Chapter 765

The Materials Research Institute has always been highly efficient; within just two days, the experimental team responsible for the divertor retrofit was assembled, with Wang Wei as team leader overseeing the specific experiments, while Xu Qingzhou, as before, provided support.

“In the simulation, the uniformity of liquid metal coverage deteriorated at 45 MW/m², with exposed areas exceeding 5%.”

Furthermore, at 45 MW/m², the surface temperature fluctuated by ±8°C, indicating inadequate microchannel cooling. Finally, at 50 MW/m², the drainage efficiency dropped sharply to 78%.

In the seminar room, Ren Xiaoling briefed eight researchers on the local simulation results. She was among the first to join Xu Qingzhou in the simulations and was naturally assigned to Wang Wei’s team.

After Ren Xiaoling finished, Xu Qingzhou shared his own proposal: “Structural optimization is needed. My solution increases the density of biomimetic microchannels, which could boost cooling efficiency by an estimated 30%, while applying an MgF₂ coating—optimistically, this could reduce evaporation rates by 50%.”

Half an hour passed.

“Then let’s proceed with both solutions simultaneously during the experiments,” Wang Wei said calmly.

“Alright, if you have any issues, find me anytime.”

Xu Qingzhou handed over the liquid metal experiments to Wang Wei and returned to his office.

“Wow, a divertor handling 50 MW/m² thermal load—if I hadn’t seen the data, I’d have thought this was a joke.”

One researcher remarked.

“Every project in our institute, if taken public, would make controlled nuclear fusion tremble.”

“That’s true.”

“Enough talk—let’s get to work. Even though Professor Xu has given us direction, we’re just starting, and there’s a mountain of tasks ahead.”

Wang Wei was now considered a mid-level leader at the institute; he had become more restrained, projecting a sense of steadiness, unlike his earlier days when he frequently clashed with Gong Yun.

“Heh, alright, let’s get started.”

As Wang Wei got busy, Xu Qingzhou had already returned to his office.

Work at the institute proceeded smoothly and systematically.

Academician Ren Nan led a team developing the magnetohydrodynamic diversion scheme; Professor Zheng Xu was researching biomimetic liquid lithium-lead microchannel blankets to enhance neutron capture and thus increase the tritium breeding ratio (TBR); Professor Zhao Sheng was organizing personnel to iteratively upgrade the first-wall materials.

Everyone fulfilled their roles.

“It’s about time to set the schedule for the next phase of experiments.”

Xu Qingzhou, eyes half-closed, stood by the window, cradling his teacup: “At this pace, we should be able to initiate the experiment around October 12th.”

“We’ll conduct two ignition tests: the first to verify the device’s net energy gain capability, lasting one minute; the second to test how long the net energy gain can be sustained—however long it lasts.”

Of course, the device wouldn’t be run blindly until it failed; there were data thresholds—for instance, if the quantum-sensing magnetic field monitoring system detected density fluctuations or deterioration in the first-wall condition, operation would halt immediately.

“It’s almost September—time really flies.”

Xu Qingzhou sighed inwardly; this must be what adulthood feels like—half a year vanished in an instant.

He took a sip of tea, then turned back to his desk.

On the desk lay the plan to upgrade the Q1-NST into a composite tokamak.

Xu Qingzhou was currently working on upgrading the magnetic confinement system.

One of the inherent weaknesses of spherical tokamaks is insufficient toroidal field strength.

“Our superconducting thin films can raise the magnetic field above 25 T, solving the critical issue of magnetic field intensity. So now, the only remaining challenge in this stage is magnetic confinement efficiency.”

“I’ve studied the structures of many conventional tokamaks—they rely on external coils to generate strong helical magnetic fields. Could we, then, build a composite superconducting magnetic system based on our current superconducting magnet setup?”

Balance compactness with magnetic confinement efficiency by embedding toroidal field-enhancing coils outside the spherical structure, using counter-current compensation to offset the aspect ratio deficiency.

Xu Qingzhou’s initial concept was to construct a nested dual-magnet layer: the inner layer retains the spherical configuration, while the outer layer adds D-shaped cross-section toroidal field coils.