Helion Energy

Helion Energy, Inc. is an American fusion research company, located in Everett, Washington.[1] The company focuses primarily on the production of low-cost-clean-electric energy and are working towards being the first commercial power plant that is derived exclusively from water.[2] They are developing a magneto-inertial fusion technology to produce helium-3 and fusion power via aneutronic fusion.[3][4]

Helion Energy Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryFusion power
Founded2013 (2013)
FoundersDavid Kirtley, John Slough, Chris Pihl, George Votroubek
Headquarters
Everett, Washington
,
United States
Key people
  • David Kirtley, CEO
  • Chris Pihl, CTO
  • George Votroubek, Principal Scientist
Websitewww.helionenergy.com

Technology

The company's Fusion Engine technology is based on the Inductive Plasmoid Accelerator (IPA) experiments[5][6] performed from 2005 through 2012. This system theoretically operates at 1 Hz, injecting plasma, compressing it to fusion conditions, expanding it, and directly recovering the energy to produce electricity.[7] The IPA experiments claimed 300 km/s velocities, deuterium neutron production, and 2 keV deuterium ion temperatures.[6] The pulsed-fusion system that is used is able to run 24/7 for electricity production. Due to its compact size, the systems are able to replace the current fossil fuel infrastructure without major needs for investment.[8]

Helium-3 fuel

As of 2015, Helion intended to produce and use a combination of deuterium and helium-3 as fuel. This mix allows mostly aneutronic fusion, releasing only 5% of its energy in the form of fast neutrons. The helium-3 is produced by D-D side reactions and is captured and reused, eliminating supply concerns. Helion has a patent on this process.[9]

The IPA experiments used deuterium-deuterium fusion, which produces a 2.45 MeV neutron in half of the reactions. Helion and MSNW published articles describing a deuterium-tritium implementation that is the easiest to achieve but generates 14 MeV neutrons. The fuel is deuterium-deuterium, which produces helium-3, potentially for use in fusion reactors and medical imaging.

Confinement

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. An FRC is a magnetized plasma configuration notable for its closed field lines, high Beta and lack of internal penetrations.[10]

Compression

To inject the target plasmoid into the fusion compression chamber two FRC plasmoids are accelerated to high velocity with pulsed magnetic fields and merge into a single target plasmoid at high pressure.[10] Published plans target compressing fusion plasmas to 12 Tesla (T).[11]

Energy generation

Energy is captured by direct energy conversion that uses the expansion of the plasma to induce a current in the magnetic compression- and acceleration- coils and it translates high-energy alpha particles directly into a voltage. This eliminates the need for steam turbines, cooling towers, and their associated energy losses.[10]

History

The Helion team published peer-reviewed research demonstrating D-D neutron production in 2011.[6] The company was founded in 2013 by David Kirtley, John Slough, Chris Pihl, and George Votroubek.[12] They detailed D-D fusion experiments producing neutrons in an October 2018 report at the United States Department of Energy's ARPA-E's annual ALPHA program meeting.[13] Experiments that year achieved plasmas with multi-keV temperatures[14] and a triple product of 6.4·1018keV·s/m3.[15]

The management team won the 2013 National Cleantech Open Energy Generation competition and awards at the 2014 ARPA-E Future Energy Startup competition,[10] were members of the 2014 Y Combinator program,[16] and were awarded a 2015 ARPA-E ALPHA contract, "Staged Magnetic Compression of FRC Targets to Fusion Conditions".[17]

In 2018, the 5th prototype, had magnetic fields of 7T and at high density, an ion temperature of 2 keV.[8]

In 2021, the firm announced that its sixth prototype, Trenta had reached 100 million degrees C after a 16-month test cycle with more than 10,000 pulses. Magnetic compression fields exceeded 10 T, ion temperatures surpassed 8 keV, and electron temperatures exceeded 1 keV.[18][19] The development of Trenta came about after a 16-month evaluation of the fusion process.[8]

Helion's seventh-generation prototype, Project Polaris is under development, with completion expected in 2023.[20] The device was expected to increase the pulse rate from one pulse every 10 minutes to one pulse per second for short periods.[21] This prototype is the first of its kind to be able to heat fusion plasma up to temperatures greater than 100 million degrees celsius.[22] Polaris is expected by 2024 to be able to produce more energy than the amount of energy needed to be taken in to work.[23]

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.[24]

An eighth iteration, Antares, is in the design stage.[25]

Funding

Helion Energy received $7 million in funding from NASA, the United States Department of Energy and the Department of Defense,[26] followed by $1.5 million from the private sector in August 2014, through the seed accelerators Y Combinator and Mithril Capital Management.[27] Investors include Y Combinator. In September of 2020, the company was valued at 1.25 billion dollars.[2] Mithril Capital Management, and Capricorn Investment Group.[28][29] As of late 2021, investment totaled 77.8M.[30] In November 2021, Helion received $0.5 billion in Series E funding, with an additional $1.7 billion of commitments tied to specific milestones.[31] The funding was mainly led by Sam Altman.[32]

Revenue model

Helion Energy’s strategy is to generate revenue based on a royalty model of electricity produced with projected electricity prices of 40–60 $/MWhr (4 to 6 cents per kwh). Penetration of the new capacity market is estimated at 20% of market growth (2.5%) per annum eventually reaching 50% of new power generation worldwide – $52 B/yr. Gradual displacement of existing supplies enables continued growth to 20% of world electrical generation after 20 years with a net return of over $300 billion.[33]

