Wendelstein 7-X: Accelerating the path to clean energy
In Germany, one of the world's leading plasma research laboratories just broke a world record with the Wendelstein 7-X which has exceeded all expectations.
©IPP, Jan Michael Hosan
One of the greatest challenges of our time is to find a way to power our activity on Earth with sustainable and clean energy sources. Fusion is one of the most promising solutions that could satisfy humanity's need for electrical energy for the centuries to come. The experimental stellerator Wendelstein 7-X, led by the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP), aims to demonstrate the suitability of such a device as a future power plant.
Today, the main challenge in its development is that the fusion reaction requires a heating system capable of raising the plasma's temperature to 100 million degrees Celsius. To reach such a level, the W7-X experiment needs highly efficient microwave gyrotrons which are capable of generating 1MW of full power. The next generation of gyrotrons is leading the experiment into a technological tour de force and this process is being pushed forward by the close cooperation between Thales Microwave & Imaging Sub-Systems and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
Record results in plasma heating experiments
One of the world's leading plasma research laboratories just broke a new record, reaching temperatures 4 times hotter than before. Equipped with Thales Microwave & Imaging Sub-Systems gyrotrons, the W7-X reached 40 million degrees Celsius over several seconds pushing 18 times more than the last achievement.