Innovations For Fusion Energy
Innovations For Fusion Energy
Presented by Martin Greenwald Deputy Director – MIT Plasma Science & Fusion Center For Society of Petroleum Engineers August 29, 2016
Fusion and Fission Are Two Forms of Nuclear Energy
Fusion is the power source for the sun and all the stars and creates the elements of the periodic table SPE – 2016-08-29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
2
Chemical Energy 15 kJ/g
20 kJ/g
40 kJ/g
mii.org
Nuclear Energy FISSION 50 Million kJ/g SPE – 2016-08-29
FUSION 350 Million kJ/g Innovations for Fusion Energy
3
Pros and Cons of Fusion Pros ●
Abundant high energy density fuel (D + Li)
●
No greenhouse gases (nor NOX, SOX, particulates)
●
Compared to fission – No chain reaction, minimal afterheat, much less residual radioactivity or waste o Control of fusion reaction is not a safety issue! o Cooling is not a safety issue! – Minimal nuclear proliferation risks
●
Compared to renewables – Minimal land and water use – No seasonal, diurnal or regional variation – no energy storage issue
Cons ●
We don’t quite know how to do it yet (turns out to be a really hard problem)
SPE – 2016-08-29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
4
The Science & Engineering Challenges Are Well Known ● Physics
– Attaining required plasma performance o High temperatures(300,000,000°K = 30keV) and thermal insulation of hot plasma – Steady State – Interface between “edge” plasma (1,000,000 °K) and ordinary materials ● Engineering
– First Wall (Plasma-material interactions) – Structural materials – in radiation environment – Constructability, reliability, availability, maintenance ● Overall – cost and pace of development program SPE – 2016-08-29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
5
Magnetic fields confine charged particles in the perpendicular direction, but, there is no parallel confinement
● At the temperatures involved, ions are moving at over 1,000 km/s ● For a practical device, the end losses must be eliminated
Voila! Eliminate the ends. A torus is unique topologically. It is the only 3D shape where a non-singular vector field can be tangent to the surface everywhere. SPE – 2016-08-29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
6
On The Tour, You’ll See Our Version Of This Concept
SPE – 2016/08/29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
7
Tritium is Bred as Part of the Fuel Cycle in a Shielding Blanket Plasma self-heating to sustain reaction energetically Heat for Electricity Generation
Fusion
D + T ⇒ He + n He + T
SPE – 2016/08/29
Energy Extraction
⇐ Li + n Innovations for Fusion Energy
Breeding
8
Once You Have Fusion Working – Its Just Another Source Of Heat For Conventional Power Generation The deuterium extracted from 1 gallon of Lithium compound
water and the lithium from a laptop battery could produce the electricity used by a typical American consumer for 1 year
SPE – 2016/08/29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
9
How Are We Doing? – By Some Measures We Have Outpaced The Semiconductor Industry Each step gets more difficult and more expensive ITER 2035?
SPE – 2016-08-29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
10
We’ve Built A Lot Of These Devices
HT-7 (CN)
JT-60U (JP)
KSTAR (KR) Alcator C-Mod (US) ASDEX-U (DE) COMPASS (CZ)
T1 (1958) MAST-U (UK)
NSTX-U (US)
Tore Supra (FR)
DIII-D (US)
EAST (CN)
FTU (IT)
+ 170 other tokamaks for over 1800 tokamak-years of experience across nearly 60 years
So What’s New? SPE – 2016/08/29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
11
Game Changer – New Superconductors - Magnet Innovations ●
Industrial Maturity of High Temperature (high-TC) superconductors Why is that a big deal?
●
Allows operation at higher magnetic fields – The quality of thermal insulation increases with field; Fusion Gain ∝ B3 – Fusion power density ∝ B4 – High-Field ⇒ Smaller, cheaper, faster
●
High-temperature superconductors allow construction of “demountable” magnets – Eases construction and maintenance
SPE – 2016-08-29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
12
HTS Magnet Development May Generate Important Spin-offs ● MHD Power Generation: The higher fields accessible with the new superconducting technology
could make magnetohydrodynamic power generation (MHD) more efficient and less expensive. Deployed as the first stage in fossil fuel plants, such a system could significantly reduce CO2 accumulation as the world transitions to carbon-free energy.
● MRI: Smaller, more powerful magnets may make it possible to build inexpensive, portable magnetic
resonance imaging machines, enabling modern diagnostic technology to reach people in poor and remote locations.
● Accelerators for Proton Therapy: Advances in particle accelerator research may make proton
therapy more affordable for the treatment of cancer, since the size and cost of the necessary equipment is a current barrier to broader use.
● Energy Storage: Outside medicine, advances in magnetics may prove useful in a range of applications
from grid-scale superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) to magnetic materials separation for mining.
