Ibercivis

Research

Fusion energy: the energy of the future

Fusion by magnetic confinement might be an energy source to solve in the future some of the problems that threaten our energetic model, like fossil fuel exhaustion and CO2 emissions provoking global heating.
Fusion occurs when two energetic nuclei fuse into a heavier one, a process in which a tremendous amount of energy is generated. The luminosity and heat of stars, for instance, is the result of the fusion of hydrogen atoms. Matter in stars is in the plasma state, an almost completely ionized gas.

In the figure: Typical process of fusion of two hydrogen isotopes

ITER: the biggest experiment in the world

Due to the electric repulsion of two atomic nuclei - two positive charges always repel each other -, the plasma must be at a very high temperature in order fusion to take place, approximately, at 100 million centigrade degrees. Fusion reactors are complex machines which hold plasma within a chamber in such a way that it does not touch the chamber walls. That is achieved by means of very powerful magnetic fields and the most advanced technology. However, no reactors have been built yet capable of maintaining controlled fusion in a commercially viable way.

The next step of the scientific community shall be the construction of the reactor ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) in the south of France, promoted by an international consortium which shall invest 10,300 million euros. ITER's aim is to prove the viability of fusion energy.

Figure (left to right and up down): Cut of the vacuum chamber, where the plasma shall be confined. It's approximate measures are 3.5 x 8 m / 3 superconducting coils crating the main magnetic field, some 100,000 times the terrestrial field / ITER, within the cryostat keeping the coils in the superconducting state and within the shielding isolating it from the exterior.

The plasma on your screen

Plasma dynamics is extremely complex, and at present it is not completely understood. Scientists of CIEMAT (Center for Energetic Environmental and Technological Research), who have worked on the plasma calculation for the Spanish Stellarator TJ-11, and scientists of BIFI (Institute of Biocomputation and the Physics of Complex Systems) University of Zaragoza, make simulations of the plasmas in the ITER project.

The computers of private citizens collaborate in that project through Ibercivis, calculating the trajectories of nuclei in the plasma, which enables the prediction of their behavior as an ensemble.

In the figures: Part of a trajectory and behavior of the plasma as an ensemble. A home computer can take between 15 and 30 minutes in calculating a complete trajectory. The calculation of many trajectories allows us to get an idea about the aspect and properties of plasma in the reactor. Sooner or later, the nuclei in ITER eventually escape. Ibercivis helps us to learn the escape regions (in this case, the upper region).