Chinese scientists kept hydrogen plasma in a stable state for 102 seconds

The natural fusion reactor is our Sun. (photo: Wikipedia)

The other day on Geektimes was published the news that the German scientists managed to get the hydrogen plasma in the stellarator. At the same time in a stable state, scientists kept the plasma just a split second. Today, Chinese scientists have achieved even more impressive results , having advanced far in comparison with their colleagues from Germany. The Chinese were able to heat the plasma to a temperature of about 50 million degrees, and kept the plasma in a stable state for 102 seconds.

The breakthrough of Chinese scientists is a real step forward in terms of creating an alternative energy source capable of supplying humanity with a huge amount of energy that is so necessary for all of us. The experiment was conducted in a thermonuclear reactor installed at the Institute of Physical Sciences in the city of Hefei, the capital of Jiangsu Province.


Photo: Institute of Physical Sciences, Hefei
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Unlike the Germans, the Chinese work with a tokamak-type reactor, their system is called Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). As mentioned above, the plasma temperature reached is 50 million degrees, while the temperature in the center of the Sun, according to experts, is approximately 15 million degrees. The temperature at the center of a medium-power thermonuclear explosion also reaches 50 million degrees.

Before the Chinese, the “temperature record” was set up in another experiment , but its duration was a fraction of a second, and success was never repeated.

Scientists from Japan and Europe can also heat the plasma to 50 million degrees in their reactors. But we are not talking about any long-term preservation of plasma in a stable state - experts simply fear that the reactor will melt. As you can see, the Chinese were able to avoid this problem.


And this is what the Chinese reactor looks like from the inside.

To achieve the current record, Chinese scientists "worked day and night," the scientists said in an official statement. And this is indeed an achievement, because until now no one has ever kept a plasma in a stable state for more than 20 seconds. The Chinese, according to them, were able to solve a number of scientific and engineering problems, including controlling the position of the magnet, as well as trapping high-energy particles that “ran away” from the magnetic donut, the field that holds the plasma.


And this is a plasma in the German stellarator, the photo was taken in December

The Chinese plan to achieve more significant results - to heat the plasma to 100 million degrees and keep it in a stable state for about 17 minutes. Before the construction of the commercial model of the reactor, which will produce energy, there is still a lot of time, years, say Chinese experts.

In Germany, experiments are now being conducted on the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator. Two experiments have already been carried out to obtain helium and hydrogen plasma. Both experiments were successful.