The vision for Project FUSES is to fundamentally change the way energy is produced and consumed in the most environmentally friendly way using nuclear fusion technology. Nuclear fusion is the process of moving atoms at high temperatures and speeds to cause a collision. This collision causes an outburst of energy in the form of heat and light. This energy can be consumed to meet some or all of our energy needs. The raw material used for nuclear fusion, deuterium and tritium, is in abundant supply on earth. It is also present in surface water which makes availability of this energy affordable to the people in all parts of the world.
Many different types of nuclear fusion reactions can occur in space, but only a few kinds of those reactions have any practical value for commercial energy production on earth. These involve isotopes or forms of the hydrogen atom. Fusion deals with three isotopes of hydrogen:
Deuterium and tritium are isotopes of hydrogen as each one has one proton and one electron, which is a standard property of hydrogen. Further, deuterium has two neutrons and tritium has three neutrons.
The nuclei of deuterium and tritium have positive charges and they repel under normal temperatures, but the higher the temperature, the faster the atoms move. When they collide at these high speeds, they overcome the repelling forces of the positively charged nuclei, and fuse together releasing energy.
In order to obtain energy at a practical level for electricity production, the deuterium and tritium fuel must be heated to about 100 million degrees Celsius. This temperature is more than 6 times hotter than interior of the sun, which is about 15 million degrees Celsius.
When the required temperatures have been attained, the deuterium and tritium must be confined under these extreme conditions. At these high temperatures, all the electrons of the atoms are separated from their nuclei. This process of extraction is called ionization. The positively charged nuclei are called ions, and the hot substance consisting of free electrons and ions is called plasma.
A particle in the plasma state has very high temperatures, and is hard to reach that temperature, but deuterium and tritium have a relatively low break-down temperature, thus it is the most readily attainable fusion process on Earth. The products of fusion are helium-4 and a highly energetic free neutron. The helium nucleus carries 1/5 of the total energy and the neutron carries the remaining 4/5.
Because of the electrical charges carried by the free electrons and the ions, plasma can be confined to a magnetic field. Without a magnetic field, the particles in the plasma move in random directions and will touch the walls of a magnetic confinement reactor, therefore cooling the plasma and stopping the fusion reactions. In a magnetic field the particles are forced to follow a spiral path along the field lines resulting in plasma confinement. Magnetic confinement fusion is one of the two current methods being researched for the containment of plasma.
Inertial confinement is the second method currently being researched for the containment of plasmas. This technique involves imploding a small fuel pellet (a 50/50 mixture of deuterium and tritium). If the pellet is compressed quickly and hard enough, it causes temperature and density to rise. The inertia of the imploding pellet keeps plasma confined which lasts for about a nanosecond. To achieve the requirements of the Lawson Criterion, a very large density is needed, somewhere around 1024 particles/cm3, which is many times more that the densest substance in the universe, thus making inertial confinement impractical to achieve.
History
Humans have always been intrigued by how and why the sun and other stars seem to infinitely shine in the night sky. The first clues to suggest that the stars shine as a result of fusion were revealed in Einstein's equation E=mc2, which stated that a small amount of mass could be converted into a tremendous amount of energy. The first fusion experiments were conducted in various laboratories in Cambridge, UK. However, only after World War II and the success of the Manhattan Project was there a serious interest in the peaceful use of nuclear fusion around the world. In fact, in 1951, scientists in Argentina claimed to have control of the release of nuclear fusion energy. This claim was proven to be untrue, but it gave other physicists the incentive to start research groups.
In the United Kingdom, much of the early fusion research took place at universities. In 1952, Cousins and Ware built a small toroidal pinch device, but the major large scale experimental fusion device on which most British nuclear physicists worked on during the 1940s and 1950s was in a hangar at Harwell. It was called the Zero Energy Toroidal Assembly (ZETA). ZETA was a stabilized toroidal pinch device that worked from 1954 until 1958 in which the results showed more promise toward nuclear fusion research, and gave clues to later devices.
In the United States, Lyman Spitzer started the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. He was working on a type of magnetic confinement device called a stellarator. James Tuck, who was actually a British physicist, began work at Los Alamos National Laboratory working on magnetic confinement devices, and Edward Teller started work on the hydrogen bomb at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory including inertial confinement techniques.
In 1968 in Russia, Igor Tamm and Andrei Sakharov built a new type of a magnetic confinement fusion reactor called a tokamak. Their tokamak ran at 10 million degrees Celsius, which was 10 times higher than any other experiment in the world. Additionally, the tokamak provided excellent confinement results. The success of the Russians led to the construction of many other tokamak experiments. The tokamak is the most prominent technique for fusion research today. A diagram of a tokamak can be seen below:
In 1976, the Joint European Torus (JET) project was launched, and for the first time ever in the world, a significant amount of power, 1.7 mega-watts, was produced from controlled nuclear fusion reactions. Accordingly, in 1993, the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) device at Princeton produced 10 mega-watts of energy with plasma fuelled by a mixture of deuterium and tritium.
