ZAP Energy News

[Skipjack]

It could be that the additional funding is needed for project Century? The number of people at Zap Energy was listed as 60 in 2022, 140 in 2023 and 150 in the FIA 2024 report, so the last years increase was modest. In addition to salary costs they will have many other expenses to cover. In order to be able to keep moving forward fast with several parallel development paths, more funding is anyway needed.

Yeah, but they had some 160 million in funding two years ago. Even with the whole project Century factored in, the material costs should be insignificant compared to Trenta, let alone Polaris as their machines are so small. And Helion built and operated Trenta for 16 months with some 30 million in funding. So, I can't imagine Zap having used up all of their funding yet. I guess, we will see what happens. If they started hiring significantly more people with that money, then they likely achieved a major milestone.

[crowberry]

These two 66th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics abstracts describe a bit Zap Energys Project Century. With Project Century Zap Energy is able to run three different independent SFS pinch devices in parallel:

TP12.00112 : Zap Energy Scientific and Engineering Platform Development Progress
https://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DPP24/Session/TP12.112

TP12.00123 : Preliminary Results from Project Century, Zap Energy's First Liquid Metal-Lined Z-Pinch Device
https://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DPP24/Session/TP12.123

Corrected wrong link.

[Skipjack]

That first link it wrong bud!

[Munchausen]

That first link it wrong bud!

Still well worth reading! About power struggles behind the curtains in the Kremlin.

[crowberry]

Thanks, the link is corrected.

[crowberry]

Zap Energy has published the details of their project Century, which has been taken into operation.

Century's goal is to integrate and test three major aspects of Zap’s power design: repetitive pulsed power supplies, plasma-facing circulating liquid metal walls, and technology for mitigating electrode damage.

It is impressive how they have stepped up the scale of their activities with the additional funding. It seems they can run with four Z-pinches potentially simultaneously for various purposes.

https://www.zapenergy.com/news/zap-ener ... 0m-funding.

[Skipjack]

I wonder whether this is an indication that FuZE-Q achieved Qsci > 1.

[mvanwink5]

Zap has been running parallel path R&D since they got that big funding surge. Running parallel tests are required to do that (power supplies could be shared, the rest is low capital).

Modeling has been improving based on published papers, so, speculating a bit (LOL), model predictions are yielding sufficient design details, these details make these tests worthwhile (design current targets, size of the liquid metal waterfalls - Length x Radius, etc)?

Risk / Reward / Competitive Pressure from the outside is hard to understand so conclusions are wide open. Helion is no doubt putting pressure on everyone.

[Giorgio]

https://www.zapenergy.com/news/zap-ener ... 0m-funding.

The news has been deleted.
Now there is just a generic announcement in the news section about the Saudi fund investment in ZAP, but no more mentions of the amount.

[crowberry]

Strange that the Century project news page was closed?

This abstract tells where Zap Energy was at least when it was written:

The sheared-flow-stabilized (SFS) Z-pinch fusion concept, developed at the University of Washington with LLNL collaborators, is now on a path to commercialization at Zap Energy [Levitt et al., Phys. Plasmas 30, 9 (2023)]. Recent experiments corroborate predicted thermonuclear fusion reaction rates, as the discharge current is scaled toward higher gain performance. Two SFS Z-pinch platforms, FuZE and FuZE-Q, are leveraged for parallel operations with different power supplies and configuration optimization strategies. Experimental campaigns are underway to increase the triple product, pinch stability duration, and DD fusion neutron production. These efforts aim to scale the pinch current, plasma density, and plasma temperature to reach scientific breakeven.

In this presentation, we report recent results from both experimental platforms, demonstrating operation with thermonuclear plasmas. Electron temperatures in excess of 2 keV are measured with Thomson scattering [Levitt et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 15 (2024)], placing a lower bound on ion temperature, which is also independently inferred from impurity radiation spectra to be greater than 2.5 keV. Simultaneous Thomson electron density measurements result in pinch pressure profiles [Goyon et al., in review 2024] in agreement with predictions by analytical and computational models [Meier et al., Phys. Plasmas 28, 9 (2021)]. These devices produce DD neutron yields that scale strongly with plasma current (Yn~I^11) [ Levitt et al., Phys. Plasmas 30, 9 (2023)] up to 10^10, consistent with adiabatic scaling of a SFS Z pinch [Shumlak, J. Appl. Phys. 127, 20 (2020)], and with 2D MHD modeling results. Measurements of neutron spatial isotropy place stringent limits on the possible contribution of beam-target fusion events and suggest that roughly 90% of the observed yield originates from thermalized deuterium plasma. These recent advances in performance constitute a factor of 10^5 improvement in fusion yield since 2021.

