Acoustic ICF Technology Overview

Controlled fusion has been pursued by scientists worldwide for over 50 years because of its potential to produce clean, inexpensive, and unlimited energy. This type of fusion energy generation requires creating and confining extremely high temperature plasmas (i.e., temperatures of the Sun). Currently, human-made fusion reactions are regularly created in linear accelerators, cyclotrons, tokamak fusion reactors and laser inertial confinement fusion (ICF) reactors. Thus far a fusion technology capable of producing more energy out than required to ignite it and one that is economically viable has proven to be an elusive goal.

When hydrogen (or deuterium, also known as heavy hydrogen) is heated to extremely high temperatures, the nuclei of the hydrogen atoms collide and some fuse together, producing helium and a large amount of energy. The reaction yields over a million times more energy than the energy required to separate the hydrogen from water. A small part of the mass is lost when the atoms combine, or fuse, to make helium, and the small loss in mass is converted into large amounts of energy. However, a cost effective fusion technology is challenging because extremely high temperatures and pressures are required for fusion to occur.

Acoustic ICF is a process where ultrasonic energy is used to create a bubble in liquid under high pressure, which then collapses violently, creating a plasma at very high temperature and pressure. Acoustic ICF is a variety of regular, “hot” fusion and, among fusion approaches, it is most closely related to laser inertial confinement fusion. In Impulse’s unique approach to fusion, however, sound waves bombard a liquid to create tiny void bubbles or cavities, inside a sphere under high static pressure. The bubbles grow and collapse violently to generate a flash of light and enormous temperatures. Acoustic ICF is unique among all fusion approaches because its intrinsic design requires considerably less input energy than laser confinement and the acoustic method completely surrounds the fusing plasma with a liquid that absorbs the heat released by the fusion reaction. For other approa

ches to fusion heat absorption has been, and remains, a major obstacle to harnessing fusion energy.

Impulse's Acoustic ICF technology is directed toward taking this process to the extreme temperatures and pressures required to promote fusion reactions. Impulse’s current experimental data and computations support the possibility of achieving the plasma temperatures capable of significant fusion yields. Based on current projections, the Impulse ICF technology is capable of creating usable energy at cost levels far lower than all known competing technologies currently available.