Fusion dawned in the east.
An elderly man, lean. However, his words made people feel wisdom and weight. On March 1 2007, it was this elder Wan Yuanxi who completed the acceptance of the EAST national project of superconducting tokamak nuclear fusion experimental device in Hefei. On behalf of the East Engineering Command, he made a report: Compared with similar devices abroad, the devices we built have the least capital, the fastest construction speed and the most independent innovation. It can be predicted optimistically that the successful construction and operation of EAST will lay a solid foundation for the next step of China's magnetic confinement nuclear fusion research in physics, engineering technology and talent team.
"In the future, the high-efficiency fusion reactor must operate in a steady state, so the engineering and physical problems of realizing the steady state operation of the tokamak have become the frontier research fields of the tokamak; Fully superconducting tokamak is one of the most necessary engineering and technical foundations to realize steady-state operation; There is no fully superconducting tokamak in the world; We promptly proposed to the country the plan to build an advanced fully superconducting tokamak. " Wan Yuanxi traces back.
His report won warm applause. Zhang, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that the successful construction of EAST "is an important step in the peaceful use of fusion energy and an important contribution made by China's scientific and technological personnel to the development of science and technology in the world!"
Bai Chunli, executive vice president of China Academy of Sciences, put forward a viewpoint in his speech, "It takes ten years to sharpen a sword, and the dawn of fusion shines in the East".
The energy from the sun comes from the hydrogen nucleus. Hydrogen nuclei interact to produce nuclear fusion, releasing light and heat. If a device is invented, it can not only withstand the high temperature of hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius, but also control the fusion of deuterium and tritium to output energy stably and continuously, which is tantamount to inventing an "artificial sun" to provide unlimited clean energy for mankind. One way to control thermonuclear fusion reaction is to make a tokamak magnetic container. Scientists have found that the fusion fuel of deuterium and tritium can be heated to hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius, and then a large number of fusion reactions will occur.
"Calling our East an artificial sun may cause public misunderstanding. The exploratory experimental research on future fusion reactor-related engineering and physical problems carried out by EAST is to contribute the physical and engineering technical foundation for future stable, safe and efficient advanced fusion reactors, but it will take about 50 years for a controlled thermonuclear fusion reactor or nuclear fusion power station built on the earth to release energy through nuclear fusion reaction like the sun, and then realize commercial power generation. " Wan Yuanxi explained realistically.
EAST is the abbreviation of Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, which means "East". From 1998 being approved by the state to today's acceptance, such as absorbing the essence of mountains and rivers, it is sprayed on the eastern horizon today. Through 10 years' efforts, the team of Institute of Plasma Physics of Chinese Academy of Sciences is holding up the bright sun as tomorrow.
Wan Yuanxi: Lao Ji leads the "new trend"
Although he is 68 years old, Wan Yuanxi's mentality is still young. "I have put forward many bold reform ideas, and young people say that I am not like an old comrade. I led the' new trend' and was the first to borrow money to buy a car. "
Tianzhu Mountain, "Go wherever you want to drive, how free and chic!"
In the early years, Wan Yuanxi abolished the old rule that leaders should get extra points. According to the future development needs of the institute, he divided the staff of the institute into different groups and graded them according to their contributions to the institute. Whoever gets the highest score has priority in choosing a house. "The masses have their own ability to distinguish right from wrong. For example, director Li Jiangang was only a teenager at that time, and he ranked high in the queue after scoring, so he was naturally assigned to the house. Now it has indeed proved that he is the backbone of the institute. "
Wan Yuanxi believes that the stability and cohesion of the backbone team will affect the whole body, relying on touching people's hearts, retaining people with treatment, and rallying people with career. "1995, the institute selected 15 recognized academic and technical leaders, and gave each of them a bank card with a monthly score of 1000 yuan. At that time, the institute was in financial difficulties, because lack of money led to a part of brain drain. We are determined to take this measure. Some backbones get this 1000 yuan, saying that they want to' play hard' and press hard in front of their wives and children. "
In a harmonious society, people should give full play to their talents before getting paid. "Since I am in charge, I must be responsible for this decision. Can skilled technicians in key positions earn more than researchers? The key depends on his contribution to the development of the institute. I will strike the table if anyone wants to mess around, and of course I will apologize afterwards. I didn't suffer much when I went to the countryside. I can communicate well with anyone. "
"Theoretical physics pays attention to the starting point of doing things, and the project should serve the physical research. Don't put the cart before the horse, but influence the experiment by emphasizing the difficulty of the project. All the work should be done, level 2 and level 3. No matter how beautiful it is, you should talk to me about level 0 first. Be sure to judge the clearest needs first. " Listening to Wan Yuanxi's "tough" tone, who can believe that his stomach has been removed by 4/5 and there are myocardial infarction lesions?
