About
The
standard of living in a society is measured by the amount of energy consumed.
In the present scenario where the conventional fuels are getting depleted at a
very fast rate the current energy reserves are not expected to last for more
than 100 years. Improving the harnessing efficiency of non-conventional energy
sources like solar, wind etc. as a substitute for the conventional sources is
under research.
A
new step that has developed in this field is ‘Bubble Power’-the revolutionary
new energy source. It is working under the principle of Sonofusion. For several
years Sonofusion research team from various organizations have joined forces to
create Acoustic Fusion Technology Energy Consortium (AFTEC) to promote the
development of sonofusion. It was derived from a related phenomenon known as
sonoluminescence. Sonofusion involves tiny bubbles imploded by sound waves that
can make hydrogen nuclei fuse and may one day become a revolutionary new energy
source.
Sonofusion
The
apparatus consists of a cylindrical Pyrex glass flask 100 m.m. in high and
65m.m.in diameter. A lead-zirconate-titanate ceramic piezoelectric crystal in
the form of a ring is attached to the flask’s outer surface. The piezoelectric
ring works like the loud speakers in a sonoluminescence experiment, although it
creates much stronger pressure waves. When a positive voltage is applied to the
piezoelectric ring, it contracts; when the voltage is removed, it expands to
its original size.
Action Of Vacuum Pump
The
naturally occurring gas bubbles cannot withstand high temperature and pressure.
All the naturally occurring gas bubbles dissolved in the liquid are removed
virtually by attaching a vacuum pump to the flask and acoustically agitating
the liquid.
Action Of The Wave Generator
To
initiate the sonofusion process, we apply an oscillating voltage with a
frequency of about 20,000 hertz to the piezoelectric ring. The alternating
contractions and expansions of the ring-and there by of the flask-send
concentric pressure waves through the liquid. The waves interact, and after a
while they set up an acoustic standing wave that resonates and concentrates a
huge amount of sound energy. This wave causes the region at the flask’s centre
to oscillate between a maximum (1500kpa) and a minimum pressure. (-1500kpa).
Action Of The Neutron Generator
Precisely
when the pressure reaches its lowest point, a pulsed neutron generator is
fired. This is a commercially available, baseball bat size device that sits next
to the flask. The generator emits high-energy neutrons at 14.1 mega electron
volts in a burst that lasts about six microseconds and that goes in all
directions.
Other Approaches Of
Fusion Reaction
There
are mainly two approaches on fusion reactions other than bubble power. They are
1. Laser Beam Technique
2. Magnetic Confinement Fusion
Magnetic Confinement Fusion
It
uses powerful magnetic fields to create immense heat and pressure in hydrogen
plasma contained in a large, toroidal device known as a tokamak. The fusion
produces high energy by neutrons that escape the plasma and hit a liquid filled
blanket surrounding it. The idea is to
use the heat produced in the blanket to generate vapor to drive a turbine and
thus generate electricity.
Conclusion
With
the steady growth of world population and with economic progress in developing
countries, average electricity consumption per person has increased
significantly. There for seeking new sources of energy isn’t just important, it
is necessary. So for more than half a century, thermonuclear fusion has held
out the promise of cheap clean and virtually limitless energy. Unleashed
through a fusion reactor of some sort, the energy from 1 gram of deuterium, an
isotope of hydrogen, would be equivalent to that produced by burning 7000
liters of gasoline.
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