US scientists cool nuclear fusion reactor with liquid lithium breakthrough

Lithium News

US scientists cool nuclear fusion reactor with liquid lithium breakthrough
Nuclear Fusion
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Fusion reactors need to be superhot but can overheat either. Liquid lithium based cooling system is just right.

Researchers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, a US Department of Energy facility, are using liquid lithium to cool down fusion reactors. In addition to helping maintain the fusion reactor temperature, the liquid metal also protects reactor components from neutron bombardment, a press release sent toFusion reactors recreate conditions on the surface of the Sun to fuse hydrogen atoms and release large amounts of energy.

“Currently, there are no available solid materials that can handle these loads,” said Egemen Kolemen, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton’sPrinceton’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. “Flowing liquid metals have the potential to resolve these materials challenges.”inside edge. The idea of using liquid metal isn’t entirely new and has been attempted before in systems called diverters.

Lithium’s role, however, is not limited to cooling down the system alone. It also performs an additional task of keeping the plasma hot enough by recycling the hydrogen particles. Hydrogen isotopes that leave the plasma typically return at a significantly lower temperature, which cools down the plasma.

The team also experimented with increments in current flow to arrive at a flow uniformity for the liquid metal without splashing inside the reactor vessel. The press release added that the team achieved a flow rate of one meter per second by using 900A of current.

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Nuclear Fusion

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