"Many decisions are risky. If I have to surf the Internet, I may make mistakes. If I don't surf the Internet, people will say that I am a wise decision. " Wan Yuanxi smiled.
Wan Yuanxi attended the international conference in Tokamak more than 20 years ago. "In the past, there was a big gap between us and developed countries. When we went abroad, we didn't have any money in our pockets, and we couldn't talk about socializing at all."
From June 5 to 10, 2006, Wan Yuanxi delivered his first speech entitled "Overview of East Project Progress and Future Plan" at the opening ceremony of the International Conference on Fusion Energy held in Chengdu. According to past practice, this is generally reported by the most advanced fusion research institutions in the world. After the lecture, everyone asked questions enthusiastically. The second question is American professor GoldSi Tong. He used to sit in the front row of international conferences and asked very sharp questions, but this time he stood up and said, "I suggest that we all stand up and give a warm applause to the East of China!"
At similar international conferences on fusion energy, more than 700 delegates never applauded a scientific research achievement. Everyone applauds the achievements of EAST this time, which fully shows that China scientists have become distinguished guests in this research field.
In the past, most tokamak devices were circular in cross-section, but later it was proved that the effect of non-circular cross-section was better. Wan Yuanxi's "most risky" decision in his life is to make a fully superconducting, non-circular cross-section tokamak. "My adventure has a theoretical basis. First, there have been related experiments of model coils in the world, which prove that the Tokamak can withstand a certain amount of rapid magnetic flux changes; Secondly, there are other methods available in physics, which can be used to reduce the requirement of superconducting tokamak for its rapid magnetic flux change. Just like walking. If there is a wall in front, people can't cross it, but even if there is only a path in front, people can pass it. If this wall is made of paper, people can easily go through it. "
Wu Songtao: "Practice" in the full sunshine.
Wu Songtao is the deputy director of the Plasma Research Institute and the head of the main equipment of EAST. "I 1983 graduated from Huazhong Institute of Technology, majoring in optical engineering. If I had stayed in my original major, I wouldn't be here today. Universities can only be' master's introduction', and there is a longer way to' practice' in work. If you want to do a good job in plasma, you must know how to integrate and find books in this field to teach yourself. "
Introduction of controlled thermonuclear fusion experimental device found by Wu Songtao. The mimeographed handouts have become hairy because of their age, but the words "Four Departments of Chinese University of Science and Technology" and "19791February" on the title page are still legible. "I don't remember who I borrowed it from at that time, but it was only the first copy, not the second. After I got it, I watched it several times all night. "
Wu Songtao participated in the construction of 1990 fusion experimental device. His book "Organization, Coordination and Management of HT-7 mainframe reconstruction project" was published in "Scientific Research Management". After the successful construction of HT-7 device, the superconducting tokamak EAST device was put forward in time. "China Academy of Sciences wants young researchers to participate in this project. The leaders reported to the college and they were very happy. If they only lead themselves, the leaders of the college will look at each other. I participated in the overall design of the device, followed by several old leaders, Huo Yuping, Wan Yuanxi and Weng Peide, all of whom are about 20 years older than me. I participated in dozens of demonstration projects organized by the Academy of Sciences and the state, and I made a report on the overall plan. After reading HT-7U (the original name of East), the leaders of relevant ministries and commissions said that the project itself is good, but can it be followed up after the project lasts for so long? The big scientific project gave me the opportunity to grow up, thanks to the trust and cultivation of old comrades. "
Wu Songtao came step by step. "We have gradually clarified the structure of key components of the equipment in our minds. From 1998 to 200 1, we publish a Collection of Device Design every year, which not only records our work as a document, but also puts some pressure on everyone to think about future development strategies. The preface to the anthology was written by myself. "
It is said that a fully superconducting nuclear fusion device will be built at a cost of 20 million US dollars. No one abroad believes that the voice of domestic doubt is endless. Every report and demonstration of the plan is like a war of words between Confucianism. It is in this constant tempering that Wu Songtao has been tempered and grown.
