What is neutral fusion?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Neutral-beam injection (NBI) is one method used to heat plasma inside a fusion device consisting in a beam of high-energy neutral particles that can enter the magnetic confinement field.

Why are magnetic fields used in fusion reactors?

Fusion energy requires confinement of a very hot plasma at a high pressure. The magnetic confinement approach uses strong magnetic fields to confine a very hot—many times hotter than the center of the sun—plasma with pressures up to 10 times the atmospheric pressure at Earth’s surface.

What magnets are used in fusion reactors?

Therefore, an enormous magnetic field is used to contain the plasma and ensure the fusion reactions can happen. This is achieved by a series of toroidal superconducting magnets, or field coils.

What are fusion plasmas?

Fusion is the process occurring within the plasma core of our Sun in which the nuclei of lighter atoms link to form a heavier atom. For example, when hydrogen nuclei collide, they can fuse into heavier helium nuclei and release tremendous amounts of energy in the process.

What are tokamaks used for?

tokamak, 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.

What is the advantage of a magnetic bottle for fusion?

Magnetic bottles can be used to temporarily trap charged particles. It is easier to trap electrons than ions, because electrons are so much lighter This technique is used to confine the high energy of plasma in fusion experiments.

How are fusion and fission different?

The main difference between these two processes is that fission is the splitting of an atom into two or more smaller ones while fusion is the fusing of two or more smaller atoms into a larger one.

What are the advantages of the tokamak concept for fusion?

Of the “magnetic confinement concepts” for fusion (mainly tokamaks and stellarators) the main advantage of ITER and its tokamak technology is that for the time being, the tokamak concept is by far the most advanced toward producing fusion energy. It is consequently pragmatism that dictated the choice of the tokamak concept for ITER.

What type of magnetic field is used in fusion reactors?

Fusion reactors such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor ITER use a tokamak, which is a combination of magnets that make a toroidal field and poloidal field. The toroidal field has the shape of a torus that surrounds the plasma, and the poloidal field moves in circles around the plasma.

How do you heat up a plasma in a tokamak?

A gas can be heated by sudden compression. In the same way, the temperature of a plasma is increased if it is compressed rapidly by increasing the confining magnetic field. In a tokamak, this compression is achieved simply by moving the plasma into a region of higher magnetic field (i.e., radially inward).

What kind of magnetic field is inside a tokamak?

Fig. 1:Schematics showing the toroidal, poloidal, and combined magnetic fields inside a tokamak. The resultant field ends up surrounding and stabilizing the plasma. Source: Wikimedia Commons)