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General Fusion has designed, constructed, and tested a number of plasma systems over the years,

Recently we’ve finished work with a series of smaller scale systems which were named Magnetized Ring Test.

Recently we began developing a new plasma system with some significant changes to the plasma test chamber, particularly a quasi-spherical geometry that more closely matches what we expect in the core of our power plant.

We’re now constructing our first SPhErical Compact TORoid system, or SPECTOR. SPECTOR (the name) caught on quickly, both internally and with our external research partners as well.

There was an intermediate system, one where we first tested out some of the changes we were planning to incorporate in SPECTOR.

Understanding What’s Next in Fusion Energy will be held Tuesday, December 15 in Russell 385 from 12:00pm – 1:30pm. This event will be an opportunity for leaders in fusion energy from the private sector and research labs to discuss the significant progress made in advancing fusion and what this clean, safe, and abundant energy source means for America’s national security and energy future.

Leading experts in fusion from the public and private sector will discuss the new developments that have been featured over the last several months in major media outlets like Time Magazine, the New York Times, Science, and Nature. ASP is the leading think tank detailing a plan for the future of fusion. We are excited to facilitate a greater understanding this complex but revolutionary energy source.
Panel Includes:

Moderator: Mr. Andrew Holland

Panelists:
Dr. Dennis Whyte
Mr. Michael Delage
Dr. Douglas Witherspoon

Fluid instabilities arise in a variety of contexts and are often unwanted results of engineering imperfections. In one particular model for a magnetized target fusion reactor, a pressure wave is propagated in a cylindrical annulus comprised of a dense fluid before impinging upon a plasma and imploding it. Part of the success of the apparatus is a function of how axially-symmetric the final pressure pulse is upon impacting the plasma. We study a simple model for the implosion of the system to study how imperfections in the pressure imparted on the outer circumference grow due to geometric focusing. Our methodology entails linearizing the compressible Euler equations for mass and momentum conservation about a cylindrically symmetric problem and analyzing the perturbed profiles at different mode numbers. The linearized system gives rise to singular shocks and through analyzing the perturbation profiles at various times, we infer that high mode numbers are dampened through the propagation. We also study the Linear Klein-Gordon equation in the context of stability of linear cylindrical wave formation whereby highly oscillatory, bounded behaviour is observed in a far field solution.

6 Summary and Future Outlook
This work suggests that having on the order of 100 pistons in the MTF nuclear reactor design of General Fusion [7] is a promising strategy for reducing unwanted effects of asymmetries: perturbations induced by low azimuthal mode numbers, besides m = 0 which do not contribute to asymmetric distortions, do propagate but the higher mode numbers tend to dissipate through the focusing thereby extinguishing their effects. The work presented in [10] suggests that the high mode numbers are more problematic in the context of nuclear fusion. The study just cited explored the interaction of the molten metal and the plasma with azimuthal perturbations beginning when the molten metal and plasma interact; it was found that high azimuthal mode numbers cause the greatest problems for plasma-metal interactions, resulting in mixing, and low mode numbers pose little problem. From this we can infer, based on this current work, a positive outlook for the reactor design.
We would like to acknowledge a number of limitations to the current model, which should be considered carefully in interpreting these results...

Acoustically driven Magnetized Target Fusion at General Fusion
Author: Michel Laberge

Abstract
Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) involves compressing an initial magnetically confined plasma of about 1e23 m-3, 100 eV, 7 Tesla, 20 cm radius, >100 microseconds life with a 1000 X volume compression in 100 microseconds. If near adiabatic compression is achieved, the final plasma of ~1e26 m-3, 10 keV, 700 Tesla, 2 cm radius, confined for 10 microseconds would produce interesting fusion energy gain. General Fusion is developing an acoustic compression system using pneumatic pistons focusing a shock wave on the plasma in the center of a 3 m diameter sphere filled with liquid lead-lithium. Low cost driver, straightforward heat extraction, good tritium breeding ratio and excellent neutron protection could lead to a practical power plant. We will review the plasma formation and compression results achieved so far and our plans moving forwards. Work on the compression system will also be described.

Conclusion
• We can make pre-compression plasma with sufficient confinement
• We solved death by radiation from impurities
• We now go MHD unstable under compression both with spheromak and tokamak
• We have some tokamak configurations that on the computer compress 13:1 and remain MHD stable
• Presently building a more self similar compression machine
• Designing PI3, more density and magnetic field
• Will implode PI3 with new more self similar compression to high DD yield

We now go MHD unstable under compression both with spheromak and tokamak

We have some tokamak configurations that on the computer compress 13:1 and remain MHD stable

but GF seems to have learned some tricks with smoothing the vortex surface.

ladajo wrote:

but GF seems to have learned some tricks with smoothing the vortex surface.

In Sim world. Until they do real work with real plasma, it is all speculation on their part.

ladajo wrote: Although, I must admit, redoing spherical compression blasts with analogs must be fun. Although, why they are not using long standing pre-existing work from the old weapons programs is beyond me.

Furthermore, General Fusion is undertaking low cost chemically driven experiments to rapidly compress a magnetized plasma target. The literature discusses such tests; however,we have found no experimental results in open publications [20,21] .
...
21. F. Wysocki et al., “Progress with small, high-magnetic-field spheromaks in CTX”, 11th US/Japan Workshop on Field-Reversed Configurations and Compact Toroids, Los Alamos (1989).
22. D. Dudzick, “Nucleonic aspects of the LINUS imploding blanket”, ANS Topical Meeting (1978).

General Fusion Awarded $12.75 Million From Sustainable Development Technology Canada

BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - March 4, 2016) - Innovative cleantech company General Fusion has been awarded $12.75 million by Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to continue developing its fusion energy technology, culminating in the design of a full-scale fusion energy demonstration system.

The grant, announced today by the federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Hon. Navdeep Bains in Edmonton, is part of a 36-project, $206 million package of funds designed to help cleantech companies bridge the gap between research and commercialization.

The grant is staged across a number of milestones and requires an investment of matching funds equal to twice the amount of the grant. To date, General Fusion has raised more than $100 million from a global syndicate of investors. This is the second major grant from SDTC, the first an award of $13.9 million in 2009.