In 1997, JET established the world record for producing fusion power, producing 16 mega-watts of power. All the work of JET and other tokamak experiments around the world has given the designers of ITER, the newest magnetic confinement fusion experiment in Southern France, the information they need for the next step in improving fusion technology.
In 2009, JET teamed up with ITER to build the world's largest tokamak. The carbon tiles which were found to melt in earlier experiments are being researched and . The new ITER reactor is twice the old JET's size, and the record for plasma confinement, which is 20 seconds at JET, will be broken at 400 seconds, which will produce 500 mega-watts of power compared to the record.
Analysis of current literature and internet data indicates that there are still many challenges to be overcome in this developing science which has many advantages if done correctly. Fusion research has come a long way, yet it has still left us with unsolved puzzles on the nuclear fusion and plasma confinement process. JET and ITER will continue to unlock these mysteries to help us perfect the technology so this energy source can be used commercially.
Future Technology
Project FUSES will revolutionize the way energy is produced and consumed using fusion technology. This technology will replace energy produced from fossil fuels that power automobiles, large ships, and airplanes. Furthermore, Project FUSES will replace current methods of energy production such as geothermal energy, hydroelectric power, fission power plants, and coal-burning power plants.
On a typical work day in the year 2030, Bill will be driving to work on his fusion-driven car. On the way, his car runs out of fuel. In a similar situation today, Bill would have to push his car to the nearest gas station. Thanks to Project FUSES, all Bill must to do is grab a bottle of water and pour it into the water tank of his car. The tokamak reactor will then separate the molecules in the water, creating deuterium and tritium which will fuse together, creating electricity to power the car. The next time his car stops as a result of the lack of fuel will be in a few weeks as even the tiniest fusion reaction can create a tremendous amount of power.
In another scenario, a large commercial ship is traveling across the Atlantic Ocean from the Boston Harbor to Cape Town port in South Africa. Generally, this would be a costly voyage requiring thousands of gallons of gasoline. With Project FUSES, the ship will use fusion technology and replace the engine with a tokamak. The tokamak reactor powering the ship will get its fuel from the water surrounding the ship using a water pump, which will then be separated into deuterium and tritium to be used in the fusion reaction. Since there is no need to carry large amount of gasoline, the ship will reduce its fuel storage; hence, the ship becomes lighter, and will travel faster. With the elimination of gasoline, the cost of transportation will be less as well as the cost of the goods shipped. Time and money will be saved with Project FUSES.
Finally, Project FUSES can be used to power airplanes by superseding the airplane's current gasoline powered engine with a tokamak. Although the weight and density of water is higher than gasoline, fusion requires less amount of water to carry there by reducing overall weight of the aircraft. In addition, there would be a dramatic reduction in air pollution. There would also be no safety issues during the flight as neither deuterium nor tritium is combustible. Traditionally, people perceive nuclear power as dangerous and radioactive. On a fusion powered flight, a passenger is safe.
The basic principle behind Project FUSES is that fusion has zero emissions. With the construction of a working tokamak reactor, Project FUSES can create a practical energy source that will produce much energy. Much like computers and other electronics have condensed in size yet have improved their performance, Project FUSES will do the same by manufacturing smaller yet satisfactory wire coils, and strong magnets which will confine plasma efficiently.
Upon observation and analysis of current statistics on air pollution, it is imperative to eliminate fossil fuels from people's life. Global warming is changing the Earth's atmosphere drastically and we need an alternative fuel source. Project FUSES take advantage of nuclear fusion technology to combat global warming as well as making energy affordable to the people.
Breakthroughs
Nuclear fusion technology is still in its infancy state and needs further research for commercialization. For example during a reaction, plasma heating is not a problem, but sustaining the heat is. During a malfunction, the plasma touches the walls of the reactor, stopping the reaction and melting the reactor itself due to plasma's extreme temperatures.
Tungsten and beryllium are elements that can withstand those high temperatures so that a new fusion reactor does not have to be built every time a reaction malfunctions. With heat resistance taken care of, the problem of sustaining plasma still remains. A possible solution to this is to add carbon nano-tubes instead of wire to create a stronger electromagnetic field. With a stronger magnetic field, the plasma is more tightly restricted to the magnetic pathways.
The above solutions can provide ways to overcome challenges and to master fusion technology, thus changing the way energy can be produced and consumed in the future.
