Built for the fusion fuel cycle.
A fusion power plant must continuously recover, purify and recycle its tritium fuel. The technologies of Greenway Energy (GWE) address two of the hardest steps: hydrogen isotope separation and water detritiation.
Where GWE fits
Select a highlighted step to see where GWE fits.
The fuel cycle, step by step
- Fusion core: the plasma burns deuterium and tritium.
- Plasma exhaust processing: unburned fuel is recovered from the exhaust.
- Isotope separation (GWE TCAP Systems): the hydrogen isotopes are separated and purified.
- Fuel storage, then fueling: the purified fuel is stored and returned to the fusion core.
- Breeding blanket and tritium extraction: new tritium is bred in the blanket, extracted, and sent to isotope separation.
- Tritiated water from plant systems goes to water detritiation (GWE). Recovered hydrogen isotopes go to isotope separation, and detritiated water leaves the process.
A patent-pending electrochemical approach to recovering tritium from water.
Why it matters
Tritium is scarce, so a fusion plant has to recycle it. The fuel cycle recovers unburned fuel from the plasma exhaust and extracts newly bred tritium from the blanket, and returns both to the plasma.
Tritium inventories and emissions must stay as small as possible. Every step that handles tritium adds inventory and a place where it can escape, so each step needs to be compact, tightly controlled and efficient.
That is where GWE works. Compact, proven isotope separation and efficient water processing can reduce plant size and cost.