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FusionBenchmark

Direct energy conversion

Turning the energy of charged fusion products, or of an expanding magnetised plasma, straight into electricity, without first making heat and running a steam or gas turbine. It works only for energy carried by charged particles, so it suits fuels such as deuterium-helium-3 and proton-boron-11, whose main reactions release few neutrons. D-T puts about 80 per cent of its energy into neutrons, which can only be collected as heat. Helion Energy says it will recover electricity from the plasma's expansion in each pulse. The dataset holds no measurement of electricity produced this way, or any other way, by a fusion device.

Related terms

Guide: Fusion fuels, tritium and neutrons

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concept:direct-energy-conversion
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