earth so will be useful for space flight research) and we have a virtually non-deplorable fuel source. Fusion is the only energy source we know about that will allow humanity to continue existing

[samuel]

Ten years ago, when I started studying a bit more advanced physics, I was like...prayng to see an atomic fusion happening on Earth. Now it's here. And now I want wireless charging anywhere I am. Cuz what we supose to do with this enormeus energy quantity? Joking about latter, but still...

[Unhelpful]

A great news for the entire world !!!! ^^

Lelouch. That is all.

 

And on a related note: this is really freaking cool.

[lhikary]

in other means this

[Ebenesh]

How many times do I have to say this?... Please remove text formatting, I literally cannot read it without highlighting it, and neither can anyone else on the night theme.

Dude I am so not able to edit this on my phone... Will get it in proper shape as soon as I get home !

[Kilerbomb]

Dude I am so not able to edit this on my phone... Will get it in proper shape as soon as I get home !

Alright, thanks. I really think there needs to be a site-wide message that displays near the header that reminds people to remove formatting.

[Ebenesh]

Alright, thanks. I really think there needs to be a site-wide message that displays near the header that reminds people to remove formatting.

 

I think its okay now right?

[Opsilon]

Wait, wat?

Making energy, that requires a multiple time less input? How? Magic?

 

I think this is a bit exaggerating, don't you? Sure, Hydrogen is the most abundant element we could use to create energy, but heat is also energy, and Hydrogen Fusion reaction makes a LOT of heat.

This is already known, and the problem that is still there is, sustaining that kind of energy output, it's not like we can make a cold fusion device ( since it's only hypothetical ).

It could be a good idea to make a space station designed as a power plant, since space is very cold, reactions would be easier to sustain, the only problem is the cost.

 

That "we are closer" title means 50 - 100 years, unless a major science breakthrough occurs in the near future...

[LAwLz]

I think it is worth noting that the machine still is not producing more energy than it consumes.

They managed to get more power out of the atom than that hit it, but only 1/200 of the power they put into the machine hit it. So to put it simple, if the laser used 200 watts then only 1 watt of power hit the atom, and that impact produced 1.7 watts. So we are still "wasting" 198.3 watts.

At least that's how I interpret the articles about it.

It's still fantastic news though. Once fusion becomes a viable source of energy we will be able to do fantastic things. It might even make time travel possible for example. You could artificially grow any plant in any season, anywhere as well. Fresh strawberries in the middle of winter. We could change all cars to electric cars and don't have to worry about oil anymore.

It would be fantastic.

Wait, wat?

Making energy, that requires a multiple time less input? How? Magic?

I think this is a bit exaggerating, don't you? Sure, Hydrogen is the most abundant element we could use to create energy, but heat is also energy

It's not exaggeration. E=mc^2... Every atom contains an enormous amount of energy and not even fission (which we are already using to produce enormous amounts of energy) can harvest even 0.1% of it (probably need to add a few more zeros, not sure how many). Also, the energy you get from fusion is heat...

When you light a candle, you get out more energy than what the fire on the match contained. The candle (or in this case some hydrogen atoms) has a ton of energy stored (this is where e=mc^2 comes in), and when you light it (or in this case, fire a huge laser at it) that energy is released.

[Kilerbomb]

I think its okay now right?

Yup it's readable now. Thanks.

[mr moose]

Wait, wat?

Making energy, that requires a multiple time less input? How? Magic?

 

I think this is a bit exaggerating, don't you? Sure, Hydrogen is the most abundant element we could use to create energy, but heat is also energy, and Hydrogen Fusion reaction makes a LOT of heat.

This is already known, and the problem that is still there is, sustaining that kind of energy output, it's not like we can make a cold fusion device ( since it's only hypothetical ).

It could be a good idea to make a space station designed as a power plant, since space is very cold, reactions would be easier to sustain, the only problem is the cost.

 

That "we are closer" title means 50 - 100 years, unless a major science breakthrough occurs in the near future...

 

It's not that simple.  They are not saying you get more energy out than you put in, that would defy the laws of physics, what they are saying is that the amount of energy required to drive the fusion reaction is so low that the output from the reaction is enough to also power itself (meaning process the fuel and deliver to the reaction chamber). they are not saying you don't need to add fuel or that the reaction produces more power than the fuel contains.

[Ebenesh]

Wait, wat?

Making energy, that requires a multiple time less input? How? Magic?

 

I think this is a bit exaggerating, don't you? Sure, Hydrogen is the most abundant element we could use to create energy, but heat is also energy, and Hydrogen Fusion reaction makes a LOT of heat.

This is already known, and the problem that is still there is, sustaining that kind of energy output, it's not like we can make a cold fusion device ( since it's only hypothetical ).

It could be a good idea to make a space station designed as a power plant, since space is very cold, reactions would be easier to sustain, the only problem is the cost.

 

That "we are closer" title means 50 - 100 years, unless a major science breakthrough occurs in the near future...

 

No no no.... Let me explain...

 

A simple fusion reaction is when 2 atoms are joined together to form one single atom. Okay ?

So usually we take hydrogen.

 

Hydrogen and hydrogen combine together to form Helium... That is the product. Okay ??

 

Now... for doin thing u need to give a certain amount of energy, and this is known as the binding energy of an atom.... What it is, is the energy that is required to keep protons and neutrons in an atom together... Because proton and proton both being positive can't obviously stay next to each other. same poles repel right ?

 

So this binding energy is what we provide as the input. in the form of laser beams and magnets because for this to happen we need strong magnets to push the protons together and also high temperatures around 15 Million kelvin... The temperature of the Sun's core, which we create using a concentrated beam of 192 lasers.

 

So when we do this fusion occurs, there is something called a mass defect that happens. That is the sum of 2 hydrogens (input) is greater than the helium (output) produced. The mass is converted into energy (E=mc2 ) where m is mass and E is the energy.

 

This energy per atom is about 17.6 MeV (million electron volt) so in 1 gram of hydrogen there are 6.02x10^23 atoms. And that's how much energy we produce. (1 eV = 1.602×10−19Joules).... 1 J/S is 1 Watt... the input given for the lasers and all the equipment is roughly 24 megawatts... 

 

The output should be theoretically 1697351 megawatts if i'm not mistaken

[NIC ROBERTOOO]

I think this is a bit exaggerating, don't you? Sure, Hydrogen is the most abundant element we could use to create energy, but heat is also energy, and Hydrogen Fusion reaction makes a LOT of heat.

This is already known, and the problem that is still there is, sustaining that kind of energy output, it's not like we can make a cold fusion device ( since it's only hypothetical ).

It could be a good idea to make a space station designed as a power plant, since space is very cold, reactions would be easier to sustain, the only problem is the cost.

The whole point of regular power 'creation' is to create heat, done by burning coal, fission or fusion.

Heat is created from *process*, heats water to create steam, pressure of steam turns a turbine, power=made