Chapter 1669 From Milliseconds to Hours

Similar situations do not only occur in the Sixth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology.

Earlier that day, Chengdu.

Southwest Institute of Nuclear Physics.

The office door of Zhou Xintong, deputy director of the institute, was gently closed, blocking out the footsteps and voices in the corridor.

He glanced at a black safe on the table, then looked up at the three tokamak team leaders who had been temporarily summoned.

The three of them looked more or less confused at having their work interrupted.

"A moment of your time," Zhou Xintong said without further ado, tapping the lockbox. "I just received some technical information from our superiors. Director Luan personally inquired about it. He said it's related to the tokamak's operating parameters... Time is tight, so let's each take a look at some of it."

He specifically emphasized "Director Luan Wenjie" and "personally inquired about it."

Team leader Ding Xuan raised his eyebrows slightly upon hearing this, his eyes switching between the password box and his computer. "This kind of data... isn't it a bit disjointed? Besides, our hardware is..."

HL2A was built on the basis of a German tokamak at the beginning of this century.

Although it has undergone many improvements and life extensions, its foundation is too old and many of its performance features can no longer keep up with the most cutting-edge requirements.

Kuang Zhongxin, the leader of Group 3, also nodded slightly. He said nothing, but the meaning in his eyes was very clear:

Instead of looking at these incoherent data, it is better to run more experiments to accumulate some real experience data.

Zhou Xintong understood their reaction and said as he opened the password box, "I don't know the specific contents either. Whether it's a magic pill or a placebo, I'll tell you after I see it."

With a slight "click", the lid of the box popped open, revealing several CDs lying quietly inside.

Zhou Xintong handed three of them to three people respectively, and asked them to read them with their encrypted laptops, and then he took out one himself.

Ding Xuan moved the fastest, skillfully inserting the CD into the computer and then quickly opening the folder.

What was inside was not the expected experimental report or PPT, but a series of rigorously structured mathematical files with the suffix ".math".

He was a little surprised and paused for a moment, then rolled the mouse wheel.

At first, he just glanced at it quickly, his brows slightly furrowed as usual, as if he was critically examining an ordinary academic report.

However, just a few seconds later, his roller movement suddenly stopped, and his body seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, instantly leaning forward, almost sticking to the screen.

His eyes suddenly widened, and his pupils reflected the derivation process consisting of complex partial differential equations and strange topological symbols that quickly passed by on the screen.

A short, strangled breath came out of his throat:

"……this?!"

Zhou Xintong had just inserted the CD when he heard an exclamation coming from the sofa and subconsciously looked up.

But before he could ask a question, Song Jinhang from the second experimental group next to him took a deep breath as if he was struck by an electric current.

Ding Xuan had recovered by now and explained, "My part is... the analysis and calculation of the electron temperature evolution and the time scale of rapid thermal quenching of plasma..."

Zhou Xintong obviously hadn't realized the seriousness of the problem yet, and confusion was in his eyes:

"What's so surprising about the calculation results... Doesn't your group produce several every month?"

Ding Xuan shook his head fiercely: "No, it's not a numerical result."

After saying this, he raised his head and looked directly at Zhou Xintong:

"It's...an algorithm, and it has a fairly universal scope."

In fact, he originally wanted to say it was a "general solution", but in the end he chose a relatively conservative term.

Zhou Xintong finally couldn't sit still anymore and looked at Song Jinhang.

"Mine too..." Without even asking, the latter immediately added, "It's not data, it's... an algorithm... or, in other words, a... completely new theoretical framework?"

He used the word "framework" because many of its profound mathematical foundations were not immediately fully understood by him.

Zhou Xintong's gaze swept across the excited and confused faces of the people in front of him, and finally fell back to the calculation document on the high-pressure boundary heat load on his screen.

He no longer tried to read the derivation in detail but jumped directly to the core conclusion -

A method for calculating boundary peak heat flux based on the overall topological evolution of the flow field.

