9/6/2023 0 Comments Project helios 2.5![]() ![]() 3He produced by D-D fusion carries 0.82 MeV of energy. Separately it translates high-energy fusion products, such as alpha particles directly into a voltage. Energy generation Įnergy is captured by direct energy conversion that uses the expansion of the plasma to induce a current in the magnetic compression- and acceleration- coils. Published plans target compressing fusion plasmas to 12 Tesla (T). Two FRC plasmoids are accelerated to velocities exceeding 300 km/s with pulsed magnetic fields which then merge into a single plasmoid at high pressure. An FRC is a magnetized plasma configuration notable for its closed field lines, high Beta and lack of internal penetrations. This fusion approach uses the magnetic field of a field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasmoid (operated with solid state electronics derived from power switching electronics in wind turbines) to prevent plasma energy losses. Helion plans to capture the 3He produced this way and reuse it as fuel. Tritium beta decays into more 3He with a half-life of 12.32 years. D-D fusion has an equal chance of producing a 3He atom and of producing a tritium atom plus a proton. Instead Helion produces 3He by deuteron-deuteron (D-D) side reactions to the deuterium - 3He reactions. Deuterium and 3He allows mostly aneutronic fusion, releasing only 5% of its energy in the form of fast neutrons. Helion uses a combination of deuterium and 3 Due to its compact size, the systems may be able to replace current fossil fuel infrastructure without major needs for investment. The pulsed-fusion system that is used is theoretically able to run 24/7 for electricity production. This system is intended to operate at 1 Hz, injecting plasma, compressing it to fusion conditions, expanding it, and recovering the energy to produce electricity. On May 10, 2023, Helion Energy announced that Microsoft will become the first customer of Helion Energy, and Helion Energy will provide fusion power to Microsoft starting in 2028. In 2023, the company was one of five finalists for the 2023 GeekWire Best workplaces of the year. In 2022, the company was one of five finalists for the 2022 GeekWire Awards for innovation of the year, specifically for fusion energy start up category. ![]() The management team won the 2013 National Cleantech Open Energy Generation competition and awards at the 2014 ARPA-E Future Energy Startup competition, were members of the 2014 Y Combinator program, and were awarded a 2015 ARPA-E ALPHA contract, "Staged Magnetic Compression of FRC Targets to Fusion Conditions". The company was founded in 2013 by David Kirtley, John Slough, Chris Pihl, and George Votroubek. ![]()
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