Dr. Peter O’Shea - General Fusion...2017/11/18  · Dr. Peter O’Shea TRIUMF Saturday Morning Public Lecture - November 18, 2017 2 Introduction to General Fusion • Founded in

CONFIDENTIAL

Dr. Peter O’Shea

TRIUMF Saturday Morning Public Lecture - November 18, 2017

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Introduction to General Fusion

• Founded in 2002 by Michel Laberge ( UBC PhD Physics 1990, Laser Fusion )

• Privately backed by investors including Jeff Bezos and Khazanah Nasional Berhad

(Malaysian Sovereign Wealth Fund)

• 75 employees, $100M+ in funding ( Many UBC Alumni, especially Eng. Physics )

• Focused on building a practical, commercially viable fusion power plant

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Why develop a new type of power plant?

80% of the world’s energy still comes from fossil fuels.1

Electricity is the world’s fastest-growing form of end-use energy consumption.2

$480 billion per year is invested in new power plants.3

Sources: 1 IEA Renewables Information Overview 2017, 2 EIA International Energy Outlook 2017, 3 IEA World Energy Outlook 2017

Fuel shares in world total primary energy supply (2015)

4

Emissions continue to rise…

New York Times, Nov 6, 2017: Here’s How Far the World Is From Meeting Its Climate Goals

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Emissions continue to rise…

New York Times, Nov 6, 2017: Here’s How Far the World Is From Meeting Its Climate Goals

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Electricity demand forecast to increase by 45% by 2040

Source: EIA International Energy Outlook 2017 (IEA WEO 2017 forecasts are similar)

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Electricity demand forecast to increase by 45% by 2040

Source: EIA International Energy Outlook 2017 (IEA WEO 2017 forecasts are similar)

8

“To meet rising demand, China needs to add the

equivalent of today’s United States power system to its

electricity infrastructure by 2040.”

“India needs to add a power system the size of today’s

European Union.”

IEA World Energy Outlook 2017

9Source: IEA World Energy Outlook 2017

Total electricity generation by region

2016-2040

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Fusion: Zero emission, on-demand electricity that is plentiful and safe

Clean: No GHG emissions

Safe: Meltdown impossible and no long lived

waste

Abundant: Fuel derived from sea water,

millions of years worth available

On-Demand: Able to provide baseload power

around the clock

Cost-competitive: Effectively zero fuel cost,

high density energy

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How does fusion work?

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Plasma confinement using

large magnetic coils

Low density:

~1014 ions/cm3

Continuous operation

(ITER)

Magnetic Confinement

Very fast compression using

high power lasers or ion beams

Extreme density:

~1026 ions/cm3

Pulsed: <1 ns

(NIF)

Inertial Confinement

Combination of compression

and magnetic confinement

Medium density:

~1020 ions/cm3

Pulsed: ~10 µs

(General Fusion)

Magnetized Target Fusion

All Confinement Balanced All Compression

Approaches to fusion

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Magnetic confinement fusion

Image Credit: Matthias W Hirsch / Wikipedia

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Magnetic confinement fusion - ITER

Image Credit: ITER (all)

ITER tokamak under

construction (2016)

CAD render of the ITER tokamak

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Magnetic confinement fusion - ITER

Image Credit: ITER (all)

ITER tokamak under

construction (2016)

First Plasma ~2025

CAD render of the ITER tokamak

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Plasma confinement using

large magnetic coils

Low density:

~1014 ions/cm3

Continuous operation

(ITER)

Magnetic Confinement

Very fast compression using

high power lasers or ion beams

Extreme density:

~1026 ions/cm3

Pulsed: <1 ns

(NIF)

Inertial Confinement

Combination of compression

and magnetic confinement

Medium density:

~1020 ions/cm3

Pulsed: ~10 µs

(General Fusion)

Magnetized Target Fusion

All Confinement Balanced All Compression

Approaches to fusion

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Inertial Confinement FusionNational Ignition Facility

Image Credit: LLNL / NIF (all)

NIF laser bay

NIF fusion

targetNIF facility layout

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Inertial Confinement FusionNational Ignition Facility

Image Credit: LLNL / NIF (all)

NIF laser bay

NIF fusion

targetNIF facility layout

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Plasma confinement using

large magnetic coils

Low density:

~1014 ions/cm3

Continuous operation

(ITER)

Magnetic Confinement

Very fast compression using

high power lasers or ion beams

Extreme density:

~1026 ions/cm3

Pulsed: <1 ns

(NIF)

