Even though "inspection" was just a simple thing to say, in reality, it took three days for the STAR project team's engineers to finish all of the inspection work.
Inside the laboratory that was embedded into the mountain, all of the STAR project team staff members were at their respective posts, just like they were three days ago.
Lu Zhou stood next to the computer in the control room and looked through the floor-to-ceiling window at the steel behemoth that was surrounded by dense coils. His heart was pounding.
Soon, this reborn STAR machine would conduct its first operational experiment.
He had been waiting for this moment for half a year …
Sheng Xianfu walked next to Lu Zhou and took a deep breath. He suppressed the excitement in his voice and said, "The water-cooled divertor is operating normally … We can start the experiment."
When Lu Zhou heard Sheng Xianfu's report, he nodded.
"Then let's begin."
Sheng Xianfu straightened his back and spoke energetically.
"Okay!"
The first experiment wouldn't be too troublesome. First, it wouldn't involve ignition, and second, it wouldn't use hydrogen isotopes.
As for the goal of the experiment, it was very simple. There were only two goals.
One was to confirm that the maximum magnetic field strength of the external field coil could exceed the theoretical limit of 50T. The other was to ensure that the high-density plasma temperature in the reflection chamber could reach 100 million degrees Celsius.
As for the maintenance time, it didn't need to be too long; one second was enough.
After the order to start the experiment was given, the laboratory staff immediately began to work.
The liquid helium valve was opened, and the SG-1 wire quickly reached the superconducting transition temperature as expected.
There was a series of ear-piercing buzzing noises. The current passing through the external field superconducting coil began to gradually increase, approaching the superconducting critical current of the SG-1 wire.
Lu Zhou watched as the magnetic field intensity value on the computer screen continued to rise and finally stopped at the maximum value. A smile appeared on the corner of Lu Zhou's mouth.
Wendelstein 7-X.
The magnetic field strength of the plasma was the key to solving the controllable nuclear fusion problem. If they could achieve magnetic confinement above 50T, they had undoubtedly completed this puzzle.
The first experiment goal was successfully achieved!
Lu Zhou saw the joy on Sheng Xianfu's face, and he nodded at him.
"Begin the next experiment!"
Sheng Xianfu immediately said, "Understood!"
Among the coils on the streamlined track, other than the superconducting coils that were fixed by the irregularly shaped blue insulating brackets, there was also about 20% of the non-superconducting external field coils that were fixed by the red insulating brackets. They were mainly used to fine-tune the magnetic field in the stellarator.
As the experiment entered the next stage, the electric current in the blue coil began to decrease, while the electric current in the red coil continued to increase. This adjusted the shape of the magnetic field inside the stellarator into the desired shape.
Looking at the constantly changing parameters on the computer screen, Lu Zhou ordered, "Inject helium!"
"Yes!"
The catheter connected to the stellarator injected 1 mg of helium into the stellarator cavity.
The helium that was injected at first quickly dispersed in the vacuum cavity and became extremely thin.
However, as the microwave heating device was activated, the temperature in the cavity began to increase. The plasma gradually took shape, and it was constantly compressed by the magnetic field that bound it. Finally, a light blue film was formed in the streamlined cavity, and it vibrated at a frequency that was invisible to the naked eye.
Whether it was an engineer or a researcher, everyone subconsciously clenched their fists.
Right now, the STAR stellarator was crawling in front of them. It was like a monster biting into space, and it was accumulating the most terrifying energy on this planet …
In fact, this was indeed the case. Even the Earth's core was only 6,800 degrees.
But right now, the temperature of the helium flowing in the stellarator's orbit had exceeded the limit of hundreds of millions of degrees.
Even though the mass was only 1 mg …
This short second felt as long as a century.
Sheng Xianfu clenched his fists tightly, and his face was full of excitement as he constantly muttered to himself.
"We did it, we did it!"
A smile appeared on Lu Zhou's face when he heard the voice that he kept muttering.
"Yeah, we did it!"
Even though this was only an in-progress result, this result was still gratifying.
The next project was to solve the damage to the first wall material caused by plasma radiation.
For fusion reactors, structural and functional materials would experience severe swelling and embrittlement due to high concentrations of radiation defects and the accumulation of nuclear reaction products. This would cause the overall performance of the core components and connecting structural materials to decline.
A good analogy would be a high-speed neutron hitting the densely packed atoms on the first wall like a billiard ball. However, the atoms that were knocked away wouldn't disappear. Instead, they would go somewhere else in the material. Eventually, the atoms would continue to move from the center to the surface, and the material would slowly swell like a hollow bubble.
So far, the academic community hadn't found a suitable way to solve this problem.
Lu Zhou didn't dare to say that he was 100% confident in this topic, but he had some ideas in his mind.
Of course, other than the key inner wall material, there was also the crucial control system, which was the "brain" of the controllable nuclear fusion device.
However, compared to the previous materials science problems, this aspect was relatively easier to solve.
After all, a supercomputer could be solved with money.
However, it looked like he would have to ask for some funding …
The microwave heating device was turned off.
The current in the superconducting coil gradually weakened.
The temperature of the plasma began to cool down …
As the "steel behemoth" stopped its roar, the entire experiment finally came to an end.
After all of this was over, the cheers that had been suppressed for a long time finally resounded in the laboratory.
Many people were so excited that their eyes were filled with tears.
In order to celebrate this hard-won success, as well as to reward everyone for their hard work over the past few months, Lu Zhou announced in front of everyone that a celebration party would be held at the Purple Mountain Hotel.
Of course, this money was paid by him, and it had nothing to do with funding.
After the experiment was over, the engineers on the site began to repair and maintain the equipment. After Lu Zhou handed over the site to Sheng Xianfu, he took off his white coat, turned around, and left the laboratory embedded in the mountain.
The moment he stepped out of the tunnel, a ray of sunlight shone through the treetops and shone on his face.
Lu Zhou squinted his eyes, and he seemed to vaguely see something.
While he was in a trance, the light blue dialog box that had been silent for a long time suddenly appeared in his field of vision.
["Fusion Light" mission chain]
[Optional side mission: 50T superconducting magnet (completed)]
[Optional side mission: First ignition (completed)]
When Lu Zhou saw these two dialog boxes, he paused for a second. He then had a look of excitement on his face.
Completing two missions at the same time.
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