Several pages of formulas and concluding descriptions come into view.

Zhou Xintong's breathing suddenly became heavy, and the fingers holding the mouse tightened subconsciously.

"This..." He stared at the line on the screen that read, "There is a strong nonlinear coupling between the peak heat flux density at the boundary and the global annular flow vorticity and magnetic island distribution. The specific relationship is as follows..." His voice trailed off, and he almost muttered to himself, wondering, "Where on earth did they get all this stuff?"

"I suddenly remembered..." At this moment, Ding Xuan suddenly looked up, "I went to Beijing to attend the internal seminar on fusion development strategy. When Director Luan participated in the discussion, he did ask some very specific questions..."

Song Jinhang almost subconsciously asked, "What did you ask?"

Ding Xuan tried to recall the details of that time: "At the time, I thought it was just the leadership who cared about technological progress, but now I think about it... Director Luan specifically asked us, saying that if we can solve the problems of magnetohydrodynamics and plasma control and provide usable superconducting materials, how close we are to tokamak power generation..."

The office fell into silence in an instant, and even the sound of breathing could be heard clearly.

This question may seem insignificant at first glance, but if you consider the data in front of you.

That directionality is really too strong.

The atmosphere in the office suddenly became restless.

However, this restlessness only lasted for a few seconds before Zhou Xintong forcibly suppressed it.

"Wait! Comrades, don't get too excited!" He looked around at his three capable men and said sternly, "Of course we should trust our superiors' judgment... but more importantly, we must respect the laws of science."

He tapped his computer screen, making a soft tapping sound:

"These theories...especially the analysis and calculation process. Honestly, I'm afraid I won't be able to fully understand them in such a short time. I wonder if you..."

The other three did not answer, but judging from their eyes and expressions, the answer should be the same.

"So, how can we be sure that what's in it is correct?"

This question was like a bucket of cold water poured over the heads of several people.

Kuang Zhongxin, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke up. "Although the process is difficult and complicated, the conclusion is still understandable... How about we use the results for a trial run?"

"This system... I think it's aimed at steady-state operation." Ding Xuan rubbed his temple helplessly. "But the HL-2A device... even if it really overcomes the theoretical obstacles, I'm afraid it won't be able to meet the requirements of long-term steady-state operation, right?"

"Yes," Song Jinhang nodded in agreement and added, "For example, in my case, the control strategy may require extremely high modulation accuracy of the thermal system and real-time response speed of magnetic field control. Whether our existing control system can perfectly execute it is also a question..."

"and many more!"

Before he could finish his words, Zhou Xintong, who had been staring at his computer screen with a frown on his face, suddenly interrupted him and made a gesture to keep quiet.

The office instantly returned to silence.

Zhou Xintong put his hands back on the keyboard and quickly called up the parameter database and key operation log of the HL-2A device.

Time passed minute by minute, and the ten minutes seemed to be stretched out in an extremely long time.

Finally, Zhou Xintong pressed the last Enter key, and the screen froze on a clear curve graph and a calculation result marked in bold font.

"That should be... enough."

He turned the screen around and pointed at the eye-catching calculation result on it, his voice trembling slightly:

"If the magnetohydrodynamic calculation results can be perfected, and only the limitations of the equipment itself are considered, then without breaking the boundaries of existing hardware, HL2A can stabilize the central electron temperature of the plasma at over 5500 million degrees Celsius..."

He glanced at his three subordinates who were holding their breath and spoke out the earth-shattering figure in a resounding voice:

"...lasted for over 4000 seconds!"

"Four thousand seconds?!"

The three of them suddenly changed their expressions and cried out in surprise almost at the same time.

When I first bought HL2A, the plasma maintenance time was even calculated in milliseconds.

The latest results are only about a hundred seconds.

And 4000 seconds is equivalent to more than 1 hour.

Zhou Xintong nodded:

"4000 seconds... certainly isn't considered a long period of steady-state operation."

"But it's enough to serve as a standard to verify how accurate our results are!"