Scientists in Germany have produced first hydrogen plasma from the Wendelstein 7-X fusion device at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Greifswald, Germany, marking the start of scientific experiment.
The fusion research experiment is being done to develop a power plant which will generate energy from the fusion of atomic nuclei, similar to the sun and the stars.
The Wendelstein 7-X is claimed to be the world’s largest fusion device of the stellarator type and is used to assess the configuration’s suitability to harness nuclear fusion, a process in which large amounts of energy is released when atoms join at extremely high temperatures.
During the experiment, a tiny quantity of hydrogen gas was heated using a 2MW pulse of microwave to turn it into extremely hot low-density hydrogen plasma, thus resulting in separation of the electrons from the nuclei of the hydrogen atoms.
The charged particles increase without contacting the walls of the plasma chamber, IPP said.
Wendelstein 7-X operation head Dr Hans-Stephan Bosch said: "With a temperature of 80 million degrees and a lifetime of a quarter of a second, the device’s first hydrogen plasma has completely lived up to our expectations."
The experiment follows successful production of first helium plasma by the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator device in December 2015.
The latest experimentation phase is planned to complete in mid-March following which the plasma vessel will be opened to install carbon tiles for protecting the vessel walls and divertor for removing impurities, IPP added.
IIP project head professor Dr Thomas Klinger said: "These facilities will enable us to attain higher heating powers, higher temperatures, and longer discharges lasting up to ten seconds."
In about four years, scientists are planning to work on extending the duration of the plasma discharges to up to 30 minutes and determine its ability to achieve its optimization targets at full heating power of 20MW.
About €370m has been spent on the Wendelstein 7-X project, which is backed by the federal and state governments and the EU.
Image: The first hydrogen plasma in Wendelstein 7-X fusion device. Photo: courtesy of Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP).