How fusion happens - The FIRE Place · 2014. 1. 2. · Fusion Power Associates - 2013 Annual...

Fusion Power Associates - 2013 Annual Meeting 1

General Fusion


The MTF “Solution”

Recognized as:

• Low cost

• Practical

Fixed:

• First wall problem

• Stand off problem

• Cost/shot problem

• Fuel rebreeding

LINUS Concept (1976)


General Fusion’s Acoustically Driven MTF


Mini-sphere – 14 full scale pistons, liquid metal vortex


Liquid Pb Vortex Collapse


RM Instabilities and Simulation


Power Supply

• 2.4 MJ pulse power supply (22 kV

formation, 44 kV acceleration)

• programmable pulse shaping control

• 1 MW DC stuffing flux power supply

Diagnostics

• Thomson scattering

• 5 interferometer chords

• >12 Rogowski coils

• >50 B-dot probes with in-situ integration

• high resolution time resolved spectroscopy

• 1 million frame/second video camera

• X-ray photo diodes

• triple Langmuir probe

Plasma Injector Design


Largest Plasma Injectors

ever built

Record spheromak

plasma energy (~100 kJ)

Plasma temperatures over

200 eV (>2.3M °C)

Density of 1016 cm-3


Plasma Acceleration


Compressible Plasma Challenge

Plasma rapidly cools

when entering pot


Plasma Formation M

ag

neti

c F

ield

(T

)

Time (µs)


Plasma Formation

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Te

mp

era

ture

(e

V)

Thomson Scattering Temperature vs. Time after Formation M

ag

neti

c F

ield

(T

)

Time (µs)

2013

2012


• 1014 cm-3

• 40 eV

• 0.2 T

• 8x1014 cm-3

• 160 eV

• 0.8 T

• Adiabatic!

• 6x1015 cm-3

• 3.2 T

• 200 eV

• Expect >600 eV, not adiabatic

Plasma Compression Pursuit of 500 eV at 493

2X Radial Compression

4X Radial Compression

Formation


Plasma Injector: Confinement

Formation

Acceleration


Large Tests • Achieve 10 keV, 1020cm-3, 10µs

Equivalent net gain

Small Tests • Achieve 10 keV

Plasma Compression Experiments

Experiments designed to verify:

a) Plasma heat loss

b) Plasma / wall interaction


Plasma Compression: Liner Experiments


Plasma Compression: First Test May 2012


Plasma Compression Configuration Improvement


Small Injector Plasma Improvement: May, 2013

May, 2013

>200 µs lifetime

120 eV from 50 µs to 150 µs

Compression

Time

September, 2012

< 40 µs lifetime


Plasma Compression Test 2: Magnetic Field Data


0-50 µs

50-80 µs

80-110 µs

Test 2: Spectra during different time periods


Plasma Compression Diagnostics Layout

Head Diagnostics Layout

0 Degrees

90 Degrees

Container Door

270 Degrees

FL1

r=116.9

FL2 r=116.9

FL3

r=116.9

FL4

r=116.9

IF2 r=65.4

IF1 r=35.7

IF3

r=123.2

TI1

TI2

TI3

Ion Dopper r=45.0

Survey Spectrum r=37.0


Plasma Compression Cross Section


Cone Configuration - Tilt Unstable


Thicker Walled Compression Chamber

Test #1

Test #2

>13:1


Modified “Chalice” Shape


Chalice Shape: Tilt Stable


Small Injector Plasma Improvement: December, 2013


The Path Forward: 2014

0.000001

0.00001

0.0001

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

10

100

Nov-10 Feb-11 Jun-11 Sep-11 Dec-11 Apr-12 Jul-12 Oct-12 Jan-13 May-13 Aug-13 Nov-13 Mar-14 Jun-14 Sep-14 Dec-14

Tri

ple

Pro

du

ct:

nτ

T (

10

20 m

-3 s

ke

V)

Large Injector

Formation

Large Injector

Acceleration

Small Injector

Formation

Plasma Compression

Net Gain

Chalice

Power Increase

+ Sustainment

Scale up

and Iterate


Clean energy.

Everywhere.

Forever.

Doug Richardson

CEO

[email protected]

604-439-3003

How fusion happens - The FIRE Place · 2014. 1. 2. · Fusion Power Associates - 2013 Annual...

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