September 10, 2025
| Axisymmetric, high-field, pulsed magnets form the basis of the fusion platform being developed at Helion Energy. The geometrically simple, compact, and high β (~1) Field Reversed Configuration (FRC) is an excellent target for compression with such magnetic fields. With an external field of ~ 20 T, a compressed 10 keV FRC would have a peak density of 10^23 m^-3. Extrapolating from previously derived empirical FRC confinement scaling relationships, the energy gain for this FRC with only 20 mWb of internal, poloidal flux (ϕ_p), with equimolar deuterium and tritium fueling would be Q ~ 2. Helion’s 6th Prototype, Trenta, was a double ended machine, where each end formed an FRC plasmoid and accelerated it to high velocity, while simultaneously compressing it. The two plasmoids collided and merged in a compression chamber in the center of the machine, where the kinetic energy of the FRCs was rapidly converted to ion thermal energy. The magnetic field in the compression section then ramps up to trap and adiabatically heat the newly merged FRC. In Trenta, FRCs were formed and compressed to above 9 keV plasma temperatures at peak magnetic fields of 8 T. The fusion performance demonstrated in Trenta still needs improvement for Helion’s fusion technology to be a viable source of clean energy for the grid. Helion is building an increased scale fusion prototype with the goal of demonstrating electricity from fusion. Increasing the machine scale and compression field strength imposes limitations on how quickly fields can be ramped in compression and require global stability to be optimized to improve FRC plasmoid lifetimes. The simulation work proposed herein will examine the limits of stability in acceleration and translation of FRCs to magnetosonic Mach numbers of MA ~ 0.5-2. |