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Success for Air Liquide in
Research Market: KSTAR Contract in South Korea in Scientific Cryogenics
South Korea, Oct. 6: Mastering nuclear fusion offers the potential of responding to one of the major challenges of the 21st century in a context of increasing worldwide energy requirements and the preservation of natural resources. In particular, it allows the production of electrical energy. The Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI), a research institute in Daejon, South Korea, carries out work specifically in this field.
Through the ambitious KSTAR (Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research) project, KBSI is planning the creation of an experimental reactor designed to improve knowledge and mastery of thermonuclear fusion reactions. This project is based around an ultra-sophisticated physics-based instrument known as the Tokamak. Thanks to electromagnetic fields, this instrument will allow a plasma to be generated, in order to achieve the conditions necessary for controlled nuclear fusion of atoms, thus releasing energy of the same nature as that of the sun, which is finally recovered in the form of electrical energy.
In order to obtain the very powerful electromagnetic fields necessary for the confinement of this physical reaction, superconducting magnets must be used, which only function at extremely low temperatures. Helium, the lowest temperature liquified gas on earth, will be used to carry out cooling of the Tokamak. In practical terms, by the end of 2007, Air Liquide will implement a high-technology system that consists of a helium refrigerator ensuring the installation maintains a temperature of –269°C, in addition to the helium distribution system and all auxiliary equipment (compressor, filtering apparatus and cryogenic lines).
Air Liquide, a partner in the international scientific community, has developed leading expert knowledge at the forefront of the extreme gases field, as well as in specific technologies allowing sophisticated cryogenics systems to be used by universities and research centers.
“We would like to thank KBSI and Samsung, responsible for the construction of KSTAR, for their trust on this ambitious project,” declared François Jackow, Vice-President of Research-Development and Advanced Technologies for the Air Liquide Group, adding: “Participating in most of the recent projects relating to particle physics, Air Liquide has shown once again its capacity to respond to major technical challenges. This success illustrates our willingness to take part in these programs, allowing some to better understand the fundamental operation of matter and indeed the mechanisms that allow the universe to expand, and allowing others, like KSTAR or ITER* to contribute to work on the development of tomorrow’s energy solutions.”
* ITER is a project to build a magnetic fusion reactor, funded by many international partners.
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