The military-industrial scientific research system of the academic master.

“Yeah, like a tokamak!”

At the same time, in Beijing, Huairou Science City.

Chang Haonan was having a conversation with Han Chenfeng, director of the 240th Institute of Nuclear Industry, with almost the same content.

About three weeks ago, the latter, together with Liu Yongquan, witnessed the test results of plasma distribution in the engine tail flame at Factory 410.

But at that time, Han Chenfeng's feeling was mainly novelty.

Using the high temperature, high pressure, and nearly balanced flow environment in the engine combustion chamber as the place where plasma is generated is obviously not a major breakthrough on the theoretical level. It is just equivalent to combining the two disciplines of plasma physics and aerospace through a clever means.

If it weren't for the eye-catching name of Chang Haonan, he would most likely just treat it as an interesting thing worth discussing with his colleagues and students at the next group meeting. He would not have loaned out the precious equipment at all, and he would have personally registered as the head of the technical team to watch the testing process on site.

After all, there is still a huge gap between those who work in aerospace engines and those who work in nuclear physics, between different disciplines, and between theory and application.

However, after Liu Yongquan reported the "accidental" observation of reduced drag and increased thrust overnight, the response he received from Chang Haonan the next day was -

[I have discovered the existence of this situation in the preliminary calculation process, but the drag reduction effect produced by reducing the boundary layer turbulence and weakening the turbulent vortex system is not obvious enough and has poor stability. Once the engine enters the actual working state in the air, this effect will almost disappear, so there is no need to pay too much attention to it. If you are interested in this issue, you can have a face-to-face interview when you come to Beijing next time...]

For Lao Liu, the matter is basically over here.

He is very clear about the limits of his abilities. Now is the most stressful time of the project. If he focuses on deeper theoretical issues, it will not only be unhelpful in solving the problems, but will also distract his already limited attention and affect the development progress of the WS-10G.

But for Han Chenfeng, it was completely different.

Liu Yongquan told Chang Haonan's reply as part of a casual chat during the routine work meeting between the two parties a few days later.

then……

Han Chenfeng almost jumped up from his chair.

If he had previously decided to participate in this project, it was mainly just to share in Academician Chang's good fortune, so as to avoid being eliminated in the first round of academician selection for two consecutive years.

Well, from the moment you hear this response, it's not just joy that's involved.

There are also research topics!

Although Han Chenfeng himself also thought of the link that "the plasma drag reduction effect leads to increased engine thrust", the difficulty of summarizing the reasons afterwards and predicting the phenomenon in advance are obviously not on the same level.

What’s more, Chang Haonan said it very clearly that it was discovered during the calculation process, not a simple qualitative inference.

It is no exaggeration to say that the work contained in this sentence alone, if slightly expanded, can be published in top physics journals such as Nature Physics or Physical Review Letters.

The tone in which the other party wrote this sentence was as normal as eating and drinking, which shows that the research obviously involves more than that.

When he thought of this, Han Chenfeng wanted to go to Beijing immediately to have a talk with Chang Haonan.

However, given the latter's current status and the busyness of his work, it is of course impossible to make an appointment for a meeting by just making a phone call or sending an email.

So Han Chenfeng had to be patient and report the matter step by step through Liu Yongquan's channels according to the procedures. Finally, he got an appointment today when Chang Haonan was free.

After hearing Chang Haonan's idea of ​​"using magnetic field effects combined with electric fields to assist in controlling the diffusion range of plasma on the surface of the aircraft", he unsurprisingly asked the destined question:

“Like a tokamak?”

It is generally believed that the deuterium-tritium reaction requires a temperature close to 10 million degrees to be easily achieved. However, strictly speaking, the number here is actually just for ease of understanding. It is not the macroscopic temperature in the usual concept, but the calculated value corresponding to keV of energy.

But in any case, it is obvious that no occasion can directly withstand such outrageous high temperatures. Moreover, in addition to temperature, the occurrence of fusion reactions also requires that the density of particles and the confinement time meet certain requirements. These are not conditions that can be easily met by setting up a pool like a fission reaction.

In the universe, stars with sufficient mass and density can use their strong gravity to confine plasma and provide conditions to maintain fusion reactions. However, for humans, even if several other planets in the solar system are hollowed out, it is impossible to accumulate such a large amount of matter.

Therefore, the activity range of high-energy particles can only be constrained by inertia or magnetic fields, which is equivalent to using an unprecedentedly powerful insulation layer to isolate the temperature within a relatively narrow range, so that the fusion reaction can occur in a container in a physical sense.

Therefore, when you hear the keyword "magnetic field control", it is quite natural to think of the toroidal vacuum chamber magnetic coil confinement device, that is, the Tokamak.

And as expected, Han Chenfeng got a positive answer.

……

After a long while, he finally came to his senses:

"Academician Chang...are you also interested in research in the field of fusion energy applications?"

After asking, I realized that it was not appropriate, so I tried to make up for it:

"What I mean is that the Huaxia Tokamak II has already started trial operation in Luzhou this year. If you are interested in controlled nuclear fusion, shouldn't you have cooperated with them a long time ago..."

Seeing that the other party was more far-sighted than he thought, Chang Haonan couldn't help but laugh:

"I think any technician who is involved in physics will have a dream related to fusion applications... I am certainly no exception."

He explained:

"But the plasma sheath on the surface of the aircraft is far from being comparable to nuclear fusion in terms of energy, volume or density... For example, only about 100V of voltage and a magnetic field of less than 0.1T are needed to effectively change the plasma electron density 4cm away from the surface, and this value is probably not even as good as the magnetic field of the auxiliary equipment in the tokamak..."

It was not until then that Han Chenfeng finally realized that Chang Haonan meant only that this technology had a certain degree of similarity with the magnetic confinement technology, not that he had to turn to fusion research right away.

It was a bit awkward for a moment.

Fortunately, he had not forgotten the key purpose of his visit this time, so he took advantage of Chang Haonan's explanation and asked:

"Academician Chang, I have seen your proposal from General Manager Liu before...but I still don't understand how you calculated such a precise result?"

"The other thing is..."

Han Chenfeng's old face turned a little red, but perhaps this was the only opportunity in his life, and he couldn't afford to hesitate too much.

Therefore, after a little hesitation, he continued:

"To be a bit boastful, our 240th Institute is at the forefront of the country in terms of plasma source development, electron density measurement and experimental verification. We also have a certain research foundation. In addition, we have established a regular cooperative relationship with the 606th Institute. If you have related needs in your future research, we are willing to provide all the help within our capabilities..."

The original purpose of the 240 Institute when it was established was simply to ensure the exploration and development of China's uranium resources, and its main research area was more geology than nuclear physics.

However, as the times changed, research content related to nuclear energy utilization and particle physics gradually increased.

So when Han Chenfeng said that he had a research foundation, it was not really exaggerating.

But the statement of "willing to provide help" at the end was just used just to sound nice.

The actual meaning is clear to both of them——

Boss, Boss, please take me with you!