FAQ & technical resources

Helion's fusion technology

Helion's fusion generator raises fusion fuel to temperatures greater than 100 million degrees Celsius and directly extracts electricity with a high-efficiency pulsed approach.

Formation

Deuterium and helium-3 fuel is heated to plasma conditions. Magnets confine the plasma in a Field Reversed Configuration (FRC).

Acceleration

Magnets accelerate two FRCs to 1 million mph from opposite ends of the generator. They collide in the center.

Compression

When the FRCs collide in the center of the system, they are further compressed by a powerful magnetic field until they reach fusion temperatures greater than 100 million degrees Celsius (9 keV).

Fusion

At this temperature, the deuterium and helium-3 ions are moving fast enough to overcome the forces that would otherwise keep them apart, and they fuse. This releases more energy than is consumed by the fusion process. As new fusion energy is created, the plasma expands.

Direct electricity recapture

As the plasma expands, it pushes back on the magnetic field from the machine's magnets. By Faraday's Law, the change in field induces current, which is directly recaptured as electricity, allowing Helion's fusion generator to skip the steam cycle.

Learn more about Helion's approach

Helion's magneto-inertial fusion technology combines aspects of magnetic and inertial confinement fusion for an ultra-efficient fusion solution. By directly capturing electricity, our approach provides a faster path to putting fusion electricity on the grid.

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