If Zap Energy reaches scientific breakeven I would assume that they would announce it like NIF did with a press conference, press release and a paper. Fusion like any other energy source will be expensive to develop at scale, so if they reach scientific breakeven I would assume the investment sum would be much larger than what they have received so far.

With the additional funding that Zap Energy has it makes sense for them to go for parallel development of the different technological challenges that they have to move faster forward.

https://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DPP24/Session/NI03.5

[Giorgio]

With the additional funding that Zap Energy has it makes sense for them to go for parallel development of the different technological challenges that they have to move faster forward.

Indeed, I would really love to know what were the details that convinced the Saudis to invest so heavily into them.

Anyhow, with that amount of funding they can explore several different roads in parallel and this for sure is the real good news.

[Carl White]

https://www.zapenergy.com/news/zap-ener ... 0m-funding.

The news has been deleted.
Now there is just a generic announcement in the news section about the Saudi fund investment in ZAP, but no more mentions of the amount.

Here's a copy of the press release:

September 12, 2024(sic)

Zap Energy unveils fusion power plant tech, attracts $130M funding

Century, a test platform for key fusion energy enabling technologies, and $130 million in fresh capital advance Zap’s unique compact fusion systems.

Century is Zap Energy's first fully-integrated demonstration of three major plant-relevant technologies operating at up to 100 kilowatts of input power.

Zap Energy has begun operations of Century, its new first-of-a-kind test platform, and closed $130 million of additional capital, marking major steps towards a commercial fusion power plant.

Zap’s distinct, compact approach to fusion benefits from faster iteration cycles and less capital costs than other concepts. This gives Zap the ability to develop the key enabling technologies needed to reach systemwide, wall plug net energy in parallel to plasma physics R&D. These enabling technologies include repetitive pulsed power, flowing liquid metal walls, and durable electrodes.

Century is the first fully-integrated demonstration of these fusion power plant-relevant technologies, including one of the largest tests of a plasma-facing liquid metal blanket to date.

The fresh capital raised in this Series D round will support the company’s ambitions to scale its plasma performance beyond scientific net energy gain, known in fusion as Q>1, while simultaneously maturing the technologies needed for commercialization.

“The race for fusion commercialization has historically been thought of as a triathlon: science, then engineering, then commercialization,” says Zap CEO Benj Conway. “But at Zap, we’re attempting to swim, cycle and run at the same time – such a parallel approach is key to delivering commercial fusion on a timescale that matters. Century is a vital part of the engineering leg.”

Zap VP of Systems Engineering Matthew C. Thompson explains the motivations for building Century.

Z-pinch fusion from lab to grid

Zap Energy’s fusion approach, known as a sheared-flow-stabilized Z pinch, avoids large superconducting magnets and powerful lasers, and is far smaller than conventional systems.

To generate net energy from fusion, regardless of the type of device, the plasmas inside must satisfy fusion’s triple product: they must be hot enough, and dense enough, for long enough. With a track record of rapid progress in plasma physics using two workhorse fusion devices, and recent results reinforcing the viability of the path ahead, Zap has begun work engineering new devices to face greater extremes and harness fusion’s energy output.

“From its inception, Zap Energy’s founders had an idea of how a power plant based on our Z-pinch configuration would work,” says Zap Vice President of Systems Engineering Matthew C. Thompson. “Our job is to develop and validate those plans by actually building, testing and maturing key technologies. Century is our next major step in that effort.

Century's goal is to integrate and test three major aspects of Zap’s power design: repetitive pulsed power supplies, plasma-facing circulating liquid metal walls, and technology for mitigating electrode damage.

About Century

Century is the world’s first 100-kilowatt-scale repetitive Z-pinch system. Its goal is to integrate and test three major aspects of Zap’s power design: repetitive pulsed power supplies, plasma-facing circulating liquid metal walls, and technology for mitigating electrode damage.

