Hyperion Heating Systems
External heating raises the plasma to fusion temperatures and, with current drive, sustains it beyond the inductive phase.
Getting the plasma hot
Ohmic heating from the plasma current alone cannot reach fusion temperatures; the plasma becomes a better conductor as it heats, so resistive heating fades. Hyperion therefore relies on external heating systems to drive the plasma to the tens of millions of kelvin where deuterium-tritium fusion runs, and to help sustain it.
Heating methods
- Neutral-beam injection fires fast neutral atoms that penetrate the magnetic field, ionize, and deposit their energy in the core.
- Radio-frequency heating couples electromagnetic waves tuned to particle resonances into the plasma.
- Both methods also drive plasma current non-inductively, extending the pulse past the solenoid's flux limit.
Heating and gain
The fusion gain Q of 3.424 is the ratio of fusion power produced, 88.7 MW, to the external heating power put in. Heating power is therefore not just a means to an end but part of the gain figure itself: the less input needed to sustain a given fusion output, the higher Q. This coupling is why heating efficiency matters as much as heating capacity.
In the model
Heating systems are shown as the beam lines and RF launchers entering through the vessel ports. Selecting a heating port highlights its line of sight into the plasma and its penetration through the shield and blanket, which is a real design constraint: every port is a gap in the breeding coverage.
Working with current drive
The same systems that heat also sustain current. See current drive and the vessel ports the beams pass through.