First Light Fusion is a laboratory based in Oxford, UK that aims to create clean energy using fusion technology. They have just installed the U.K.’s biggest ‘Two-Stage Hyper-Velocity Gas Gun’ in their effort to develop a simpler, faster, and cheaper route to commercial fusion energy. The laboratory’s new seventy-two feet one and a half million dollar hyper velocity gas gun can fire a projectile at seven and a half miles per second or twenty times the speed of sound. Six and a half pounds of gunpowder are required to fire the gun.
First light has successfully fired first test shots. Experimental fusion shots are scheduled to start in June. The new gun will complement First Lights electromagnetic propulsion device ‘Machine 3’ to advance its projectile fusion technology.
The gas gun operates by converting the energy released from an ignited propellant into the compression of a light gas such as hydrogen. This process creates gas pressures about ten thousand times sea level atmospheric pressure which then launches the projectile.
When the gun is fired, it will launch a projectile into a vacuum chamber with enormous speed which then impacts a fusion target. The target is the centerpiece of First Light’s unique technology. That impact should create the conditions required for fusion.
These ‘hyper velocity’ devices are typically utilized by astrophysicists to simulate meteorite impacts in space. A similar gun was used to test the panels on the International Space Station to ensure that it could withstand impacts from small object traveling at huge speeds.
The gun will be used in parallel with First Light’s ‘Machine 3’. This will allow the engineers to explore a different parameter space by launching larger but ‘slower’ projectiles. It will be housed in a specifically constructed four-inch steel clad facility inside First Light’s headquarters in Oxford, referred to as ‘The Citadel’.
Dr. Nick Hawker is the CEO of First Light Fusion. He said, “This new gun is an important piece of kit for First Light Fusion and will help us accelerate our development timeline. It will complement the work we are doing with our unique electromagnetic launch pulsed power machine, Machine 3.”
“Our fusion technology is driven by the impact of a projectile travelling at significant speed into a fusion target. These targets trade pressure and size, amplifying the pressure from initial impact to final collapse of the fuel capsule, which is a small part of the whole target.”
“This new gun will deliver lower pressure than Machine 3, so we will have to rely on designs that amplify more. The larger size means we can do this and still get good performance.”
“With both facilities together, we can make more than twice as much progress on the most important aspect of our technology, which is the target. Thank you to everyone for their efforts in bringing this project together so quickly, it has been a fantastic team effort once again.”
The two-stage gas gun project took only ten months from concept design to the delivery of a fully operation test facility. First Light has remarked that this shows the great focus and effectiveness of their team.