SPE – 2016/08/29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
13
Game Changers – Other Engineering Innovations
A new concept for an immersion blanket that provides magnet shielding, fuel breeding and power extraction Eases construction and Maintenance
Advanced manufacturing: 3D printing of structural materials (e.g. for RF launchers or high heat-flux components – with integral cooling channels SPE – 2016-08-29
Reduces volume of radioactive materials by almost two orders of magnitude
Innovations for Fusion Energy
14
Game Changers - Physics Innovations X-point target divertor ●
Taming the Plasma-Materials Interface
Core Plasma = 30,000 eV = 300,000,000 °K
Plasma at the boundary = 100 eV = 1,000,000 °K
Plasma at the material interface
Presented by Martin Greenwald Deputy Director – MIT Plasma Science & Fusion Center For Society of Petroleum Engineers August 29, 2016
Fusion and Fission Are Two Forms of Nuclear Energy
Fusion is the power source for the sun and all the stars and creates the elements of the periodic table SPE – 2016-08-29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
2
Chemical Energy 15 kJ/g
20 kJ/g
40 kJ/g
mii.org
Nuclear Energy FISSION 50 Million kJ/g SPE – 2016-08-29
FUSION 350 Million kJ/g Innovations for Fusion Energy
3
Pros and Cons of Fusion Pros ●
Abundant high energy density fuel (D + Li)
●
No greenhouse gases (nor NOX, SOX, particulates)
●
Compared to fission – No chain reaction, minimal afterheat, much less residual radioactivity or waste o Control of fusion reaction is not a safety issue! o Cooling is not a safety issue! – Minimal nuclear proliferation risks
●
Compared to renewables – Minimal land and water use – No seasonal, diurnal or regional variation – no energy storage issue
Cons ●
We don’t quite know how to do it yet (turns out to be a really hard problem)
SPE – 2016-08-29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
4
The Science & Engineering Challenges Are Well Known ● Physics
– Attaining required plasma performance o High temperatures(300,000,000°K = 30keV) and thermal insulation of hot plasma – Steady State – Interface between “edge” plasma (1,000,000 °K) and ordinary materials ● Engineering
– First Wall (Plasma-material interactions) – Structural materials – in radiation environment – Constructability, reliability, availability, maintenance ● Overall – cost and pace of development program SPE – 2016-08-29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
5
Magnetic fields confine charged particles in the perpendicular direction, but, there is no parallel confinement
● At the temperatures involved, ions are moving at over 1,000 km/s ● For a practical device, the end losses must be eliminated
Voila! Eliminate the ends. A torus is unique topologically. It is the only 3D shape where a non-singular vector field can be tangent to the surface everywhere. SPE – 2016-08-29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
6
On The Tour, You’ll See Our Version Of This Concept
SPE – 2016/08/29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
7
Tritium is Bred as Part of the Fuel Cycle in a Shielding Blanket Plasma self-heating to sustain reaction energetically Heat for Electricity Generation
Fusion
D + T ⇒ He + n He + T
SPE – 2016/08/29
Energy Extraction
⇐ Li + n Innovations for Fusion Energy
Breeding
8
Once You Have Fusion Working – Its Just Another Source Of Heat For Conventional Power Generation The deuterium extracted from 1 gallon of Lithium compound
water and the lithium from a laptop battery could produce the electricity used by a typical American consumer for 1 year
SPE – 2016/08/29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
9
How Are We Doing? – By Some Measures We Have Outpaced The Semiconductor Industry Each step gets more difficult and more expensive ITER 2035?
SPE – 2016-08-29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
10
We’ve Built A Lot Of These Devices
HT-7 (CN)
JT-60U (JP)
KSTAR (KR) Alcator C-Mod (US) ASDEX-U (DE) COMPASS (CZ)
T1 (1958) MAST-U (UK)
NSTX-U (US)
Tore Supra (FR)
DIII-D (US)
EAST (CN)
FTU (IT)
+ 170 other tokamaks for over 1800 tokamak-years of experience across nearly 60 years
So What’s New? SPE – 2016/08/29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
11
Game Changer – New Superconductors - Magnet Innovations ●
Industrial Maturity of High Temperature (high-TC) superconductors Why is that a big deal?
●
Allows operation at higher magnetic fields – The quality of thermal insulation increases with field; Fusion Gain ∝ B3 – Fusion power density ∝ B4 – High-Field ⇒ Smaller, cheaper, faster
●
High-temperature superconductors allow construction of “demountable” magnets – Eases construction and maintenance
SPE – 2016-08-29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
12
HTS Magnet Development May Generate Important Spin-offs ● MHD Power Generation: The higher fields accessible with the new superconducting technology
could make magnetohydrodynamic power generation (MHD) more efficient and less expensive. Deployed as the first stage in fossil fuel plants, such a system could significantly reduce CO2 accumulation as the world transitions to carbon-free energy.
● MRI: Smaller, more powerful magnets may make it possible to build inexpensive, portable magnetic
resonance imaging machines, enabling modern diagnostic technology to reach people in poor and remote locations.
● Accelerators for Proton Therapy: Advances in particle accelerator research may make proton
therapy more affordable for the treatment of cancer, since the size and cost of the necessary equipment is a current barrier to broader use.
● Energy Storage: Outside medicine, advances in magnetics may prove useful in a range of applications
from grid-scale superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) to magnetic materials separation for mining.
SPE – 2016/08/29
Innovations for Fusion Energy
13
Game Changers – Other Engineering Innovations
A new concept for an immersion blanket that provides magnet shielding, fuel breeding and power extraction Eases construction and Maintenance
Advanced manufacturing: 3D printing of structural materials (e.g. for RF launchers or high heat-flux components – with integral cooling channels SPE – 2016-08-29
Reduces volume of radioactive materials by almost two orders of magnitude
Innovations for Fusion Energy
14
Game Changers - Physics Innovations X-point target divertor ●
Taming the Plasma-Materials Interface
Core Plasma = 30,000 eV = 300,000,000 °K
Plasma at the boundary = 100 eV = 1,000,000 °K
Plasma at the material interface
