One of General Fusion’s major investors, Segra Capital Management, believes we have “the most elegant design” to accomplish what is required for a commercial fusion energy system: capability to create and sustain fusion conditions, deployability in terms of energy conversion to a usable form for customers, and a durable fusion machine that avoids structural material degradation. Check, check and check!
When Dr. Michel Laberge founded General Fusion in 2002, his sole purpose was to create affordable electricity from fusion power. To do this, he sought a practical approach – Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) using mechanical compression. It’s the fusion equivalent of a diesel engine: practical, durable and cost-effective.
To put it simply, to create commercial fusion with MTF, we need three things: good plasmas, good compression, and a stable fusion process.
The good news is that we’ve demonstrated each of these in our test beds:
- When it comes to our MTF approach, a “good plasma” means a plasma that holds its energy long enough (i.e. energy confinement time) to be compressed. Our most recent plasma injector has achieved the plasma conditions and energy confinement time required for compression in our fusion demonstration.
- “Good compression” means the smooth, rapid and symmetric compression of a cylindrical liquid wall to a spherical shape to surround and compress plasma to fusion conditions. And that’s what our latest compression technology test bed has achieved.
- Finally, through a series of tests, we have shown that neutron yield and temperatures increase when plasma is compressed. We have also confirmed plasma performance when interacting with liquid metal.
And here’s a bonus:
Our fusion machine will integrate with a traditional balance of plant; the fusion reaction heats our proprietary liquid metal, which then runs to a heat exchanger to produce steam and drive a turbine generator. This is consistent with the balance of plant in a coal-fired power plant.
The industry is attracting a range of investors. Fusion energy’s potential $1 trillion per year market is a major driver. From a mission standpoint, they are investing in technology that will transform the global energy market and combat climate change. At General Fusion, we’re on track to bring zero-carbon fusion energy to homes and businesses by the early 2030s.
Read Segra’s post here.
