The abstract is a bit of a spoiler..
Author: David Kirtley Helion’s Trenta prototype compressed Field Reversed Configuration (FRC) plasmas to thermonuclear fusion conditions, reaching 9 keV plasma temperatures [1]. FRC plasmas are fundamentally high-beta and if heated through pulsed, adiabatic compression, they operate in a unique collisionality regime that supports both thermonuclear fusion conditions as well as maintains an ion to electron temperature ratio. In the presented work, a theoretical analysis of FRC compression to generator-relevant fusion conditions is derived from fundamental scaling laws. This work includes independent ion and electron heating [2], radiation losses [3], empirical particle transport scaling [4], fusion reaction rates, ion temperature distribution evolution, and D, T, and He-3 fuels. As will be shown, for all operating conditions above 20 keV, a high-beta D-He-3 FRC outperforms a low-Beta D-T plasma in terms of electrical and fusion power output.