Realta Fusion announced the first ever demonstration of direct energy conversion of plasma kinetic energy into electricity by a commercial fusion energy company.
Realta successfully demonstrated the ability to draw multiple amps of current at around 100 volts and provide enough electrical power to illuminate several light bulbs.
“People have been talking a big game about DEC for years, so we just went out and did it,” said Realta CEO Kieran Furlong. “We’re the first private fusion company to achieve DEC of plasma kinetic energy into electricity on a real fusion machine.”
Realta first installed and demonstrated its direct energy converter on the Wisconsin HTS Axisymmetric Mirror (WHAM) – the experimental fusion machine it operates in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison – June 19. The converter works by slowing down charged particles at one end of the machine, which builds up an electrical potential or voltage to drive an electrical current.
“This is a first demonstration, but still a meaningful technical milestone and proof-of-concept that DEC can be done at a scale to light things up,” said Dr. Derek Sutherland, Realta’s Chief Scientific Officer. “While we’ve demonstrated DEC works on WHAM, this is not yet a demonstration of net-electricity or a large-scale conversion of fusion power directly into electricity. Those are milestones for our future fusion machines.”
The use of DEC in fusion machines is especially meaningful for increasing the efficiency of the system. For the first-generation fusion power plants Realta expects to build starting in the mid-2030s, 80% of the fusion power would come from running a traditional thermal cycle operating at up to 45% efficiency while the remaining 20% would come from DEC operating at over 90% efficiency. The boost provided by DEC would offset all the energy Realta injects into its plasma to start up and sustain fusion plasma conditions, thereby raising the energy gain and lowering the cost per kilowatt hour by at least 10-20%.
