Machine learning (ML), a form of artificial intelligence that recognizes faces, understands language and navigates self-driving cars, can help bring to Earth the clean fusion energy that lights the sun and stars.
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) are using ML to create a model for rapid control of plasma — the state of matter composed of free electrons and atomic nuclei, or ions — that fuels fusion reactions.
The sun and most stars are giant balls of plasma that undergo constant fusion reactions. Here on Earth, scientists must heat and control the plasma to cause the particles to fuse and release their energy. PPPL research shows that ML can facilitate such control.
Neural networks
Researchers led by PPPL physicist Dan Boyer have trained neural networks — the core of ML software — on data produced in the first operational campaign of the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U), the flagship fusion facility, or tokamak, at PPPL. The trained model accurately reproduces predictions of the behavior of the energetic particles produced by powerful neutral beam injection (NBI) that is used to fuel NSTX-U plasmas and heat them to million-degree, fusion-relevant temperatures.
These predictions are normally generated by a complex computer code called NUBEAM, which incorporates information about the impact of the beam on the plasma. Such complex calculations must be made hundreds of times per second to analyze the behavior of the plasma during an experiment. But each calculation can take several minutes to run, making the results available to physicists only after an experiment that typically lasts a few seconds is completed.
The new ML software reduces the time needed to accurately predict the behavior of energetic particles to under 150 microseconds — enabling the calculations to be done online during the experiment.
Initial application of the model demonstrated a technique for estimating characteristics of the plasma behavior not directly measured. This technique combines ML predictions with the limited measurements of plasma conditions available in real-time. The combined results will help the real-time plasma control system make more informed decisions about how to adjust beam injection to optimize performance and maintain stability of the plasma — a critical quality for fusion reactions.
Rapid evaluations
The rapid evaluations will also help operators make better-informed adjustments between experiments that are executed every 15-20 minutes during operations. “Accelerated modeling capabilities could show operators how to adjust NBI settings to improve the next experiment,” said Boyer, lead author of a paper in Nuclear Fusion that reports the new model.
Boyer, working with PPPL physicist Stan Kaye, generated a database of NUBEAM calculations for a range of plasma conditions similar to those achieved in experiments during the initial NSTX-U run. Researchers used the database to train a neural network to predict effects of neutral beams on the plasma, such as heating and profiles of the current. Software engineer Keith Erickson then implemented software for evaluating the model on computers used to actively control the experiment to test the calculation time.
New work will include development of neural network models tailored to the planned conditions of future NSTX-U campaigns and other fusion facilities. In addition, researchers plan to expand the present modeling approach to enable accelerated predictions of other fusion plasma phenomena.
Learn more: Machine learning speeds modeling of experiments aimed at capturing fusion energy on Earth
The Latest on: Fusion energy
[google_news title=”” keyword=”fusion energy” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Fusion energy
- G7 energy ministers reach understanding on coal but nuclear remains contentiouson April 30, 2024 at 2:55 am
Energy and environment ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) countries meeting in Turin have reportedly reached a deal to shut down their coal-fired power plants in the first half of the 2030s.
- Physicists overcome two key operating hurdles in fusion reactionson April 29, 2024 at 7:50 am
A team of physicists from several institutions across the U.S. working with a colleague from China, at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, in San Diego, California, has devised a way to overcome two ...
- Nuclear Fusion Reactor For Cleaner Energyon April 29, 2024 at 6:08 am
A fusion reactor could pave the way for massive generation of clean energy. TechCrunch ...
- US firm overcomes 2 key barriers to reach scalable nuclear fusion energyon April 29, 2024 at 3:50 am
The breakthrough would enable denser and better-confined plasma, which is crucial to making fusion energy on a commercial scale.
- The ‘twisted doughnut’ reactor that could bring nuclear fusion a step closeron April 28, 2024 at 10:00 pm
Nuclear fusion may be a step closer after a radical new reactor design shaped like a twisted doughnut was unveiled by a task force set up by the King.
- Nuclear fusion experiment overcomes two key operating hurdleson April 25, 2024 at 9:43 am
Two important barriers to a stable, powerful fusion reaction have been leapt by an experiment in a small tokamak reactor, but we don’t yet know if the technique will work in larger devices ...
- Fusion energy is a nascent ‘hot spot’ for Wisconsin economyon April 25, 2024 at 7:03 am
Even a casual observer of the Wisconsin economy can name some nationally prominent sectors, such as manufacturing, agriculture and tourism. Others can go deeper and list medical and scientific ...
- Nuclear fusion breakthrough overcomes key barrier to limitless clean energyon April 25, 2024 at 5:48 am
Two of the key barriers to producing power from nuclear fusion have been overcome, in what scientists say is a major advance towards producing near-limitless clean energy. A team at US energy firm ...
- MIT Technology Reviewon April 23, 2024 at 2:00 pm
A detailed study confirms that record-setting magnets built by the Plasma Science and Fusion Center and Commonwealth Fusion Systems meet the requirements for an economical, compact power plant.
- Scientists use magnets to make clean fusion energy breakthrough: 'At least 100 times better than any existing [device]'on April 23, 2024 at 3:30 am
A stellarator may sound like something cooked up in the laboratory of a supervillain, but a breakthrough with this device may help bring us clean fusion energy at an affordable price. As detailed ...
via Bing News