Criticism

Retired Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory researcher Daniel Jassby mentioned Helion Energy in a letter included in the American Physical Society newsletter Physics & Society (April 2019) as being among fusion start-ups allegedly practicing "voodoo fusion" rather than legitimate science. He noted that the company is one of several that has continually claimed "power in 5 to 10 years, but almost all have apparently never produced a single D-D fusion reaction".[34] However, Helion published peer-reviewed research demonstrating D-D neutron production as early as 2011[6] and according to the independent JASON review team, VENTI, a sub-scale prototype Helion developed partially for the ALPHA program, achieved initial results of 8·1022 ions/m3, 4·10−5 seconds energy confinement time and a temperature of 2 keV in 2018.[15]

See also

References
  1. "Helion Energy Says It Will Offer the World's First Commercial Fusion Power". Interesting Engineering. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  2. "Fusion Energy Startup Helion Energy Closes Latest Funding Round at $1.25B Valuation". Helion. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  3. "Helion". Helion. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
  4. Virgin, Bill (2018-04-16). "Redmond's Helion Energy Looks to Nuclear Fusion As the Next Big Thing in Power Generation". Seattle Business Magazine. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
  5. Votroubek, G.; Slough, J.; Andreason, S.; Pihl, C. (June 2008). "Formation of a Stable Field Reversed Configuration through Merging". Journal of Fusion Energy. 27 (1–2): 123–127. doi:10.1007/s10894-007-9103-4. ISSN 0164-0313.
  6. Slough, John; Votroubek, George; Pihl, Chris (2011-05-01). "Creation of a high-temperature plasma through merging and compression of supersonic field reversed configuration plasmoids". Nuclear Fusion. 51 (5): 053008. Bibcode:2011NucFu..51e3008S. doi:10.1088/0029-5515/51/5/053008. ISSN 0029-5515.
  7. Svoboda, Elizabeth (2011-06-21). "Is Fusion Power Finally For Real?". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
  8. Emilio, Maurizio Di Paolo (2021-07-21). "EETimes - Helion Energy Achieves Key Fusion Milestone". EETimes. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  9. EP 3103119, Slough, John Thomas; Kirtley, David Edwin & Pihl, Christopher James, "Advanced D-3He fuel cycle for a pulsed fusion reactor", published 2021-03-24, assigned to Helion Energy Inc.
  10. Wang, Brian. "Helion Energy Raised $10.9 Million". Retrieved 2021-06-24.
  11. Wang, Brian (2018-10-02). "Helion Energy got funding for possible breakeven fusion device this year". NextBigFuture.com.
  12. "Helion Energy". Helion Energy.
  13. "Staged Magnetic Compression of FRC Targets" (PDF). ARPA-E. October 2018.
  14. Kirtley, David; Milroy, Richard; Votroubek, George; Slough, John; McKee, Erik; Shimazu, Aki; Hine, Andrew; Barnes, Daniel (2018-11-05). "Overview of Staged Magnetic Compression of FRC targets". Bulletin of the American Physical Society. 2018: BM9.005. Bibcode:2018APS..DPPBM9005K.
  15. Long, Gordon (2018-11-01). "Prospects for Low Cost Fusion Development" (PDF). ARPA-E.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. "Summer 2014 Companies (YC S14)". Y Combinator Universe. 2010-07-21.
  17. "Compression of FRC Targets for Fusion". arpa-e.energy.gov. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
  18. "Helion passes 100 million degrees Celsius". World Nuclear News. World Nuclear Association. June 23, 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-25.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. Wang, Brian (June 23, 2021). "Nuclear Fusion Startup Helion Energy Surpasses 100 Million Degrees Celsius". Next Big Future. Retrieved 2021-06-25.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. "Helion prepares to build seventh fusion prototype : New Nuclear - World Nuclear News". world-nuclear-news.org. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
  21. NRC (January 26, 2021). "Developing a Regulatory Framework for Fusion Energy Systems" (PDF). Nuclear Regulatory Commission.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. "Why did OpenAI invest in a nuclear fusion startup?". Analytics India Magazine. 2022-04-19. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  23. Podsada, Janice (2022-02-02). "Can fusion-powered Helion Energy change the world — from Everett?". HeraldNet.com. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  24. "Innovation of the Year: 5 technology breakthroughs named finalists in GeekWire Awards". GeekWire. 2022-03-31. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  25. Helman, Christopher. "Fueled By Billionaire Dollars, Nuclear Fusion Enters A New Age". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
  26. Halper, Mark (30 April 2013). "The nearness of fusion: The materials and coolant challenges facing one fusion company mirror fission". The Alvin Weinberg Foundation.
  27. Russell, Kyle (14 August 2014). "Y Combinator And Mithril Invest In Helion, A Nuclear Fusion Startup". TechCrunch.
  28. "Y Combinator and Mithril Invest in Helion, a Nuclear Fusion Startup". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
  29. Medrano, Kastalia. "The Search Is on for (Cheap) Nuclear Fusion". Inverse. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
  30. "Helion Energy - Pitchbook Company Overview". Pitchbook. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
  31. Conca, James. "Helion Energy Raises $500 Million On The Fusion Power Of Stars". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
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  33. Wang, Brian (August 18, 2015). "Helion Energy Raised $10.9 Million | NextBigFuture.com". Retrieved 2021-06-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  34. Jassby, Daniel L. (April 2019). "Voodoo Fusion Energy". APS.org. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
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