4 ms·
They seem to be willing to lift the veil a bit... The abstract is a bit of a spoiler.. Author: David Kirtley Helion’s Trenta prototype compressed Field Revers
by joak 4y ago
They seem to be willing to lift the veil a bit...
The abstract is a bit of a spoiler..
Author: David Kirtley
Helion’s Trenta prototype compressed Field Reversed Configuration (FRC) plasmas to thermonuclear fusion conditions, reaching 9 keV plasma temperatures [1]. FRC plasmas are fundamentally high-beta and if heated through pulsed, adiabatic compression, they operate in a unique collisionality regime that supports both thermonuclear fusion conditions as well as maintains an ion to electron temperature ratio.
In the presented work, a theoretical analysis of FRC compression to generator-relevant fusion conditions is derived from fundamental scaling laws. This work includes independent ion and electron heating [2], radiation losses [3], empirical particle transport scaling [4], fusion reaction rates, ion temperature distribution evolution, and D, T, and He-3 fuels.
As will be shown, for all operating conditions above 20 keV, a high-beta D-He-3 FRC outperforms a low-Beta D-T plasma in terms of electrical and fusion power output.
- B1FF_PSUVM 4y agoNot to be too crude, but somewhere in the business plan there must be a USD$/W figure for a power plant ... (e.g. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-cost-of-a-100-megawatt-solar-power-plant https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-cost-of-a-100-megawatt-sol... )
- twarge 4y agoThis is a scaling claim, and I don't know, but it feels super weak. Of course a high beta plasma beats a low beta plasma. The problem with high beta is is instabilities, and you know, actually getting high beta.