Wu Songtao skillfully used the platform of international cooperation to "warm up" for undertaking eastward. He designed and manufactured a new experimental device for plasma physics for his partner, the Nuclear Fusion Research Center of the University of Texas. He led a team of five people, and spent two years before and after, successfully completing the cooperation project with a capital of 6,543,800+0.25 million US dollars. "This is the first time that China has exported the Tokamak fusion system to developed countries in a technical way. The US Department of Energy is also satisfied with this successful cooperation, calling it a new way of Sino-US nuclear fusion cooperation. It is also the largest international cooperation project in the fusion field between China and the United States so far, which has a great effect on the improvement of our self-confidence. "
From June, 5438 to February, 2002, Wu Songtao suddenly had a severe sore throat because he worked nonstop all day. A few days later, he simply became "dumb". The doctor diagnosed him as acute tonsillitis and asked him to be hospitalized for surgery at once. At that time, Dong was in a critical period of construction, and he went to work as usual except for intravenous drip in the hospital. The helpless doctor had to record "the patient refused to be hospitalized" on the medical record.
"This is nothing in our team. It is our unwritten schedule to ensure no rest on Saturday and no rest on Sunday. " Wu Songtao said, "I always give people the feeling of sunshine, but I remember that when EAST was founded more than a year ago, I once called a weekly plenary meeting. Because of the pressure brought by the slow progress of the project, I can't help saying: If the project is delayed or goes wrong, we will be ashamed not only of our predecessors, but also of our country! I couldn't help choking at that time. Everyone didn't speak for a few minutes, and they all felt my emotions. After the meeting, they told me that they could understand my pressure and everyone would be in the same boat. "
On September 28th, 2006, EAST successfully obtained high-temperature plasma discharge for the first time and opened it to the media. Director Li Jiangang looked for Wu Songtao all afternoon, trying to push him to the "front desk" for an interview, but Wu Songtao seemed to be "into thin air". "I was in the office, folded my clothes into pillows and fell asleep on the sofa. Sleep until evening after lunch. I turned off my cell phone and didn't want to go anywhere. "
"College students have met twice after graduation, most of them have changed careers, and most of them are doing business. I may be the only one who is still engaged in scientific research. The class reunion asked me how to get the fusion project, and also ridiculed that I was the most likely person to be an academician. " Wu Songtao said with a smile: "As we all know, the construction period of scientific instruments is generally very long. If a person can't stand loneliness and can't work for that long, just like a marathon runner has no perseverance, he will be eliminated by himself halfway. "
Pan Wanjiang: About "Brain Capillary"
In the East Team, Pan Wanjiang is mainly responsible for the design of insulation structure and the development of insulators.
Wu Songtao and others visited the insulator of Tokamak abroad in the early years, but foreign countries were unwilling to disclose the development technology at all. The price of each insulator is as high as $65,438+0,400 ~ $65,438+0,600. If EAST needs 600 insulators, it means that this alone will cost about 900,000 dollars.
1in the summer of 997, Wu Songtao came forward to lobby, and alumnus Pan Wanjiang was involved in a fight. Pan Wanjiang 1989 graduated from Huazhong Institute of Technology, majoring in metal materials and heat treatment. During his years working in the research center of the Institute of Plasma, he also participated in the development of some insulating materials.
