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ADVANCED ENERGY SYSTEMS ANNUAL REPORT 2002 1
ADVANCED ENERGY SYSTEMS
ANNUAL REPORT 2002
Helsinki University of Technology
Department of Engineering Physics and Mathematics
P.O.BOX 2200, Fin-02015 HUT, Finland
Report TKK-F-C195
April 2003
Editors: Petri Konttinen and Matti Noponen 2 3
1 INTRODUCTION ____________________________________ 5
2 RESEARCH ________________________________________ 12
2.1 New and Renewable Energy Systems _______________ 12
2.1.1 Fuel Cells ______________________________________
12
2.1.2 Solar Energy Research ____________________________
17
2.1.3 Decentralized Energy Generation Systems _____________
20
2.2 Fusion and Plasma Physics _______________________ 21
2.2.1 Code Development _______________________________
21
2.2.2 Radio-Frequency Heating of Tokamak Plasmas _________
23
2.2.3 Transport and MHD in Tokamaks and Stellarators _______
31
2.3 Radiation Physics and Nuclear Engineering _________ 44
2.3.1 The CMS Experiment _____________________________
44
2.3.2 Expert Systems in Radiation Source Identification ______
46
2.3.3 Safety assessment of Conceptual Fusion Power Plants ___
48
2.4 Laser Physics and Applications ____________________ 50
2.4.1 Deposition of Thin Films with Laser Ablation __________
50
2.4.2 Superintense Laser Interactions - Electron Transport _____
52
2.4.3 Plasma Amplification of Ultrashort Laser Pulses ________
54
3 PUBLIC RELATIONS ________________________________ 56
4 TEACHING ACTIVITIES _____________________________ 57
4.1 Academic Degrees and Theses _____________________ 57
4.2 Course Selection ________________________________ 59
5 PUBLICATIONS ____________________________________ 65
5.1 New and Renewable Energy Systems _______________ 65
5.2 Fusion and Plasma Physics _______________________ 67
5.3 Radiation Physics _______________________________ 77
6 SCIENTIFIC VISITS AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES _ 78
6.1 Visitors to the Laboratory ________________________ 78
6.2 Visits and Activities of the Staff ____________________ 79 4 5
1 INTRODUCTION
At the writing of this preface, in mid-February 2003, the whole world is
worriedly waiting the outcome of the Iraqi crisis. The main underlying reason
behind the crisis is the limited, and extremely unevenly distributed oil re-
serves. A much more local, and more benign alarm signal was sounded in
Finland by the exceptionally cold weather in December-January. The elec-
tricity production capacity was fully exploited and there was very little re-
serve power left. The clear lessons are that the energy need of the mankind
has not diminished, and the market will not always provide the answer. To
secure the Future, very strong effort must be devoted to find long term, envi-
ronmentally acceptable energy solutions. In today´s short-minded thinking
the extremely long time constants of building new energy systems are often
forgotten and, therefore, acute problems like oil crisis or a cold winter come
without prewarning.
For the next decades fossil fuels will be the primary energy source, but in the
long run they must be replaced by more complicated, knowledge-based en-
ergy solutions. Future energy production has to be based on a thorough un-
derstanding of natural sciences combined with sophisticated technologies;
the development of the knowledge-based energy sources requires intensive
research efforts. Nuclear energy, especially nuclear fusion, and solar energy
belong to the long-term energy alternatives which potentially could solve a
major part of future energy problems in an acceptable way. Burning the
uranium contained in bedrock and deuterium in seawater or using silicon
chips to catch solar energy are our challenges. Besides tapping new energy
sources also innovations are needed in the distribution, storage systems, and
end usage, of course. A modern information society survives only if energy
availability is secured.
In the Laboratory of Advanced Energy Systems, the energy problems are tack-
led from several directions. We have a strong background in nuclear engi-
neering, new energy technologies, and systems analysis. To provide small to
moderate amounts of electricity, both to supplement other sources and to pro-
duce electricity in remote places, the technological problems associated with
solar and wind power and hydrogen energy systems are solved in the solar
group. Nuclear fusion, in which water can be used as the fuel and the ash is
helium-gas, would not only solve the global energy problem for the coming 6
million years or so, but would do that in an environmentally friendly fashion.
To address the challenge of producing enough electricity in the future, the
fusion group participates in the international effort to develop practicable
fusion energy. Commercial fusion reactors are, however, still far in the future
and thus for the coming decades modern fission reactors are necessary. Be-
sides providing basic education in fission engineering, the laboratory has ac-
tively developed related applications of radiation physics: sensitive detection
of radioactive isotopes in the environment, computational methods for char-
acterising radiation fields, and laser applications in nuclear technology. All
of these have also lead to technology spin-offs in non-nuclear areas.
The Laboratory is responsible of the major subject Advanced Energy Sys-
tems in the Degree Programme of Engineering Physics where the educa-
tional goal is to provide the students with a strong know-how in physics,
mathematics, and other basic sciences, as well as with good computational
and systems analysis skills. This kind of solid scientific background, com-
bined with a few topical courses related to the specialities of the laboratory -
nuclear engineering and new energy systems - and with the in-house re-
searcher training, prepare the students to face a variety of multidisciplinary
problems that arise in modern energy technology. The education of
generalists is reflected in the excellent employment situation and in the
wide spectrum of the jobs available.
In May 2002 the Finnish Parliament voted in favor of a new nuclear power
unit in Finland. Linked to this decision was the intention to increase also
research efforts and investments in alternative energy sources. Both deci-
sions have a strong influence on our activities. The survival scenario con-
cerning preservation of nuclear engineering education and research was
changed into a acute need for training of new NPP professionals. In addition,
the energy solutions still under development stages also need new profes-
sionals. The domestic and European collaboration networks, like the Euro-
pean Nuclear Engineering Network ENEN, the graduate school in energy,
and strong collaboration between the Finnish universities, must be fully ex-
ploited to cope with the new situation.
Fusion energy research in the laboratory is fully integrated into the European
Key Action Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion through the Association 7
Euratom-Tekes, and the European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA).
Our research involves mainly computational fusion physics and its applica-
tions in fusion plasma heating, transport, and plasma-wall interactions. All
the work is carried out in close collaboration with the fusion research group
at VTT Processes. During 2002 we participated in the experimental cam-
paigns C5-C7 of JET where several of our researchers have been seconded
for periods of variable length. Besides JET, active collaboration with Asdex
Upgrade continued and the new task connecting us to the new big European
stellarator project W7-X was completed.
Together with the international fusion community, we are getting prepared
for ITER, the 500 MW experimental fusion reactor project. Presently, the
prospects of ITER seem brighter than ever: the official site candidates,
Cadarache in France, Clarington in Canada, Rokkasho-Mura in Japan, and
Vandellos in Spain, have been technically assessed, the legal format of ITER
is being developed, China is a new ITER participant and the USA has re-
joined the project. The new technology programme FUSION which succeeds
the national research programme FFUSION 2 1999-2002 will have a clear
focus on the Finnish participation in the ITER project.
In radiation physics, collaboration with the CMS experiment at CERN has
continued. While the CMS detector is being built on the surface, with its
barrel already completed, the excavation of the two caverns for the detector
in the LHC tunnel is well on the way and will hopefully be concluded to
receive the detector in mid 2004. In co-operation with the Finnish National
Data Centre (FNDC) we have further developed nuclear measurement
techniques for environmental monitoring as well as for nuclear safeguarding