"The current research on first wall materials is basically based on the preparation of tungsten metal. After all, tungsten has the highest melting point of all metals, more than 3,000 degrees Celsius. It also has good thermal conductivity, which helps to dissipate heat quickly. If we use boiling water to generate electricity, tungsten metal can indeed help us heat water quickly."
In the materials laboratory in Plasma Institute, Li Jiangan stood next to Xiao Yi, introducing him to the current affairs.
Xiao Yi nodded slightly.
Plasma Institute Since it studies nuclear fusion, it is natural that laboratories on materials are indispensable.
They have also made quite in-depth research on first wall materials, and have cooperative relationships with quite a few domestic materials research institutes.
Now, they also have a cooperative relationship with Science Island Laboratory, a materials research institute.
Having said this, Li Jiangan sighed again, "Of course, this is basically limited by the limited periodic table of elements. If there are more metal materials in the middle of the periodic table that can exist normally, maybe we can find a better metal than tungsten?"
Hearing what he said, Xiao Yi couldn't help laughing.
This is indeed a good idea. Why can't there be other elements between elements in the periodic table?
But, from a scientific point of view, this is very reasonable. Every time there is an extra nuclear electron, the properties of the element will change. Then in order to balance the extra negative electrons, there will be an extra positively charged proton in the nucleus, which determines the intrinsic properties of the element.
It sounds more and more like there is a sense of design in it.
Is there really a Creator of the world?
Every scientist probably has such an idea in his mind, but in the end he rejects it with his own scientific ideas.
"But having said that, do you really plan to place your first target on the first wall of materials?"
Li Jiangan asked again at this time.
Xiao Yi nodded. "Yes."
"If the problem of the first wall material is not solved, how to efficiently extract the energy generated by nuclear fusion will never be solved."
Li Jiangan was silent for a moment.
He knew this was true.
If heat does not exchange, then the energy of nuclear fusion can only be trapped in the nuclear fusion reactor.
And heat exchange occurs, which means contact is required.
At the level of human civilization, there is absolutely no material in this world that can directly resist nuclear fusion plasma.
Therefore, the materials responsible for exchanging heat can only become consumables.
Xiao Yi said, "Think about what I said on the day of the induction ceremony."
"What will humans do when the raw materials for making such consumables are completely exhausted?"
"For example, the metal tungsten."
"According to statistics, global tungsten reserves are only over four million tons. Although it seems like a lot, if tungsten becomes the most important first-wall material for nuclear fusion in the future, its consumption will inevitably increase dramatically. By that time, we must consider the possibility of exhaustion of tungsten reserves."
"If mankind has not found a new energy source that can replace nuclear fusion before then, then all nuclear fusion reactors around the world will have to shut down. From then on, human civilization will directly regress to our era."
"Think again, in 1850, when mankind officially started the second industrial revolution, the total global population was almost 1.2 billion people. But now in 2024, the total global population has directly reached 8 billion people, which has increased by nearly 7 times."
"And if nuclear fusion technology appears, then in a few hundred years, the global population will most likely surge..."
Having said this, Xiao Yi suddenly raised his eyebrows and said, "Of course, considering the common thinking of young people today, it is indeed a question whether the population will surge six or seven times."
"However, two or three times shouldn't be a big problem."
Hearing this question, Li Jiangan became interested and joked, "Aren't you also a young person? What are your thoughts?"
Xiao Yi glanced at Academician Li helplessly. "Academician Li, you'd better not care about my affairs."
"Hey, how can you not care about this? You are considered a young comrade in our institute now. As an old man, it is reasonable for me to care about the emotional problems of young comrades, right?"
Xiao Yi's eyes suddenly turned cold. "Women will only affect the efficiency of my scientific research."
Li Jiangan laughed dumbly.
However, he then coughed twice and said, "But no matter what, I think your idea is still too pessimistic. As the saying goes, the boat will straighten out when it reaches the bridge. By that time, humans will always find a way."
He looked at the sun in the sky and said, "For example, a few hundred years later, our human civilization will already have the ability to build Dyson Sphere. Once Dyson Sphere is built, we will have the ability to share weal and woe with the sun."
"Dyson Sphere..."
Xiao Yi thought of his dream within a dream that night.
In it, humans have indeed built Dyson Sphere, which can almost completely absorb the energy emitted by the sun. Obviously, compared to this largest energy source, no matter how many nuclear fusion reactors humans create, they cannot compare to natural nuclear fusion reactors like stars.