The ceramic material of the insulator removed from Russian T-7 does not meet the requirements of EAST device. They want to find a partner to make insulation materials in China, but the relevant units are unwilling to choose superconductor insulation materials because of technical problems or economic benefits. Pan Wanjiang, who was 3 1 year old at that time, had no experience, but he forced himself to make composite materials.
"Teacher Gao Daming brought back a sample when he went abroad for inspection. We treat it like a baby and don't move carefully. At most, we took an X-ray picture of it, and later the test was bad. Asking about the price of foreign insulators is not only prohibitively expensive, but also does not allow testing performance. "
Wan Yuanxi made an image analogy. The insulator used in EAST is equivalent to the capillaries of the human brain. Even if one of the capillaries breaks, people may be paralyzed. Therefore, insulators over 600 should be strictly required in quality and strictly tested.
"The insulator was developed back and forth for three years, and I did it for two years. I can only be self-reliant and explore in practice. " Pan Wanjiang downplayed the history of 10 years.
Pan Wanjiang's original "golden idea" is a method of "sealing current leads with liquid resin at low temperature helium"
EAST was debugged for the first time in early 2006, and it was found that all leads had current lead leakage. If the problem is not solved in time, the superconducting magnet may be damaged, which will lead to the failure of the whole device. Wan Yuanxi and Wu Songtao think that the idea put forward by Pan Wanjiang is novel and worth a try. It starts at 5 pm and takes effect at 7: 30, which fundamentally solves the vacuum problem in the East. "Others may be limited by their majors and want to cure the outer leads with high-strength materials. My idea is different. " Pan Wanjiang is still an understatement. "After the conclusion meeting, General Manager Wan Yuanxi said that my idea was good and should be' rewarded', giving me an extra reward 1500 yuan."
When EAST debugged the cryogenic superconductor for the second time, there was internal leakage, and everyone thought of Pan Wanjiang again. He used a vacuum tube and solved the problem in two days.
In the work of EAST, some new technologies and methods explored by Pan Wanjiang and others are applying for patents. "Many people are following our technology. Our success rate in developing insulators is also very high. It is said that our success rate reaches 90%. Most people don't believe it. How can it be so high? I don't have the courage to tell them that our success rate is even as high as 99%! "
Gao Daming: Grasping quality is "picking problems"
The main component of EAST is superconducting magnet. In order to save project funds, we have negotiated with an American scientific research institution to provide superconductors or cables, but due to an emergency in Li Wenhe, this cooperation may be interrupted. Considering that the large accelerator project was temporarily stranded due to the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the direction of cooperation naturally turned to Russia. Weng Peide, deputy general manager in charge of design, contacted Russia. The other party said that there are many superconducting strands in the warehouse, but they have been left for a long time. It's hard to say how the performance is, but it can be sold cheaper.
"There is still a village", which makes everyone shine. On the eve of 200 1 Spring Festival, the institute quickly organized eight soldiers to be divided into two roads, one led by Chen Zhuomin and the other led by Gao Daming.
In a dusty warehouse, Chen Zhuomin and others not only have to pour out all the superconducting strands lump by lump, but also test the 3R performance of each lump. Superconducting filaments are about the size of a wheel. After three or four months of tossing, they finally picked out more than 4,500 superconducting strands with 20 tons of matching parameters. Finally, Gao Daming commanded another military force in the town and twisted these superconducting strands together in the cable research institute. The molded cables are shipped back to China for more than 600 meters long, and finally the important and qualified materials of EAST are bought back with less money.
Previously, Gao Daming and Chen Siyue, director of the EAST Research Center, inspected the Russian Cable Research Institute and found that although the institute produced 800 meters of copper cables, it was only a verification process and never produced a batch of superconducting conductors at full capacity. Because superconducting can only be realized when the conductor inside the tube is filled with liquid helium, strict requirements must be put forward for the welding quality of the sleeve. The steel pipe welding of superconducting conductor needs good technology, and it is impossible without penetration. If the steel pipe is welded too deep, it will bulge out. What standards should be used to control it? Gao Daming asked questions back and forth and finally got some key technical standards.
