COMSOL, a global leader in modeling and simulation software, announced that engineers at General Fusion have used the COMSOL Multiphysics® software to design and optimize a large-scale fusion demonstration machine called Lawson Machine 26 (LM26), which it has successfully begun operating. LM26 will be used to de-risk General Fusion's eventual commercial Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) machine, which works by compressing a magnetized plasma with a liquid metal liner to achieve the high temperatures and pressures needed for fusion. With MTF technology, General Fusion aims to bring fusion power to the commercial power grid by the early to mid 2030s. MTF power plants have the potential to produce significant amounts of energy with comparatively inexpensive technology and without releasing carbon emissions.
General Fusion's partnership with Veryst Engineering, a COMSOL Certified Consultant specializing in highly nonlinear simulation and material modeling, was essential in the development of LM26. Sean Teller, a principal engineer at Veryst, worked alongside Jean-Sebastien Dick, an engineering analysis manager at General Fusion, to develop material models that enabled the team to accurately simulate the response of the machine's lithium liner. This information was critical for accurate predictive modeling of the LM26 liner trajectories, which enabled General Fusion to create and assemble LM26.
As Teller explained, "We used COMSOL Multiphysics simulation with integrated experimental plans and validation to enable the team at General Fusion to quickly iterate on designs of LM26. The predictive models are critical for achieving fusion conditions on the road to viable and abundant clean fusion power."
Different LM26 designs were able to be analyzed simultaneously in the COMSOL® software. During the validation campaign of the models, 40 lithium liners were compressed electromagnetically. The team conducted physical experiments using a small-scale prototype of the compression system.
Modeling and simulation enabled General Fusion to adjust the impedance of the power supply, see how design alterations would impact the performance, and maximize the compression efficiency.
"The framework of COMSOL has allowed us to incrementally build in complexity, build confidence in our design intentions, and avoid having to reiterate the design phases," Dick said. "We have not had to change any major parts of these experiments. They were always behaving as intended."
General Fusion achieved a major milestone with LM26 in April, successfully compressing a large-scale magnetized plasma with lithium. The full, integrated system and diagnostics operated as designed, and early review of data indicates positive results.
