Ultra-high temperature heat source machine refers to the heat source machine that can generate heat energy at extremely high temperatures, generally referring to reactors, plasma, and other celestial bodies such as the sun. These heat sources that can produce high temperatures have very high thermal efficiency and can be said to be natural high-efficiency heat sources. Below we will start with different types of heat sources and explore their thermal efficiency respectively.

1. Reactor

The reactor is one of the first heat source machines in human history, which can convert nuclear energy into heat energy and produce extremely high temperatures for people to use. The thermal efficiency of a reactor depends on its thermal effect, which is the ratio of heat produced to heat consumed. Currently commonly used reactors are nuclear fission reactor and nuclear fusion reactor two, they produce heat energy principle is different, its thermal efficiency is also different.

Nuclear fission reactor

The principle of nuclear fission reactor is to use the fission of heavy elements such as plutonium and uranium to generate heat energy, and control the temperature and thermal power by controlling the reaction rate and neutron absorption rate. Nuclear fission reactors have the following advantages: high energy stability and stable and controllable energy output. With high energy density, miniaturization and easy transportation, it is an indispensable heat source in today's industrial production and daily life.

At present, the thermal efficiency of fission reactors of plutonium, uranium and other heavy elements is stable at about 30%, which seems to be a low proportion, but in fact, this is already a relatively high thermal efficiency. In the future, scientists are developing high-efficiency nuclear fission reactors to improve their thermal efficiency and energy output.

Nuclear fusion reactor

The principle of nuclear fusion reactor is to use hydrogen isotopes (deuterium, tritium) at high temperature, high density and high pressure fusion, release a large amount of heat. Compared with nuclear fission reactors, nuclear fusion reactors have higher theoretical thermal efficiency, more environmental protection, and more extensive energy sources, and have broad development prospects.

Because the technology related to nuclear fusion reactors has not been fully solved, the thermal efficiency of nuclear fusion reactors has not been achieved. However, with the continuous progress of science and technology and the continuous improvement of related technologies, it is believed that the development of nuclear fusion reactors has broad prospects.

2. Solar Energy

The sun is one of the most representative of the high-temperature heat source of nature, it is the most important heat source on the earth, and its thermal efficiency is extremely high. The Sun directly converts heat energy to the Earth in two ways: light and radiation.

Calculation method of heat transmission by solar route:

The light produced by the sun has 2.5 billion gigawatts of energy, and the Earth's atmosphere absorbs about 70% of the solar radiation transmission energy, so the heat transmitted by the solar light route only accounts for about 30% of the solar radiation energy. This 30% of solar radiation is absorbed by plants on Earth and converted into chemical energy, such as carbon monoxide and water, into sugar or fat. Therefore, the heat transmitted by the solar light route is not directly used for thermal energy generation, and its thermal efficiency is not rapidly improved.

Heat from solar radiation:

Solar radiation contributes far more to the Earth's heat than light, accounting for more than 70% of the total solar radiation energy. Through the conversion of photovoltaic cells, this heat can be converted into electricity, heat or cold energy. Therefore, the solar thermal efficiency is relatively high, through the efficient solar energy conversion technology, solar energy can be directly converted into heat energy, has a wide range of application prospects.

Through the existing technology, the battery conversion efficiency of solar energy is about 20%, and the thermal efficiency of the water heater that uses solar energy to convert into heat energy can be as high as 80%, so solar energy can be counted as one of the high-efficiency heat sources.

3. Plasma

Plasma is the fourth state substance, which has very special properties and is widely used in gas discharge, fusion and other fields. The advantage of plasma is mainly its very high thermal efficiency, with ultra-high thermal efficiency.

Plasma heating technology is an important part of some new high temperature heat source machines. Plasma heating uses the special properties of plasma with positive and negative charges, and uses alternating current to reverse the charge of plasma repeatedly, generating strong magnetic and electric fields, so that the electrons in the plasma continue to accelerate and produce strong radiation. In this way, the temperature of the plasma can be raised to more than thousands of degrees Celsius. Plasma heating technology not only has high thermal efficiency, but also can control the plasma temperature by adjusting the heating current, which has good adjustability and stability. The technology has been widely used in solar energy, plasma welding, plasma sterilization, gas discharge, plasma cleaning and other fields, so that some potential technologies and markets can be further developed and utilized.

In short, the high-temperature heat source machine refers to the heat source machine that can generate heat energy at high temperatures, such as reactors, solar energy and plasma. These heat source machines have high energy thermal efficiency, can be widely used in industrial production and daily life, and with the continuous development and improvement of technology, thermal efficiency will continue to improve, and make important contributions to people's lives and environmental protection.