Fusion energy is one of the most interesting versions of energy production. The problem is that this reactor requires deuterium and tritium for the fusion. The term "heavy water" means that the hydrogen is turned to its heavier isotopes deuterium and tritium. But there is so small number of those isotopes in the water.
In hydrogen bombs, lithium deuteride creates, deuterium and tritium when it's shot with neutrons. But deuterium and tritium can produce from water by stressing it with radiation. In nature, 0,015% of hydrogen is in deuterium form.
So vaporized lithium deuteride can use in fusion reactors the same way. The radiation stress would turn lithium 6 deuteride into deuterium and tritium. The vacuum allows vaporizing the lithium deuteride. And then that vaporized lithium deuteride can be driven to a tokamak-type donut-shaped reactor.
When a fusion reaction is started. The reactor's radiation can use to produce deuterium and tritium. The bottle of water will take near the fusion reactor. And then the radiation of that reactor should turn the hydrogen in that water to deuterium and tritium. In laboratories, deuterium and tritium are formed by stressing water by using X-ray machines.
In the universe, the deuterium is forming in the nuclear fusion of stars. But there is no chemical reaction that can form the deuterium or tritium. There is the possibility to create tritium by using neutron radiation. In that case, the neutron flow would impact deuterium. And the deuterium traps neutron and turns to tritium.
In the production of those heavier isotopes of hydrogen, the neutron or two neutrons in the case of tritium must connect to the proton. Producing tritium by using Helium 3 is impossible because there are two protons and one neutron in Helium 3. The tritium involves two neutrons and one proton.
But in nature heavy water is forming when cosmic radiation hits the water. In that reaction, the hydrogen turns to deuterium and tritium. This reaction is extremely slow. But when we are thinking possibility to take the water tanks to the edge of the atmosphere. There is the possibility to stress the water by using cosmic radiation.
Researchers can make it by using balloons or high-flying aircraft. The high-flying stratospheric aircraft can take water bottles to the upper atmosphere.
There is the possibility to use the fission reactor to create deuterium and tritium. In that case, the water bottle will be put in the nuclear reactor. And then the neutron radiation can turn the water into heavy water. So the nuclear reactor will turn the hydrogen atoms in water be deuterium and tritium. But the most economical version is to benefit the fusion reactor's radiation for making those hydrogen isotopes.
https://quillette.com/2022/02/21/fusion-power-is-coming/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuterium
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium-3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_hydride
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermonuclear_weapon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokamak
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium
https://thoughtandmachines.blogspot.com/
Comments
Post a Comment