fusion power associates 2018firefusionpower.org/fpa18_gen_fusion_laberge_web.pdf · 6 parameter...
TRANSCRIPT
CONFIDENTIAL
Michel Laberge
Fusion Power Associates - Washington DC, USA – December 4-5, 2018
2
The rise of the private fusion company continues
Source: PitchBook, Crunchbase.
Private Fusion Ventures Investment in Private Fusion Ventures
>$50M$20-50M<$20M>$50M$20-50M<$20M
0
5
10
15
20
25
Cu
mu
lati
ve N
um
ber
of
Ven
ture
s
Seed Stage Venture Stage Late Stage
$0M
$200M
$400M
$600M
$800M
$1,000M
$1,200M
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Cu
mu
lati
ve In
vest
men
t
Seed Stage Venture Stage Late Stage
3
Many companies exploring density regime between MF and ICF
MTF
1.00E+02
1.00E+05
1.00E+08
1.00E+11
1.00E+06
1.00E+09
1.00E+12
1.00E+15
1.00E+13 1.00E+16 1.00E+19 1.00E+22 1.00E+25
Driver PowerPlasma Energy
kJ
MJ
GJ
MW
GW
TW
$ C
ost of C
onfinem
ent
$ C
ost of D
river
ITERNIF
Plasma Density (cm-3)
Magnetically Confined
Plasma at Extremely High
Magnetic Fields
4
Investors
Background on General Fusion
• Total invested capital of $110 million USD
• 20% funded by Canadian government
• 80 employees
5
Plasma Injector
Compression
System
6
Parameter Initial Final
Plasma Density (n) 2e20 m-3 6.5e22 m-3
Plasma Temperature (T) 1.3 keV 38 keV
Compression Ratio 1 6.5
Outside Radius of Liquid Metal Flux Conserver 2.2 m 0.34 m
Aspect Ratio (A) = R/a 1.6 2.4
Plasma Current (Ip) 4.7 MA 47 MA
Center Shaft Current (Is) 7 MA 76 MA
Magnetic Field on Axis (B0) 1 T 63 T
Magnetic Field on shaft surface (Bshaft) 2.8 T 100 T
Beta (b) 15% 40%
Thermal Energy (Eth) 4 MJ 133 MJ
Magnetic Energy (Em) 28 MJ 378 MJ
Confinement required (c) 4 m2/s 4 m2/s
Fusion Yield 0 488 MJ
7
• Full coverage by 2 m of PbLi shields all solid structure, no neutron damage problems to structure
• Tritium Breeding ratio of 1.4 with natural Li
• No heat load issues on divertor or any metal surface, only liquid sees high energy plasma
• Straightforward energy extraction from the hot liquid liner through a heat exchanger
• Energy from inexpensive gas pistons leading to attractive economic
• No poloidal or toroidal superconductor coils
• No RF or neutral beam auxiliary heating
• No laser or particle beams
• No expensive target to replace
Advantages
8
Spherical liquid compression experiment with 3D printed rotor and stator
9
Well-Diagnosed Laboratory Small Spherical Tokamak100 % CHI
● Magnetic pick-up probes
● Interferometers
● Visible light photodiodes
Edge Magnetic Probes
Thomson Scattering
Collection Optics
Ion
Doppler
● X-ray photodiodes
● X-ray phosphor camera
● Visible Spectrometers
● Multi-point Thomson scattering
● Multi-chord FIR Polarimeter
● VUV Spectrometer
10
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
MeV
2.52.01.51.00.50.0
x10-3
1000
800
600
400
200
0
eV
Self-organized plasmas
evolve continuously after
formation
General Fusion experience
with injector design and
operation enables tuning of
desired plasma properties
within a selected
compression window
Example:
• MHD stability
• Ion, electron temperatures >200 eV
• Density 0.7x1014 cm-3
• Strong AXUV, scintillator signals
• q profile, lambda profile (not shown)
Achieving Target Performance Within Compression Window
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
Neutron
Energy
(MeV)
0
Electron
Density
(1014 cm-3)
4
3
2
1
0
1014
cm^-3
2.52.01.51.00.50.0
ms
MRT2 Shot 13526
4
1
2
3
ms
4
3
2
1
0
µA
2.52.01.51.00.50.0
ms
250
200
150
100
50
0
eV
MRT2 Shot 13526
Raw
Signal
(μA)
4
0
1
2
3
250
0
50
100
150
200
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
Tesl
a
2.52.01.51.00.50.0
ms
MRT2 Shot 13526
Poloidal
Magnetic
Field (T)
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
Ion
Temperature
(eV)
0
200
400
600
800
1000
Electron
Temperature
(eV)
B-dot Probes
Filtered AXUV
Diodes
2-Colour
Interferometer
Ion Doppler
Spectrometer
Scintillator Array
Compression Window
MRT2 Shot 13526
11
Wall
Mag
netic ax
is
12
Plasma Compression Science: Field Tests Explore Key Physics
Chemical driver compresses a magnetized plasma with an aluminum liner
Goals:
• Demonstrate plasma MHD stability in compression
• Demonstrate compression heating
13
Consistent Progress in Magnetic Compression 16 PCS Shots, 2012-2018
14
Plasma Compression
• Mechanical compression of magnetized plasma
• Recent experiments show good magnetic stability
15
PI3 Large Injector: Prototype Relevant Design, Performance
Spherical tokamak plasma target
500% increase in radius from our small spherical
tokamak
10 MJ pulsed power supply
Presently commissioning
Vessel inner diameter 2 m
Major radius R 0.6 – 0.7 m
Minor radius a 0.3 – 0.4 m
Plasma current Ip 0.8 MA
Shaft current Is 1.6 MA
Plasma density ne 2x1019 – 2x1020 m-3
Temperature Te ~ Ti 100 – 500 eV
Goals, at Prototype-relevant scale:
• Validate plasma performance
• Develop and demonstrate technology
16
Next Prototype
• Optimize performance with flexible operating envelope
• Modularize systems to permit rapid innovation
Strategy
Key Features and Specifications
• 3 meter Diameter Plasma (~70% power plant scale)
• 15 - 25 MJ Plasma Formation Bank
• MAST, SSPX equivalent starting plasma
• Liquid Lithium
• D-D
• 3.5 - 4 ms Compression Time
• Up to 10:1 Radial Compression Ratio
• Designed for 1 Compression Shot / Day Operating Rate
• 10 KeV, 10% of Lawson
17
• 346 drivers (pistons)
• Lithium liquid metal (~9 tons)
• Superstructure supports center shaft, cones, plasma injector
Compression Systems
Vessel Inner Radius: 1.95 m
Liquid Lithium Temperature: 350 ºC
Liquid Lithium Volume: 17 m3
Pressure Pulse: 30 MPa over 2 ms
18
• Sufficient plasma formation performance has been achieved
• Piston and servo control systems are working fine
• Plasma compressions tests are producing good results
• We are planning to build a large integrated liquid metal prototype, aiming for temperatures of 10 keV and 10% of Lawson
• MAST, NSTX class initial plasma, compressed 10X linear
• 5 ½ years design, build ,operate
Conclusion
19
@generalfusion
@generalfusion
general-fusion
Website
generalfusion.com