On August 26th, 200 1 year, a 600-meter tube-piercing superconducting conductor (CICC) production line was completed, and the first copper cable conductor was successfully produced. All conductors required for EAST superconducting magnets are produced by this production line. The superconducting strands with a diameter of 0.85 mm purchased from Russian Institute of High Energy are twisted into superconducting cables with a diameter of about 20 mm according to the design, and a 600-meter-long sleeve is inserted into this production line, which is welded by special high-strength stainless steel pipes.
The CICC production line built under the guidance of Gao Daming, the chief technologist, laid the foundation for the winding and experiment of EAST superconducting magnets.
"Strict management is the characteristic of our team. It is very risky to undertake large-scale scientific projects, so a strict quality management system must be established. The core of ISO9000 standard is documentation, process control and nip in the bud. At the end of 2000, we finally established the quality management system in the East. " Gao Daming said.
Gao Daming was transferred from Northeast No.1 Machinery Factory on 1978. "It was the spring of science. Influenced by the idealistic education of our generation, I want to make a real contribution to the country. Big scientific projects are not like Madame Curie's time. Two or three people shake the chemical bottle in the basement, and maybe we can get the result. Our East Team pays the most attention to unity and cooperation. " Gao Daming said, "Now we are participating in the international ITER program, because we have accumulated experience and technology in the whole conduction process of superconducting tokamak devices, and our voice on the international stage is also loud."
"Our students are abroad, and when others ask Dong what to do, he can completely answer. In the past, developed countries cooperated with us purely to save processing costs. Now our whole set of experience in the East is useful to them. " Gao Daming made a metaphor. "It's like a graduate student and a primary school student got 100, although the exam was only 70-80. The level is definitely not in a grade. "
Wu Jiefeng: The construction site is "entangled in dreams"
Doing physical experiments on T-7 transferred from Russia requires a lot of technical transformation. If more windows are needed, ECRH, ion cyclotron and other auxiliary heating can be realized; In order to know the parameters of plasma, it is necessary to have corresponding diagnosis window and vacuum window to realize vacuum pumping. A total of more than 100 windows will be opened.
Wu Jiefeng 1988 graduated from department of mechanical engineering of Huazhong University of Science and Technology in July, and was assigned to the Research Center of Plasma Institute. In his early years, he was the head of the welding project, and now he is the director of the research center. "The vacuum chamber has only 12 windows, which should be transformed into 48 windows. There are 3000 joints in the pipeline that need to be welded, and it is very terrible that one of them produces missing welding and virtual welding. Helium may enter a vacuum, turning the outer Dewar bottle into a big ice cube. In order to control the quality, I often have to drill into the vacuum chamber, with a diameter of 744 mm It is difficult for welders to operate in this narrow space, regardless of overhead welding, side welding and horizontal welding. "
Superconducting coil winding is a brand-new subject. Gao Daming took Wu Jiefeng and others abroad to inspect coil winding control in 1998. 1999, he independently developed the "alternative material in-pipe cable conductor", and then wound the D-type coil. "Tension-free winding technology of armored conductor" won the invention patent and the winding machine won the new design patent.
In February 2002, the first real superconducting wire was made, and in August 2003, 58 armored cable wires with a total length of 34 kilometers were completed. "We pay attention to quality and progress at the scene. We made a command in the first 40 days, and then we can do it in the next 5 days. First, everyone is skilled in technical operation, and second, piecework management is adopted in mass production. Completing all 58 commands in a year and a half is the most and fastest in the world. "
Being an EAST superconducting magnet cannot be taken lightly. First of all, a special winding workshop and an insulator vacuum pressure impregnation workshop should be built. The research center has carried out many times of technology integration and process exploration. There are more than 3,500 joints in the 34 km superconducting magnet, and the qualified rate of one-time welding in the research center reaches 98%, exceeding the first-class welding standard. "From the point of view of ensuring quality, we should try to weld three times before each welding, and Lian Gang should also try to weld three times when changing the bottle gas."
