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Chinese researchers have successfully developed a high-power microwave (HPM) weapon augmented by four Stirling engines, The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports.
Famed for their cooling properties, these engines are considered the perfect choice for this weapon. According to its creators, with its innovative Stirling engine setup, the weapon consumes just one-fifth of the energy of other systems and can operate continuously for around four hours.
If true, this would make it one of the first HPM weapons to use Stirling engine technology openly reported to the public. According to its developers, the HPM has a continuous, steady-state magnetic field with an intensity of 68,000 times stronger than Earth's. That is close to half of the magnetic field strength that can be generated by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Europe.
The weapon system can reportedly be fitted onto a truck and consumes less energy to generate a magnetic field than existing technologies. After conducting preliminary tests, the project team found that it only consumes one-fifth of the energy current methods require. Additionally, it can operate continuously for four hours without losing power.
The weapon, SCMP reports, was jointly developed by the Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology in Xian and the Institute of Electrical Engineering in Beijing.
A first-of-a-kind
At present, HPM weapons driven by strong magnetic fields "suffer from the drawbacks of huge energy consumption and large size," the project team, led by electronic engineering scientist Xu Ce, wrote in a paper published last month in the Chinese academic journal High Power Laser and Particle Beams.
For this reason, the development of compact superconducting magnet systems with low energy consumption will play a key role in the mass production and use of such weapons, explained Xu and his colleagues. The Stirling engines are critical and function as refrigerators, rapidly moving heat away from one location.
However, the Stirling engine has a limitation that has to be overcome to be suitable for the HPM. For example, it can only cool to 40 degrees above absolute zero (equivalent to minus 273.15 Celsius or minus 459.67 Fahrenheit). However, low-temperature superconductors that generate strong magnetic fields must operate within four degrees above absolute zero.
A Stirling effort
Superconducting magnets utilize current passing through zero-resistance coils to create magnetic fields. If the magnetic field is not strong enough, the quality of the electron beam generated by the microwave weapon will be compromised, making it unable to travel a long distance.
Xu's team tackled the issue using the latest superconducting tape to create the coils. They used a second-generation, high-temperature superconducting material called REBCO. This material can achieve zero resistance between 40 and 50 degrees above absolute zero.
By doing this, Xu's team achieved a temperature of 48 degrees above absolute zero and generated a magnetic field exceeding four tesla by combining a superconducting material with the Stirling engine. According to their published paper, this combination led to an 80 percent reduction in overall energy consumption compared to traditional technology.
The team did not mention in their paper when their new technology would be available for use on the battlefield. However, they revealed that during their testing phase, they came across certain issues that needed further improvement before field testing.
These issues included the refrigeration power not meeting the initial design goals and a decline in the system's stability after four hours of continuous operation.
"Although it meets the basic requirements, there's still room for enhancement in the overall system, and further miniaturization is attainable within the current structure," they wrote.
