China’s latest idea is to have the world’s most powerful magnet in Wuhan (it’s already started building it)

Record-breaking seems to fit China well. In recent years, the Asian country has made some The most ambitious project on the planet. From Huge hydroelectric power stationroughly the size of the Eiffel Tower, to The largest liquid battery in the worldFor example, but not limited.

According to the South China Morning PostChina’s new challenge is to build a facility to achieve the world’s largest pulsed magnetic field. We are talking about a system capable of presenting a file 110 Tesla Inductionwhich is equivalent to more than two million times stronger than our planet.

A tool for developing medicine, communication and more

The project is responsible for Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyWho has years of experience studying magnetic fields. The $276 million (2 billion yuan) facility will be located in National Strong Pulsed Magnetic Field Science Centerin Wuhan.

In fact, construction has already begun, but given the scale and complexity of the operation, it is estimated It will be ready in five years. By that time, it will have surpassed the current most powerful pulse system in the world, that of Los Alamos National Laboratory, located in the state of New Mexico, in the United States, which is up to 100 Tesla.

Now, there are few facilities like this in the world. This is mainly due to the need to overcome huge technical challenges. During construction, workers will wear protective suits from hazardous materials while wrapping the metal cables around the magnet in an A confined atmosphere full of toxic gases.

The construction must also have a structure that is installed with special materials that can absorb the heat and pressure created by the magnets operating at full power. And as if that weren’t enough, it must have its own electrical supply system to provide at least one gigawatt of power.

In 2018, researchers at the University of Tokyo were able to develop a file 1200 Tesla magnetic field controlled (Although the original idea was to reach only 700 Tesla.) But a problem arose: the experiment was so ambitious that the lab’s exploding doors were destroyed.

If all goes well, the Chinese system will be used by researchers to develop scientific breakthroughs in Next generation communications, superconductors and semiconductors. also for Classification of “High Energy Electromagnetic Projects”.

In addition, according to the officials, they hope to attract talent from all over the world so that they can conduct their own investigations. In a few years we will begin to know the results of this huge project.

picture: Los Alamos National Laboratory