Artificial Sun: China has been experimenting with its ‘artificial sun’ to facilitate a way for clean energy in the future. In a recent successful test of China’s artificial sun, the fusion reactor ran successfully for almost 20 minutes at a stunning 70 million degrees Celsius. The machine strives at utilizing the power of nuclear fusion which is a less explored way of harnessing nuclear energy.
The steps during a test of China’s artificial sun imitated the nuclear reactions that take place inside the sun, where hydrogen and deuterium gases are used as a fuel. The ongoing experiments will bring scientists closer to unlimited clean energy.
What is the name of artificial sun made by China?
China’s artificial sun is dubbed EAST- Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak. EAST which is designed and built by the Chinese has been used for nuclear fusion experiments since 2006, however, it was only recently that the researchers came up with a significant milestone.
Why China is experimenting with its artificial sun?
The fusion reactor is being tested by Chinese researchers so that its auxiliary heating system becomes more ‘hot’ and ‘durable’.
Gong Xianzu, in charge of this EAST experiment, informed that the recent operation lays a solid experimental and scientific foundation towards the running of a fusion reactor.
Reportedly, more than 10,000 Chinese and foreign scientific researchers were part of this $948 million project and the experiments that started in early December 2021 are expected to last until June 2022.
What happened during the test of China’s artificial sun?
The artificial sun built by China, during the test ran at 70 million degrees Celsius for as long as 1,056 seconds- or 17 minutes and 36 seconds. It is almost five times hotter than the real sun which hits a temperature of 15 million degrees Celsius at its core.
The reactor reached great temperatures by boiling the hydrogen isotopes into a plasma. The fusion of these elements releases great amounts of energy, which further takes the form of heat. Scientists now face the challenge of maintaining temperatures above 100 million degrees Celsius and operation the nuclear fusion set up in a stable way over longer durations.
China to harness clean energy by 2040
Song Yuntao, the Director of the Institute of Plasma Physics stated that five years from now, China will start to build its own fusion reactor which will further need another 10 years for construction. He added that the country will be able to construct the power generator and start generating nuclear energy by 2040.
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