Inertial Confinement

Combination of compression

and magnetic confinement

Medium density:

~1020 ions/cm3

Pulsed: ~10 µs

(General Fusion)

Magnetized Target Fusion

All Confinement Balanced All Compression

Approaches to fusion

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Fusion Technology Comparison

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

1.00E+02

1.00E+05

1.00E+08

1.00E+11

Driver PowerPlasma Energy

kJ

MJ

GJ

MW

GW

TW

$ C

ost

of

Co

nfi

nem

ent

$ C

ost

of

Dri

ver

NIF

GF

Plasma Density (cm-3)

Magnetic Field (Tesla)

30 1.00E+3 3.00E+4 1.00E+6

Normal

Super-

conductor HTC Max DC

Max Flux

Compression

ITER

1

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1. Form a compact torus of plasma

2. Confine in conductive chamber

3. Compress and heat to fusion conditions

4. Repeat

Magnetized Target Fusion

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Introduction to General Fusion

LINUS concept (1976)

• Pursuing Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) approach: liner compression of plasma

• Derived from LINUS concept at US Naval Research Laboratories in 1970s

• Recognized as a low cost and practical solution to major fusion challenges

• Energy conversion

• Materials degradation

• Fuel production

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General Fusion’s Concept

1. Plasma Injection

• Spherical Tokamak Target

• Formed by Coaxial Helicity Injection (CHI)

• No External Coils

• Metal Flux Conserver Only

• Can’t run steady state

• No energy sustainment

• Initial plasma conditions (pre-compression)

• Temperature: 400 eV

• Density: 2x1020 m-3

• Initial β: 4%

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General Fusion’s Concept

2. Plasma Compression

• Array of Pistons Coupled to Liquid Liner (~10 GW aux

heating from compression work)

• Array of Pistons Moves the Wall Inward, Compressing

Plasma ~10:1 Radially

• ~20ms compression time

• Cycle Repeats at ~1Hz

• Work from the pistons 300 MJ

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General Fusion’s Concept

2. Plasma Compression

• Array of Pistons Coupled to Liquid Liner (~10 GW aux

heating from compression work)

• Array of Pistons Moves the Wall Inward, Compressing

Plasma ~10:1 Radially

• ~20ms compression time

• Cycle Repeats at ~1Hz

• Work from the pistons 300 MJ

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General Fusion’s Concept

2. Plasma Compression

• Array of Pistons Coupled to Liquid Liner (~10 GW aux

heating from compression work)

• Array of Pistons Moves the Wall Inward, Compressing

Plasma ~10:1 Radially

• ~20ms compression time

• Cycle Repeats at ~1Hz

• Work from the pistons 300 MJ

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General Fusion’s Concept

3. Plasma Compression

• Final plasma conditions (post-compression)

• Temperature: 20 keV

• Density: 2x1023 m-3

• β: 20%

• Time at peak compression: 1 ms

• DT Yield: 1 GJ Gain: 3.3

• ~80% direct compression energy recovery from rebound

• Liquid Metal Liner serves as:

• heat capture mechanism

• Fuel production (lithium to tritium)

• Structural protection

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Pulsed process eliminates need for

complex and costly:

• Long confinement

• Complex plasma heating systems

• Consumable fuel targets

MTF removes the traditional barriers to commercial fusion

A uniquely practical solution to the challenges of fusion

Compression of plasma with liquid metal

avoids:

• Structural materials degradation

• High-speed laser compression

• Problem of insufficient tritium creation

Energy conversion using existing

technology:

• Proven liquid metal heat exchanger

• Conventional steam turbine/generator

• Efficient compression drivers (pistons)

Plasma Materials Energy Conversion

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Component Level Development

Plasma Formation Liquid Metal Systems Plasma Compression

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Consistently advancing towards commercialization

2010World’s largest

plasma injector

constructed (PI1)

201214 piston

sphere

operated with

liquid metal

cavity

201512th plasma

compression test broke

threshold of 400%

improvement in

performance since start

of program

2011Full scale piston

proof of concept

for servo control

(timing)

2014Small Plasma Injector

program achieved

World Record

Spheromak Thermal

Confinement (lifetime)

2013Small Plasma

Injector program

achieved

1,000,000⁰C

plasma

temperature

2010PI1 achieved

plasma density

goal

2011Full scale

piston operated

with liquid

metal

2017EPI3 large injector

fully assembled,

operations begin

Full spherical

sub-scale model

of prototype

cavity formation

system

constructed

2017SPECTOR small

injector achieved 5

million ⁰C plasma

temperature, with

plasma lifetime

exceeding 2 ms for

the first time

2016SPECTOR small

injector achieved

3 million ⁰C

plasma

temperature with

1.5 ms plasma

lifetime

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Plasma formation

Plasma Injector

40 100 400 800 1,400

2,700

10,000

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Today PI3

Plasma Performance - Lifetime in Microseconds

Performance Threshold for Fusion Conditions

PI3 Prototype-Scale Plasma Injector

World’s biggest and most powerful plasma injectors

500 eV pre-compression plasma with life-time >2,000 microseconds

Developed and operated 18 generations of injectors since 2010

Library of over 150,000 plasma experiments

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Small plasma injectors

SPECTOR injector

• Built on a reduced scale to reduce iteration time and expense

• Allow a variety of geometries and overall safety factor (q) to be explored

• 15 small injectors built so far

• SPECTOR has achieved 500 eV, lifespan >2,000 μs

PROSPECTORMrT :

Magnetic

Ring Test

~30cm

SPECTOR

Spherical Compact

Toroid

SPECTOR in lab with diagnostics

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Plasma Lifetime Progress

34

0.5

1.0

1.5

0

Polo

idal F

ield

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

µsSept 2012 May 2013

Dec 2013

Feb 2014

October 2015

100 µs thermal life

Self-heating to >300 eV

Co

mp

ression

Tim

e

Tesla

General Fusion has created a long-lived plasma that we believe is good enough to compress.

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Spherical tokamak: 500 eV measured by Thomson Scattering

2017

• 2500 μs

lifetimes

• 500 eV

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Large plasma injectors

Pi3

• Injectors built to a similar scale as expected for power plant

• Pi1 and Pi2 demonstrated magnetic compression heating of

a spheromak to over 300 eV and 3.2T magnetic fields

• Pi3 first plasma expected end of 2017

Pi2Pi1

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Pi3 large injector

• Spherical tokamak plasma target

• Major radius: 0.6-0.7 m

• Temperature Telectron ~ Tion: 100-500 eV

• Plasma lifespan: 50 ms

• 10 MJ capacitor bank

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Plasma compression

• Mechanical compression of magnetized plasma

• Major advances in plasma systems, materials,

coatings, and diagnostics

• Recent experiments show good magnetic stability

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Compression technology

• Compression of 400°C liquid lithium liner with pistons

• Demonstrated synchronization accuracy of +/-2 μs with frictionless servo

• Cavity formation and stabilization

Compression Driver Control System Performance

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Big Data

General Fusion has conducted >150,000 plasma

shots to date

Each shot generates ~1 Gb of data

Partnering with Microsoft to create new analysis tools

and share data with the scientific community

Aurora project – plasma data in the cloud

Big data + machine learning

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Additive Manufacturing

Addition Manufacturing =

industrial scale 3D printing

Ability to create shapes not

possible before

Important applications in

stabilizing liquid metal wall

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Pre-Commercial demonstration program goals

Goals (Preliminary):

1. Demonstrate, at power plant scale, at 8:1

compression: 10 keV, 2x1016 cm-3, 500 μs (sub

breakeven) can be achieved using General Fusion’s

MTF technology

2. Refine, based on actual performance, the economics

of a full-scale General Fusion commercial power plant

3. Upgradable with more capacitors to higher density

An equivalent scale machine to MIT’s Alcator C-Mod

tokamak or the Wendelstein 7-X in Germany

Scale and Performance Comparable to Largest National Programs (e.g. NSTX), at 10% of Cost Power plant-scale demonstration … transition to commercialization

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Program development activities underway

Sensors & Diagnostics Large Scale Plasma Formation MTF Simulation Codes

Liquid Metal Systems Cavity Formation & Compression Compression Pistons & Fast Valves

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Summary

• The increase in demand for energy worldwide cannot be met by existing renewable sources.

• Fusion energy can transform the way the world is energized.

• Newly matured enabling technologies are now opening innovative new pathways to

commercial fusion energy.

• General Fusion a big player in a growing ecosystem of private fusion companies emerging

worldwide.

• Combining new technologies, proven industrial processes, and advances in fundamental

fusion science, General Fusion’s solution is the closest to commercial reality.

• General Fusion’s unique architecture removes the traditional barriers to practical fusion.

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In The Media

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Twitter

@generalfusion

Instagram

@generalfusion

LinkedIn

general-fusion