dr. peter o’shea - general fusion...2017/11/18 · dr. peter o’shea triumf saturday morning...
TRANSCRIPT
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)
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“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
16
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
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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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@generalfusion
@generalfusion
general-fusion