After observing distinct behavior in heat-driven plasma reactors, researchers at the National Institute for Fusion Science in Japan identified a phenomenon known as "mediator turbulence" as responsible for sudden, seemingly arbitrary heat losses.
As Interesting Engineering observed, physicists over the past several decades have believed heat in a plasma reactor escapes only gradually outward from the core. However, their hypotheses failed to account for mystifying bouts of heat loss at rapid, near-imperceptible speeds.
In other words, the heat in a reactor can actually "jump" away from the molten plasma center to the cooler perimeters of the reactor, effectively reducing the efficiency of energy production and letting thousands of dollars in heating expenses go to waste.
By examining the Large Helical Device, a massive fusion research device designed to confine heated plasma and harness fusion energy using a magnetic field, the NIFS team found that mediator turbulence establishes long-range links between distinct areas of the reactor. That allowed heat to jump large distances within one ten-thousandth of a second.
The researchers applied brief heating pulses to the plasma to test its response, discovering that longer pulses helped dampen any turbulence and keep heat contained near the core.
With a data-evidenced correlation established between heat loss and these pulses, physicists may be better-equipped to deal with mediator turbulence in the future, likely even unlocking greater and more efficient energy-generation potential in their plasma reactors.
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Fusion-based energy provides a clean, low-carbon alternative to conventional power production, which relies on combustion processes that require burning oil, coal, and gas.
Generating immense amounts of energy in a single go, fusion power — if made commercial — could help reduce energy-related pollution, ease strain on power plants, drive down consumer energy costs down the line, and do so without the radioactive waste concerns raised by nuclear fission.
Still, there's a long way to go before nuclear fusion goes mainstream, due to expensive and complex nuclear equipment, extreme reaction temperatures, and ongoing technical challenges, such as mediator turbulence.
But sustained efforts to fund research into nuclear fusion can advance this cutting-edge clean energy possibility as a viable option in the decades to come.
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"This research provides the first unambiguous experimental evidence for the long-hypothesized mediator pathways, validating key theoretical predictions in plasma physics," the NIFS team explained.
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