Feb
17
Boron Found to Boost Stellarator Fusion Performance
February 17, 2022 | Leave a Comment
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory path-setting findings demonstrate for the first time using boron for confining heat in fusion stellarators. The demonstration could advance the twisty design as a blueprint for future fusion power plants. The scientists added a common household cleaning agent, the mineral boron contained in such cleaners as Borax, that vastly improved the […]
Aug
19
Fusion Stellarator Device Efficiency Improvement Confirmed
August 19, 2021 | Leave a Comment
Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik (IPP) has now confirmed one of the most important optimization goals underlying the Wendelstein 7-X fusion device. The analysis shows that in the optimized magnetic field cage, the energy losses of the plasma are reduced in the desired way. Wendelstein 7-X is intended to prove that the disadvantages of earlier stellarators can […]
Sep
30
Treating Biomass With Plasma For Biofuel
September 30, 2020 | 1 Comment
Researchers at the Leibniz Institute of Plasma Science and Technology are testing plasma formation in biomass and finding a promising method for the pretreatment of biomass. Producing biogas from the bacterial breakdown of biomass presents options for a greener energy future, but the complex composition of biomass comes with challenges. Cellulose and woody lignocellulose are […]
Jan
29
Making Ammonia Without Using Natural Gas
January 29, 2019 | Leave a Comment
Case Western Reserve University researchers have come up with a new way to create ammonia from nitrogen and water at low temperature and low pressure. They’ve done it successfully so far in a laboratory without using hydrogen or the solid metal catalyst necessary in traditional processes. Ammonia, a compound first synthesized about a century ago, […]
Nov
8
Wendelstein 7-X Stellarator Gets Good Startup Results
November 8, 2018 | Leave a Comment
Imagine building a machine so advanced and precise you need a supercomputer to help design it. That’s exactly what scientists and engineers in Germany did when building the Wendelstein 7-X experiment. The device, funded by the German federal and state governments and the European Union, is a type of fusion device called a stellarator. The […]