On this basis, human beings can indeed share weal and woe with the sun.
However... if you can achieve a civilization level of Dyson Sphere, even if you don't use the sun, there will probably be no problem at all, right?
Maybe at that time, humans will still feel that the sun is the most beautiful scenery in the world. To protect the sun, we cannot build Dyson Sphere.
Finally, he shook his head and said, "Okay, the time for science fiction imagination is over. Now let's think carefully about what kind of structure can help us resist the power of the sun."
Xiao Yi waved his hand, said no more, and continued to try on the computer in front of him.
Just now, he had been trying to use modeling on the computer to build a structure that could withstand the impact of high-energy particles.
When entering the microscopic world, the concept of temperature does not actually exist. Temperature is a macroscopic number, and when reflected in the microscopic world, it is related to the average kinetic energy of matter. Of course, considering the different forms of objects, the relationship between them is also different.
For example, the temperature of a gas, according to the classical gas kinetic theory, is related to the average translational kinetic energy of molecules: 3/2kB·T=1/2m[v^2], where kB is Boltzmann constant, about 1.38×10^23 J/K, T is the Kelvin temperature, m is the mass of the gas molecule, and [v^2] is the mean square value of the molecular velocity.
Of course, the form of plasma is similar to that of gas.
Therefore, based on the temperature of the plasma, the kinetic energy of its individual particles can be calculated.
In nuclear fusion, the particles of plasma are mainly electrons and ions, as well as neutrons, which have kinetic energy equivalent to hundreds of millions of degrees and collide with the atoms of the wall material.
Under such a huge impact, it is obviously impossible for ordinary structural materials to withstand it.
Therefore, his current goal is to find an atomic structure that can withstand this impact force.
Metal tungsten is obviously a good choice. Under some current alloy technologies, such as tungsten-chromium-titanium alloy, it can theoretically last for more than a month in a nuclear fusion environment.
But just one month is definitely not enough.
Therefore, it is necessary to consider at this time what kind of alloy structure can further improve its radiation resistance.
In addition, tungsten is not without its shortcomings. It becomes brittle at high temperatures, which also greatly affects its performance. Therefore, it is also necessary to try to solve this problem during research.
In addition to tungsten metal, carbon-based composite materials are also an option.
Carbon is a material that really shows quite a lot of properties, and seems to be able to show its role in any field.
Carbon-based composite materials have good thermal conductivity and thermal shock resistance, but they will undergo physical and chemical changes under high-energy neutron irradiation, which also requires further research.
In addition to these two materials, there are also many other types of materials that have entered the selection of scientists.
For example, low activation steel and ODS steel, as well as nanostructured materials, etc.
Among them, Xiao Yi prefers steel materials and carbon-based materials. After all, the reserves of these two in the earth are much higher than tungsten, so there is no need to worry, especially the cost is much lower than tungsten.
Moreover, the density of tungsten is also much higher. With the same mass, the volume of either carbon or steel is much larger than that of tungsten.
The density of tungsten is approximately 19.35 grams per cubic centimeter, while the density of iron is approximately 7.86 grams per cubic centimeter.
Not much to say about carbon.
Of course, considering that the abundance of iron in the earth's crust reaches 5%, while the abundance of carbon is only 0.02%, iron has the highest priority.
In this way, Xiao Yi keeps trying to build different structures. Of course, in a short time, there is no need to think about the results.
Faced with such a problem, even he can only try his luck by constantly trying.
Of course, in addition to trying simulations on the computer, he is also constantly using experiments to synthesize new materials, and then uses Material Mastery to conduct more simulations of the interior of the materials.
In the process, he also discovered another function of material simulation, that is, it can directly simulate the nuclear fusion environment, thereby simulating the impact of neutron irradiation and high-temperature plasma on materials.
This function can be said to be quite powerful. It means that he does not need to put the synthesized materials into the nuclear fusion device and try it again. He can just simulate it directly.
You must know that the cost of igniting a nuclear fusion fire is quite high. The electricity bill required to heat the fuel to hundreds of millions of degrees is not a small amount of money, plus the subsequent maintenance costs, it will cost a lot of money.
Moreover, using this function, he can also observe what the inside of the material will look like after neutron irradiation and high-temperature plasma impact, so as to make targeted improvements.
In this way, time passed quickly.
The days gradually entered March.
And the NS equation certification report meeting is getting closer.
So much so that Xiao Yi had to postpone the research on the first wall material and began to spend part of his time on preparations for the report meeting.
At present, the number of people confirmed to attend this report meeting is close to 2,000, which can be said to be quite a lot.
Nearly half of them are scholars from abroad.
As for the location of the report meeting, it was finally placed at the Huizhou International Conference Center in Fei City. Basically, other places could not host such a large student conference with two thousand people.
USTC It's a pity here. Originally, they wanted to hold it in the school, but according to this scale, only the playground can support it.
But if such an academic conference was really held in the playground, it would probably be complained about on the hot search list that night.
"There's only one week left before it starts."
In the offices of Science Island Laboratory and Xiao Yi, I glanced at the date. It was March 8th. There were only seven days left before March 15th.
"Well, it's time to get the PPT out."
Turn on the computer, start a new folder, and name it [2024.3.15 NS equation Certification Report Meeting PPT].
Create a PPT file, simply add a template, and start typing.
As for whether the PPT looks good...
Well, he is not a student who has to give a defense, and he also has to pay attention to whether the PPT looks good or not.
However, just after he typed the topic on page 1, there was a knock on the office door.
"Please come in."
he said.
As the door opened, Liu Xiaodong walked in.
"Professor Xiao!"
Xiao Yi glanced at it, raised his eyebrows, and asked, "Liu Xiaodong, what's the matter?"
Liu Xiaodong walked forward, still holding a stack of A4 paper in his hand, and said, "Professor, do you still remember the thing I discovered?"
Xiao Yi nodded. "Of course I remember."
Around the same time that solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries were developed last year, Liu Xiaodong was reviewing experiments on nanoporous materials and found that in pore diameters between 20nm and 30nm, especially in pore diameters of 26nm, the speed of electrons passing through these pores increased abnormally, even by more than ten times.
A speed increase of more than ten times is quite an incredible discovery.
At that time, Xiao Yi judged that perhaps this discovery could be equal in importance to a discovery of the level of quantum anomalous Hall effect.
But at that time, he was studying the problem of Greenwald limit, so he didn't do it.
He couldn't help but become a little interested and asked, "So, have you discovered the principle?"
"Uh..." Liu Xiaodong scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "That's not true. It is generally clear that it is related to some characteristics of carbon composite materials, or it may be some characteristics that have not yet been discovered."
"But this phenomenon occurs too randomly, and the probability is quite low, so it is difficult to verify."
Xiao Yi nodded slightly, "The paper hasn't been sent yet, right?"
"That's not true."
Liu Xiaodong said embarrassedly, "You know..."
Xiao Yi smiled.
Such a discovery can be published in a top journal even if the principle is not understood, but obviously this means giving up the benefits brought by the discovery of the principle.
Therefore, if the ultimate principle cannot be discovered except in reality, the discoverer will basically try his best to find the principle.
Obviously, Liu Xiaodong is in such a situation now.
"So are you planning to cooperate with me now?"
Liu Xiaodong nodded. "Yes, I can't discover the principle myself anyway, but Professor Xiao, you definitely can. Besides, Professor Xiao, you should not be busy now, right?"
Last time Xiao Yi was busy with other things, so he was asked to study it by himself.
It wasn't until some time ago that he learned that Xiao Yi had gone to study NS equation and nuclear fusion, and even proved NS equation by the way.
Give him the shock of not wanting to.
However, Xiao Yi should be available now, right?
Xiao Yi pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, I am indeed more optimistic about this research. Since you are willing to study with me, then I will not refuse."
The reason why he refused at the beginning was not only because he was busy with other things, but also because this thing was discovered by Liu Xiaodong, so he still let Liu Xiaodong study it by himself first to see if he could produce any results.
Liu Xiaodong suddenly beamed with joy.
This wave is stable!
"Are these data experimental data?"
Xiao Yi looked at the A4 papers he brought over at this time and asked.
"Yes, these are all the data that I selected and found to be valuable. Take a look."
Liu Xiaodong handed these data to Xiao Yi.
Xiao Yi took it and started looking at it.
These data are mainly the results of analyzing different samples using various experimental instruments, and contain a lot of information.
And Xiao Yi watched, and gradually, his eyes began to narrow.
"It's interesting."
These data are helpful for studying various properties of carbon composite materials.
Maybe...
Even...
Can you help him find a carbon structure suitable as the first wall material?!