Tony:

EFS considers lithium-proton fusion to be a hot nuclear reaction. What temperatures will the reactors reach and how is that contained in a moveable or portable device and how are they cooled?

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Ryan:

The EFS fusion process is cyclical, from fusion to fizzle, a hundred times a second or more. Our temperature is around 10,000 Kelvin and the density is a liquid metal >1 gram / cc. The confinement is in a stainless-steel pressure vessel at 5-50 bar depending on the reaction rate goals.

 

There is no need for cooling at our current understanding and scale. The lithium ammonia noble gas “Rydberg matter” fuel is a refrigerant of sorts and the devices run cool and do not need external cooling loops. However, we did include cooling loops in our pending patents and its possible that in a massively large implementation it may require cooling.

 

Tony:

With those temperatures and reactive lithium fuel, should the public be concerned about powering their car, a neighborhood substation or a company’s power plant?

 

Ryan:

Great question first let's think about the volume of lithium we are talking about. In the case of a car power plant the amount of lithium is that of a few Lithium AA batteries. Today’s electric cars have ~0.17kg/kWh of lithium so the whole car might have 10-20 kg of lithium depending on battery size. As for a larger electrical substation; a 5-10 MW fusion transformer might contain an electric car battery pack worth of lithium.  Overall, if the EFS fusion fuel is spilled on the ground, you just pour water on it, and it neutralizes the fuel. Far-far less dangerous than hydrocarbons. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tony:

Speaking of powering cars, what will an EFS fusion 5 to 10 kilowatt module cost to power my house or car.

 

Ryan:

This gets to the very heart of all fusion efforts the economics. There are two parts the capital cost $/kW and operating cost of life cycle operating costs (LCOE) which includes maintenance, end of life recycling etc.  As for the car question it is complicated, however the simple answer is 10 kilowatts for $8K and the car goes a million miles without re-charge. Yet, a licensee like a big car company may choose to implement a smaller reactor, or drive it harder, or take less profits to gain market share.  Every customer and energy application has different pain points and business objectives.

 

Tony:

What is the service life of the EFS lithium-proton reactor?

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Ryan:

The service life is a function of how much fuel you put in the reactor and how fast or hard you push the reactor. The service life can be extended by having an external fuel tank or making a larger reactor core. Designs could be a small reactor for 1000 megawatt hours, or a 55-gallon drum sized reactor core that supports 4,000 gigawatt-hours.  There is some flexibility in how hard you drive the control power electronics to support the loads. The service life target would be 10 years from a product design viewpoint, but each application would likely have a preferred service target.

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Tony:

What are the benefits of producing fusion reactors in an OEM facility rather than building on-site reactors?

 

​Ryan:

Factory manufacturing can leverage automation and standardized manufacturing techniques. The key benefit is that manufacturing costs can be lowered and production capacity increased. Millions of units can be made rather than just a few billion-dollar traditional heat producing power plants.

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Tony:

Could the reactors be manufactured on an assembly line?

 

Ryan:

Yes, we are planning on it. There are more parts in a washing machine than one of our EFS reactors, and we think a washing machine is a more challenging manufacturing process.

 

Tony:

Our you currently working toward a trained work force?

 

​Ryan:

The skill sets to install, support, replace and manufacture EFS fusion systems products are straightforward, virtually any electrician could install and support a typical product. However, specialized OEM licensed products will likely require enhanced skills and procedures, swapping out a reactor cartridge core on an airplane engine will be different, than an electrical transformer or home power unit.

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​Tony:

EFS has mentioned, to move forward they the need to work with partners around the world. Who are you currently partnering with and why?

 

Ryan:

We have had preliminary discussions with electrical substation and transformer manufacturers. However, to take the next step we need to hand them detailed design rules and literally sample lab scale plasma fusion transformers to properly have their engineering and management teams fund internal developments and move forward to a robust engineering and product development cycle. 

 

Tony:

What industrial expertise will EFS utilize to get lithium-proton fusion commercialized?

 

Ryan:

In the immediate term the industrial expertise is mostly centered around electrical and mechanical engineering. Specifically, analog switching power supply designs, confinement vessels, product management and safety and regulatory procedures.

 

Since our general business strategy is to license our intellectual property and technology design rules to strategic partners, it will be their industrial expertise that will be used to commercialize the technology. The challenges of the transportation sectors for cars to airplane engines are highly specialized where historical reputations, expertise and relationships matter to customers.

 

Tony:

What markets will support commercialization of lithium-proton fusion?

 

Ryan:

The markets for EFS’s fusion reactors are massive and virtually, unknowable given the scalability, portability, and energy density of the technology. When you can generate electricity directly, it can replace virtually everything, solar, wind, batteries, and hydrocarbons.

 

Tony:

Major governments are supporting fusion energy development for commercialization.  Public / Private partnerships are becoming prevalent. What public and private investment support EFS’s developments?

 

Ryan:

Honestly, we are not sure there will be any until after we have proven the technology with a dramatic power and breakeven event and including replications. Existing government programs, typically have a minimum investment of $5 million with complicated administration and our capital needs are more modest. There are risks around intellectual property and trade secret rights. We have looked at ARPA-e/DOE solicitations and programs and have found them to be a difficult path to funding and can be oversubscribed.  

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Tony:

Most base-load energy produces power by creating steam to spin turbines for electricity. The EFS reactor is designed to use inductive coupling to directly produce electricity. How does EFS envision marketing direct portable power?

 

Ryan:

Our business model is to license the technology and design rules to a variety of strategic partners that can leverage their companies, sales teams, reputation, and expertise in specific markets. So, a company like GE or Generac, might be logical, or electric cars that can plug in and power houses, or utilities that upgrade their transformers to deliver power at substations rather than from coal, gas, or nuclear power plants.

 

Tony:

What are the first markets EFS is targeting?

 

Ryan:

Since our first prototypes are in the 5-25 kilowatt range those applications that require that level of power will be first. However, strategically, we think that the electrical substation is the right scale to deliver power to customers with a moderate amount of disruption to existing utility and electric delivery systems.

 

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Tony

Let’s end the interview with, why did you choose lithium-proton nuclear fusion technology?

 

Ryan:

I don’t’ think that we really “choose” lithium proton aneutronic fusion so as much as it was an artifact of what the team had been studying for 30 years. Aneutronic is certainly very advantageous from a radiation viewpoint and allows for multiple advantages over conventional fusion approaches. The biggest one for EFS technology and ultimately the world is lowering the price of electricity by a factor of 10 to 100, would be both distributed and scalable.

 

​FENi:

Electric Fusion Systems like most of fusion development companies has been working toward solidifying their technology over decades. Ryan S. Wood and his team at EFS have built, tested prototypes and performed plasma physics simulation to reactor parameters. EFS is continuing in this mode, working to the goal of commercially viable fusion energy, direct electric power reactors producing clean, green, safe abundant and highly affordable power for our future.

 

You can find more about Electric Fusion Systems, aneutronic light element electric fusion and their plasma physics test simulations on their website at: www.electricfusionsystems.com

 

Again, we would like to thank Ryan Wood and his team for all their efforts and we look forward to reporting on Electric Fusion Systems’ progress and success in providing the world with light element, direct electricity fusion power.