Chapter 598 Too Big a Step?

The entire controllable fusion battery project was divided into thirteen sub-projects, covering all components from laser ignition devices to generator sets, and a total of six scientific research institutions participated in the research.

With the successful case of the Pangu fusion reactor first, Lu Zhou is quite confident about this project.

However, there are still differences in the discussion about the nuclear fuel of fusion batteries.

Hearing the crazy plan described by Lu Zhou, Sheng Xianfu opened his mouth in surprise, and after a while, he spoke in an unbelievable tone.

"Are you sure you want to use helium-3 as fuel? The reaction cross section of helium-3 and deuterium is only a tenth of that of DT reaction, and the difficulty of igniting it will be dozens of times that of igniting DT mixed fuel!"

He was not the only one who held this point of view, Academician Wang Zengguang, chief engineer of the Nuclear Industry Group, also nodded.

"I also think it may be impractical to install Helium-3 directly. Although you said that the space and cost of the core are saved, in fact this part of the cost is just passed on to laser ignition or microwave ignition devices, etc. parts."

Academician Yu Jiannan, who was not very familiar with Lu Zhou, did not directly object, but expressed his opinion in a vague way.

"It's not necessarily a good thing to take too many steps."

The index finger tapped lightly on the table, Lu Zhou thought for a long time.

It's a question of trade-offs.

If the DT mixture is selected as the fuel, the reactor core must be loaded with a liquid lithium neutron recovery system, and the volumetric energy density of the entire fusion battery will be reduced. If He-3/D is selected as the reactant, at least 15% of the core volume can be saved, and the volumetric energy density of the entire battery pack will increase accordingly.

However, Academician Wang's words really touched his heart. With the current domestic laser ignition technology, rashly choosing this radical technical route may not be able to achieve the effect he expected.

The silence lasted for about five minutes. Lu Zhou had an idea in his heart and said.

"Then make a compromise."

Sheng Xianfu: "A compromise?"

Lu Zhou nodded: "Just like the ignition device, we have two technical routes. One is for DT fuel fusion batteries, and the other is for He-3/D fuel. We can agree on a unified interface size. Standard, if the bottleneck of He-3/D fuel fusion battery technology can’t be solved, we can also use DT fuel immediately. When the problem of helium-three fusion technology is solved one day, even if the technology is upgraded in the future, the replacement of equipment will also be Easier."

Academician Wang Zengguang thought for a while, nodded and said, "I think it's okay."

Academician Yu Jiannan still said very little, just nodded and said: "As long as there is no opinion on the budget, I have no opinion."

After glancing at the other people, seeing that there were no more opinions, Lu Zhou made a decision: "That's fine, this matter is settled like this."

Going directly to Helium-3 is indeed a bit too advanced.

The persuasion of several old "teammates" also made Lu Zhou sober.

He admitted that when he excavated the technical route of controllable fusion miniaturization from the wreckage of the advanced civilization, he was indeed a bit inflated, so that he ignored the industrial level of the earth civilization.

In fact, it is not easy to make a fusion energy battery.

As for completely restoring the technology on that engine, I'm afraid it may not be possible even by the end of the century, let alone now...

After leaving the conference room, Lu Zhou originally planned to go back to the underground laboratory to continue thinking about the Hall propulsion unit, but he thought that there was still one thing to deal with, so he returned to his office.

Some time ago, while approving the project, high-level officials suggested that he submit the paper on the feasibility demonstration of fusion battery technology to relevant academic journals.

Although he guessed what the higher-ups were planning, Lu Zhou didn't have any objections.

What is written in the paper is exactly his academic point of view.

If the high-level executive has no opinion on the content of the public paper, he will naturally not object to submitting the paper for submission.

I took out the paper I wrote some time ago, and deleted the potentially enlightening content. Lu Zhou only kept a few words like "detachable core", "laser heating", and "microwave heating". ” This kind of vague concept, and then translate it into English.

In fact, the demonstration of the technical feasibility of this kind of technology does not matter even if it is directly submitted without deletion. After all, this kind of paper with a strong subjective color will not involve specific research ideas and experimental plans, but only for "feasible" or "impossible". line" discussion.

As for whether it can be done or not, everyone still has to rely on their own abilities.

After reading the deleted paper from beginning to end, Lu Zhou stared at the PDF file on the screen, lost in thought.

Which journal is better to select for?

After thinking for a while, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he suddenly had an idea in his mind.

He dug out the mailbox list that had not been used for a year, and found the mailbox of the PRL editor. He thought about his wording, and attached the manuscript to the email and posted it.

When he clicked send, Lu Zhou couldn't help but have a playful expression.

