World’s only tokamak with negative triangularity achieves 1st plasma – Interesting Engineering

Negative triangularity of SMART fusion reactor ensures better suppression of plasma instabilities, reducing damage to tokamak wall. 2 days ago2 days ago2 days ago2 days ago2 days ago2 days ago2 days ago2 days ago2 days ago3 days agoan hour ago2 hours ago4 hours ago4 hours ago6 hours ago7 hours ago9 hours ago9 hours ago10 hours ago11 hours agoAmeya PalejaFirst plasma in the Tokamak SMART, recorded with a super-fast camera in the visible spectrum. University of SevillaSMART (Small Aspect Ratio Tokamak), the world’s only fusion reactor with ‘negative triangularity’ constructed at the University of Sevilla in Spain, produced its first plasma. This is an important achievement that takes the reactor into its operational phase now, bringing us closer to generating clean and limitless energy using nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion reactors aim to replicate the chemical process in stars, fusing hydrogen atoms at extremely high temperatures to form helium and releasing large amounts of energy. The approach is preferred over its commercially successful fission counterpart, where heavy atoms are broken apart to release energy, since it does not generate large amounts of radioactive waste that needs to be dealt with. To create conditions similar to those on stars, scientists use tokamaks, donut-shaped devices to contain the plasma, a superheated state of matter, where atoms are stripped off of their electrons into ionic nuclei that can fuse easily. Tokamak reactors are being extensively used to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion technology, with the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) being the largest tokamak being built to date. SMART, however, is very different. Constructed at the Plasma Science and Fusion Technology Laboratory at the University of Seville, SMART’s dimensions are just 5.2 feet x 5.2 feet (1.6 m x 1.6 m). It features a one-foot-long solenoid magnet with 12 toroidal field coils and eight poloidal field coils that help shape the plasma. Triangularity in a tokamak is the shape of the plasma in relation to the reactor design. The reactor’s donut shape means that the plasma’s cross-section is shaped like the letter ‘D’. In a typical tokamak design, the straight part of the D faces the center of the reactor, which is referred to as positive triangularity. When the curved part of the plasma faces the center, it is said to have a negative triangularity, which only SMART has achieved so far. The advantages of negative triangularity include better suppression of plasma instabilities, which cause the expulsion of particles and energy. This can also help reduce damage to the tokamak wall, which is a concern in fusion reactors. Last year, researchers at the University of Sevilla published a series of papers to describe the physics behind the working of the SMART fusion reactor and how it could help us meet energy demands in the future. Together with the researchers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), the team at Sevilla built the SMART reactor, which has now reached an important milestone by achieving its first plasma. “We were all very excited to see the first magnetically confined plasma and are looking forward to exploiting the capabilities of the SMART device together with the international scientific community,” said  Eleonora Viezzer, physicist and professor at the University of Sevilla, in a press release. “SMART has attracted a great deal of interest around the world.”The research findings were published in the journal Nuclear Fusion. Stay up-to-date on engineering, tech, space, and science news with The Blueprint.By clicking sign up, you confirm that you accept this site’s Terms of Use and Privacy PolicyAmeya Paleja Ameya is a science writer based in Hyderabad, India. A Molecular Biologist at heart, he traded the micropipette to write about science during the pandemic and does not want to go back. He likes to write about genetics, microbes, technology, and public policy.16 hours ago19 hours agoa day agoa day agoPremiumIE PROFollow

Source: https://interestingengineering.com/energy/smart-fusion-reactor-first-plasma