A prototype thermonuclear device with an input power of 100 kW was created: how it works

The fusion method does not require magnets, cryogenics or powerful lasers. It is based on Z-pinch stabilized shear flow.

A new device from Zap Energy, called Century, is claimed to be the first fully integrated demonstration of several fusion technologies. Interesting Engineering writes about it.

Zap Energy, which recently raised $130 million, aims to bring fusion energy to market as soon as possible. Thermonuclear energy is created when the forces that separate the centers of atoms are overcome and two smaller nuclei merge into one larger one.

The fusion method does not require magnets, cryogenics or powerful lasers. It is based on Z-pinch stabilized shear flow. It is an electromagnetic phenomenon in which electric currents create magnetic fields of such strength that they compress matter.

Benj Conway, co-founder and CEO of Zap Energy, said that the company focuses not only on physics, but also on systems engineering, as it is not just a plasma physics company.

Although Z-pinch fusion was tested as early as the 1950s, researchers were puzzled by how quickly the plasma exhaled. Zap Energy explained that it solves this problem with shear flow stabilization — innovations in plasma physics that could theoretically extend the lifetime of a Z-pinched plasma almost indefinitely.

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The company claims that Century — the world's first 100 kilowatt repetitive Z-pinch system. Her goal — integrate and test three key aspects of Zap's power design: repetitive pulsed power supplies, circulating plasma-facing liquid metal walls, and electrode damage mitigation technology.

According to Zap Energy, the Century is designed to mimic operation of the installation by supplying high-voltage power pulses every ten seconds in a stable sequence for more than two hours (>1000 pulses with a frequency of 0.1 Hz).

It is also capable of circulating 70 kg of hot liquid bismuth in its initial configuration and over a ton in its final configuration. At the same time, air-cooled heat exchangers will remove the intense plasma heat absorbed by the liquid metal.

Critical strategies to mitigate electrode damage due to extreme heat and neutron flux will also be tested, according to Zap Energy.

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Century has already demonstrated a test run of more than 1,000 consecutive plasma pulses in less than three hours in a chamber lined with liquid liquid metal. The first plasma and flowing liquid metal test took place on June 13, and a few weeks later a run of 1,080 consecutive pulses was completed.

The Century structure is the first to use the Z-pinch chamber design with Zap shear flow stabilization and orient it vertically Pulsed power is injected through the top of the device, while liquid metals circulate in a receiver at the base.

Independent testbeds built over the past two years at Zap have validated previous generations of each of Century's subsystems, according to Zap Energy.