Design Process
The following alternative energy sources exist but they have several limitations for mass production. Further, they are not versatile enough to single-handedly address all types of energy needs. Further, some of these energy sources are expensive to produce and may not be affordable to the average citizens.
Solar Energy:
Solar energy has been used for years by people everywhere. John Herschel, a famous British explorer, used a solar thermal collector box to cook his food while on an expedition to Africa in the 1800's. In parts of Europe, electrical cars charge their batteries from stations using energy generated from solar panels. Many American citizens have started placing solar panels on their houses today.
Solar energy uses photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight to electric energy. The cells are found in panels that absorb sunlight. There are both positive and negative aspects to the use of solar energy. The panels needed to power a small house would cost approximately $3,000. In the long run, that can save around $10,000 over 10 years. Solar energy converts sunlight to electrical energy directly without the use of a large generator, but it only converts about 15 to 20% of the energy it receives. However, the cells in the panels are made using toxic materials and chemicals which can be harmful for the environment. Solar energy can impact desert ecosystems, for example, if a bird or insect flies into a concentrated light beam, they can be killed. Solar energy is not a consistent resource; it is limited to the number of daylight hours and intensity of sunlight.
Nuclear Fission:
Nuclear fission is another way of creating energy. Fission was originally developed during the Manhattan Project to create the atom bomb. It has been used in bombs and as fuel for nuclear fission reactors. Nuclear fission is the process of splitting particles to produce energy.
Fission uses a heavy, unstable atom called Uranium-235. A neutron splits the atom, and then there are 2 remaining products. There is energy from half the original atom, and radioactive uranium waste from the other half. Fission produces a large amount of energy, but the radioactive waste produced is active for billions of years. The radioactive waste must be safely stored due to its harmful effects on the environment. Nuclear fission reactors also have a high probability of a meltdown. A meltdown is the result of loss of core containment. This can result in the release of radiation and toxic elements into the environment, as seen in the Chernobyl and the Three Mile Island incidents.
Fuel Cells:
The concept of hydrogen fuel cells is relatively new. It was first developed by General Electric for use in space capsules during the 1960s. In the 1990s, hydrogen fuel cells were used to power small buses. The process of creating energy using hydrogen fuel cells involves ionization (refer to page two) of the element hydrogen. The basic idea is to use all of the electrons to create a pure stream of electricity. The ions then combine and form steam, which is the only byproduct of using hydrogen fuel cells.
Many believe that the utilization of hydrogen fuel cells in cars and buses is necessary to meet the energy demands of the 21st century. Although this might be true, usage of hydrogen fuel cells is very expensive currently. Another important point to address is that the hydrogen used for "zero emission hydrogen fuel cells" is actually produced by burning coal, natural gas, and oil.
Consequences
Project FUSES utilizes nuclear fusion in order to create a cleaner energy source with many important advantages.
Availability of Raw Material: Deuterium, the major fuel for fusion, can be readily extracted from ordinary water, which is available to all nations. In fact, the surface waters of the earth contain more than 10 trillion tons of deuterium, which is essentially an inexhaustible supply. The tritium required for nuclear fusion can be produced from lithium, which is available in land deposits and in ocean water. The world-wide availability of these fuels will help the countries become more self-sufficient and as a result will ease tensions between the countries as it will reduce the reliance on a particular region for fuels.
No Risk of a Nuclear Accident: The amount of deuterium and tritium used in the reaction zone is so small it would not be possible to have a large, unrestrained release of energy at any time. In the case of a glitch, the plasma would touch the walls of the fusion reactor engine, and thus cool, stopping the reaction and preventing a meltdown.
No Air Pollution: Fossil fuels are not used; hence there will be no release of dangerous pollutants of chemical combustion as they will not be produced in the first place.
No Radioactive Waste: Fission, which produces about 20% of America's energy, uses a heavy and unstable atom called Uranium. When the atom is split, the remaining products are energy from half the original atom, and radioactive waste from the other half. Unlike fission, fusion uses light, stable atoms. Fusion's only waste product is helium, which can safely be released into the environment without concerns.
Although there are a considerable amount of advantages, there are also a few minor disadvantages that must be addressed.
For example, tritium, which is used in the fusion process, is slightly radioactive with a half life of 4,500 days; this is quite minimal compared to the half life of uranium (the fuel for fission), which is about 4.47 billion years. Upon refueling the tokamak engine, one must be careful in handling the tritium, very much like one must safely handle gasoline today. This is a potential disadvantage and general public must be educated on safety requirements for nuclear fusion.
Summary:
Nuclear fusion is a very promising technology that can one day replace fossil fuels used to meet energy needs. There are certain challenges related to confinement and heat resistance. Project FUSES will overcome the challenges and master nuclear fusion technology to achieve its vision of fundamentally changing the way energy is produced and consumed.
