The Zap Energy approach to commercial fusion

Abstract

Zap Energy is a private fusion energy company developing the sheared-flow-stabilized (SFS) Z-pinch concept for commercial energy production. Spun out from the University of Washington, these experimental and computational efforts have resulted in devices with quasi-steady DD fusion yields above 109 per pulse. These devices support scaling toward energy breakeven on existing devices as well as beyond to commercially relevant engineering fusion gains. This article discusses the strategy behind Zap's development path, which is derived directly from the engineering and scientific elegance of the confinement method. Without need for external confinement or heating technologies, the SFS Z pinch relies on plasma self-organization. This compact magnetic confinement technology could, in turn, provide the basis for a cost-effective fusion power plant, vastly reduced in complexity from its competitors.

Whole device modeling of the fuze sheared-flow-stabilized Z pinch

“…Figure 7 shows the total integrated yield rate in the simulation versus experimental data. The neutron diagnostics on the experiment include an LaBr 3 activation detector and fast plastic scintillators [5]. The LaBr 3 activation detector measures absolute neutron yield but does not record the timeresolved neutron emission intensity.…”

“…Other advancements to the model will help to more accurately capture acceleration region dynamics, including blowby and deflagration, as well as plasma interaction with the end wall. These advancements are actively being developed to help capture the plasma dynamics of FuZE and other devices being built at Zap Energy [5].…”

“…The validity of the resistive MHD model can be assessed by considering the various length scales of interest. For FuZE plasmas, expected temperatures are on the order of 1 keV for a pinch size of about 1 cm with enclosed currents of up to 500 kA for a few µs [1,5]. In this regime, assuming a diffuse Bennett Z-pinch equilibrium [6,7] leads to a magnetic field of 0 on axis and 5 T at the pinch radius with densities of about 10 23 m −3 on axis and 10 22 m −3 at the pinch radius.…”