The cryogenic container has a high degree of sealing, and the research center has adopted six detection technologies, such as endoscope, penetrant and ultrasonic. "The container must not leak. We basically used all the detection methods we can think of. If one method fails, we have to start all over again. Because even if a welding head has a problem, it may fall into the same embarrassing situation as other countries' Tokamaks: vacuum can't go up, and low temperature can't come down. "
Wu Jiefeng said, "Some problems have been detected. Whether I am a welder or not, I can't sleep well. I may suddenly turn over in my sleep and say, "Oh, is that the problem? I quickly put on my clothes and ran from home to the scene. "
Bai Hongyu: Emotional "Flow" on the Road of Scientific Research
EAST has two large cryogenic superconducting magnet systems, and the superconducting coil has several fluid channels, which must be controlled to ensure the flow distribution. Superconducting magnet should run at 4.5K The cryogenic refrigeration system is an indispensable subsystem to cool superconducting magnet and ensure the magnet running at working temperature. The system is not only huge in scale, but also complex in technology. "It takes a long time to entrust a foreign company to make it, and the quotation is quite expensive, so we have to do it ourselves." Bai Hongyu said.
Bai Hongyu's DIY is very good. "The low-temperature flowmeter first bought an American one, and found that it was not allowed to measure data. We also made it ourselves. "
At the low temperature in the east, the traditional flowmeter has "failed", and it can be done by ultrasonic, but no one has done it in China, so anyone who wants to do it must be calibrated conditionally. "Because EAST uses circulating helium, there are too few flowmeter users under such conditions. From the perspective of economic benefits, enterprises feel that it is not worth the candle and are unwilling to do it. We can do it ourselves, not only for comparison, but also for calibration, which is very accurate. Now some users have asked us to make this low-temperature flowmeter for them. "
Bai Hongyu 1993 graduated from Xi Jiaotong University majoring in low temperature engineering, and was admitted as a postgraduate with 1997 for only one year. When the Institute contacted the opportunity to study cryogenic superconductivity in Germany, Bai Hongyu was sent as a Max Planck scholar.
Just in time for the model coil test of Germany's large superconducting fusion experimental device. "I could have studied German there, but I gave up when I thought it was even harder to take part in the device test." "When I came back from Germany, there was controversy about whether to use the German 1.2 kW refrigerator for EAST or to develop a large refrigeration system by myself. I thought 1.2 kW' pony' couldn't pull the oriental' cart' and insisted on making my own refrigerator. First 1.5 kW, then 2.4 kW. "
In addition to the refrigerator, the cooling object should be well done, and the loop design should also consider the reasonable design of liquid helium flow. After many investigations at home and abroad, Bai Hongyu decided to buy an expander from abroad. The compressor is made in China; Through domestic bidding, the heat exchanger sought the best design and price from three manufacturers. The 2.4 kW refrigeration system finally cost only 20 million yuan.
"It is definitely more expensive to hand it over to foreign countries. Although we have succeeded in doing this now, we took great risks and pressures at that time. Especially the device cooling experiment at the beginning of last year was the first debugging after all. There are so many problems involved in the cryogenic system that everyone is not familiar with the performance of the equipment. Fortunately, we have survived all this. "
When he just graduated from college, Bai Hongyu had never heard of the famous Yuanda air conditioner in his hometown of Hunan. "Yuanda Air Conditioning started late and was generally cold. More than 30 students in our low temperature class graduated, but only a few of them really engaged in low temperature, and many of them turned to air conditioning. Not much contact with classmates. First, Hefei is relatively remote. Second, I am naturally focused on research and not very good at communication. Although Beijing and Shanghai are very attractive to talents, a project as big as the East is the right platform for me to engage in scientific research. Officially participated in 2000, and the EAST debugging experiment was successful in 2006. I am very glad that I have the opportunity to participate in it and finish it from beginning to end. "
It is these people who devote themselves to science that hold up the brilliant sun of tomorrow!