General Fusion in the news

[mvanwink5]

They haven’t started compressing the plasmas yet, just injecting them into the LM-26 chamber. FYI, LM-26 has a lithium shell which will collapse by using massive current flow to the external coils. The spheromack topology FRC plasma is supposed to adiabatically collapse (GM has proven in tests), thus creating the high pressure & temperature needed for fusion.

[crowberry]

They haven’t started compressing the plasmas yet, just injecting them into the LM-26 chamber. FYI, LM-26 has a lithium shell which will collapse by using massive current flow to the external coils. The spheromack topology FRC plasma is supposed to adiabatically collapse (GM has proven in tests), thus creating the high pressure & temperature needed for fusion.

A spheromak and a FRC have different magnetic configurations in that the FRC has no toroidal field, while the spheromak has an internal toroidal field going to zero at the surface. A spherical tokamak has a nonzero toroidal field on the surface.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spheromak

When General Fusion started they planned to compress spheromaks, but the performance was not good enough so they changed to using spherical tokamaks. I'm not quite sure what kind of plasmoids General Fusion will compress with LM26, but it would be natural to assume that they will use spherical tokamaks as they will use those in the future devices.

[mvanwink5]

Thanks for the specifics on the plasma. GM did a lot of testing to find the right geometry for the plasma. Creating the right plasma dynamic shape in their injector that enables the plasma to retain geometry during adiabatic compression is a feat. Amazing work.

[baking]

Thanks for the specifics on the plasma. GM did a lot of testing to find the right geometry for the plasma. Creating the right plasma dynamic shape in their injector that enables the plasma to retain geometry during adiabatic compression is a feat. Amazing work.

Who is GM?

[mvanwink5]

LOL! Yes, typo, should be ‘GF', General Fusion.

[crowberry]

GF has a nice summary of their latest achievements now that they will try to start compressing plasmas with LM26: All systems go! LM26 ready to compress plasmas, https://generalfusion.com/post/all-syst ... s-plasmas/.

[Skipjack]

Looking forward to see their results!

[crowberry]

General Fusion has good and bad news. The good news is that the first LM26 plasma compression shot went OK.

On April 29th, we achieved a transformative milestone at our Vancouver, B.C., headquarters in Canada—we successfully compressed a large-scale magnetized plasma with lithium using our world-first LM26 fusion demonstration machine. The full, integrated system and diagnostics operated safely and as designed, and an early review of the data indicates we saw ion temperature and density increase, and our lithium liner successfully trapped the magnetic field.

The bad news is that General Fusion has a funding problem. I really do hope that they can sort out the funding shortage and continue with full speed to develop their technology further.

While this is a challenging time for General Fusion, it is also an attractive opportunity for those with the financial means to transform the world. Everything is in place—the technology, science, LM26, and the know-how and passion. All we need now is the capital to finish the job. We are opening our doors and actively seeking strategic options with investors, buyers, governments, and others who share our vision.

https://generalfusion.com/post/open-let ... rossroads/

[Carl White]

Announcing to the world that they are in need of financial support unfortunately seems like desperation. The sort of thing one does after having approached many sources of VC unsuccessfully.