I don't know if anyone will praise my internationalism after reading this paper?

Except for colleagues who study controllable fusion, I think they will probably...

...

After completing the submission to PRL, Lu Zhou posted the paper on Arxiv, and then ignored it.

But what he didn't know was that almost the next afternoon after his thesis was posted on Arxiv, his thesis was integrated into his own PPT.

Los Angeles International Hotel.

Hundreds of square meters of conference room.

When Mr. Bender Bauer, the president of Tri Alpha, announced that the company's next plan was to build a plasma engine equipped with nuclear fusion batteries for the US moon landing program, there was an uproar in the audience.

Although the investors sitting here do not necessarily understand what controllable nuclear fusion is, it does not mean that they are stupid.

It has been less than three months since the Pangu demonstration reactor was ignited, and there is no sign of controllable fusion here on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. Now you are talking about the miniaturization of controllable fusion. What are you doing if you are not making money?

Many people even started to look at their watches, as if they had already made up their minds. If they didn't hear any valuable news in another five minutes, they planned to get up and leave.

However, facing such a situation, Benderbauer did not panic at all.

Wearing a plaid T-shirt and well-dressed in Silicon Valley, he cleared his throat, faced the investors present, and continued in a cadenced voice.

"The Miniaturization of Controlled Fusion!"

"I know it might sound crazy, but it's actually not as unattainable as we think."

Soon, the PPT turned to the next page.

What appeared on the screen was a paper hanging on Arxiv.

As for the author of the paper, it is Lu Zhou, the chief designer of the controllable fusion project who is in the limelight.

Seeing this paper, the audience in the audience was in an uproar again, and the voice of discussion spread from the middle to the surroundings.

Even those who were dismissive of this press conference couldn't help but take a second look at the PPT.

After all, this is Lu Zhou, the recognized father of controllable fusion!

Others say that the miniaturization of controllable fusion may be taken as fart by them, but the meaning of what this big cow said is completely different.

At this moment, sitting in the corner of the back row of the venue, Exxon Mobil CEO Woods was staring at the name on the screen with a complicated expression.

To be honest, he is actually not optimistic about exaggerated Silicon Valley companies like Tri-alpha. In comparison, he is more inclined to invest in General Atomic Energy, which is down-to-earth and has been established for a longer time.

However, when he saw this name, his thoughts were shaken.

There was no way, just because the impression that the name left on him was too deep.

Now the size of the lithium battery market has more than doubled by more than a hundred times. Seeing that this cake is getting bigger and bigger, the whole Wall Street is beating their chests.

From the negative electrode materials of lithium batteries to the positive electrode materials of lithium-sulfur batteries, this piece of creamy cake originally belonged to them. As a result, they have spent a lot of money in the field of new energy, but now they can only watch others lie. Get rich.

Now that nuclear power technology has broken through and the cost of power generation has been further reduced, the lithium battery market will only grow larger.

It is precisely because he missed such a big piece of cake that he couldn't ignore the paper on the technical feasibility demonstration completed by Lu Zhou.

On the other side, Benderbauer, who was standing on the stage, continued to talk eloquently while holding Lu Zhou's thesis.

"...This is a detachable structure. We can make the reactor core into something similar to a battery. This design allows us to ignore the damage of radiation to the material structure to a limited extent."

"Based on this design, this disposable controllable fusion battery is much less difficult in engineering than a fusion reactor! Although its cost is a problem, it is not at all compared to the money we spend on aerospace. what."

Seeing that the eyes of the investors in the audience have gradually changed from suspicion to enthusiasm, Benderbauer knew that the time was almost here, so he threw out the last bait and said with a bright smile.

"As for whether our products can find the market, you don't need to worry at all."

"In fact, just yesterday, we reached a strategic cooperation agreement with Space-X to prepare for the development of fusion batteries that can be applied to spacecraft. Miniaturized controllable fusion devices will be used in the aerospace field first, and related topics have already been discussed in Congress. Passed the review on the budget committee's desk!"

"I believe that in the near future, our rockets will be able to use clean and endless nuclear energy, and our footprints will be all over space. I can even assert that this day will be faster than the national controllable fusion device in California!"

That passionate voice seemed to ignite the emotions of the entire venue.

Glancing at the secretary next to him, Woods said in a low voice.

"I need a briefing on Tri-alpha's financial report and business operations!"

The secretary's heart moved slightly, and he immediately understood what the CEO was thinking.

"Yes sir, what you asked for will be on your desk tonight."

Woods said with a straight face: "Do it now, I want to see it before the dinner at six o'clock."

Hearing this difficult request, the secretary bit the bullet and nodded.

"Yes."