Dr Rajiv Desai
An Educational Blog
Mirage of Fusion Power
Mirage of Fusion Power: _ “We say that we will put the Sun into a box. The idea is pretty. The problem is, we don’t know how to make the box”. Pierre-Gilles de Gennes _ Figure above shows ITER fusion reactor tokamak. A tokamak is a device used in nuclear fusion research for magnetic confinement of plasma. It consists of a complex system of magnetic fields that confine the plasma of reactive charged particles in a hollow, doughnut-shaped container. The tokamak (an acronym from the Russian words for toroidal magnetic confinement) was developed in the mid-1960s by Soviet plasma physicists. It produces the highest plasma temperatures, densities, and confinement durations of any confinement device. Fusion energy scientists believe that tokamaks are the leading plasma confinement concept for future fusion power plants. _____ Section-1 Prologue: The demand for energy is ever growing, as more people around the […]
HYDROGEN
Hydrogen: _ _ Section-1 Prologue: Primary energy sources include fossil fuels (petroleum, natural gas, and coal), nuclear energy, and renewable sources of energy. Energy carriers include electricity and heat as well as solid, liquid and gaseous fuels. They occupy intermediate steps in the energy-supply chain between primary sources and end-use applications. Energy carriers allow the transport of energy in a usable form from one place to another. Hydrogen is an energy carrier, not an energy source and can deliver or store a tremendous amount of energy. Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. H is in the upper left corner of the Periodic Table. Hydrogen is the most basic chemical element — just one proton and one electron — and makes up nearly three-quarters of the mass in the universe. Stars such as the Sun are mainly composed of […]