Century is designed to simulate plant-like operation by:

Firing high-voltage pulses of power every ten seconds in a steady sequence for more than two hours (>1,000 pulses at 0.1 Hz).
Circulating 70 kilograms of hot liquid bismuth in its initial configuration and well over a ton in its final configuration. A heat exchanger will convert the heated metal to steam.
Testing critical strategies for mitigating electrode damage due to extreme heat and neutron flux.
“Zap’s fusion approach is pulsed, so ultimately it will run like an internal combustion engine with cylinders firing all day long to produce steady energy output,” explains Thompson. “As you do that you also generate large neutron flux and heat loads in the system over time, which is exactly the energy output that you want, but requires unique engineering solutions. Century will test a lot of our assumptions and define the best path toward our first plant.”

Century’s structure is the first to take Zap’s sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch chamber design and orient it vertically. Pulsed power is injected through the top of the device while liquid metals circulate in a receptacle at the base. Independent test stands built over the past two years at Zap validated previous generations of each of Century’s subsystems.

Century’s structure is the first to take Zap’s sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch chamber design and orient it vertically. This allows liquid metal to circulate out the bottom of the chamber.

The first test of plasmas and flowing liquid metal occurred on June 13. The platform then reached a major milestone on June 21, firing a steady sequence of 1,080 plasmas over the course of two and a half hours, one every 10 seconds.

Tests are ongoing as the platform ramps to 100 kilowatts of average input power. For comparison, the 100 kilowatts that drives Century is roughly equal to taking the average power draw of 75 U.S. homes and concentrating it into a chamber the size of a hot water heater.

Century, with a central stack about the size of a double-decker bus, is close to the eventual size of a single Zap Energy module that will produce 50 megawatts of electricity. Future power plants will have multiple modules.

Zap’s power module designs have a circulating liquid metal wall to absorb heat and neutrons from the fusion plasmas. This video shows the small-scale version that was first tested in 2023 (left) and has been integrated with Z-pinch plasmas in Century. On the right is the conceptual model of a Zap power module based on flowing liquid metal walls.

New funding drives next generation platforms

Zap’s $130 million Series D was led by Soros Fund Management LLC, with participation by new investors that include BAM Elevate, Emerson Collective, Mizuho Financial Group, and Xplor Ventures. Current investors participating in the new round include Addition, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, Lowercarbon Capital, and Shell Ventures.

Due to the innately lower capital costs of Zap’s systems, the new funding will be used to continue parallel development of both plasma R&D and system-level plant engineering and integration, including the next generation in the company’s FuZE device series and a cutting-edge pulsed power capacitor bank.

Century will simulate power-plant-like conditions to validate Zap’s engineering designs.

About Zap Energy

Zap Energy is building a low-cost, compact and scalable fusion energy platform that confines and compresses plasma without the need for expensive and complex magnetic coils. Zap’s sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch technology provides compelling fusion economics and requires orders of magnitude less capital than conventional approaches. Zap Energy has 150 employees in Seattle and San Diego and is backed by leading financial and strategic investors.

Some related images:

https://imgur.com/a/zap-energy-century- ... rm-kGTaxRY

[Giorgio]

Here's a copy of the press release:

Thank you for the press release and the pictures, very much appreciated.

I am quite impressed of how much the new experimental set up has been optimized and streamlined in respect to the one they was using 2 year ago.
Crossing fingers for Zap team,they might indeed be at a turning point.

[Skipjack]

Yeah, Zap is my second front runner after Helion. I love their design. Let's hope that the new funding really is an indicator that Fuze-Q performed at least close to expectations.

[Enginerd]

Neutron isotropy measurements validate sheared-flow-stabilized Z pinches for stable thermal fusion
https://phys.org/news/2025-02-neutron-i ... table.html

A new Zap research paper, published in Nuclear Fusion, details neutron isotropy measurements from the FuZE device that provide the best validation yet that Zap's sheared-flow-stabilized Z pinches generate stable, thermal fusion. It's a benchmark milestone for scaling fusion to higher energy yields in Zap's technology and giving confidence in reaching higher performance on the FuZE-Q device.

"Essentially, this measurement indicates that the plasma is in a thermodynamic equilibrium," says Uri Shumlak, Zap's Chief Scientist and Co-Founder. "That means we can double the size of the plasma and expect the same sort of equilibrium to exist."

To test the neutron isotropy in FuZE, Zap scientists and engineers ran a series of tests using neutron detectors placed around the device. Measuring 433 plasma shots generated with the same machine settings, the neutrons were found to be almost totally isotropic.