Zap Energy

Zap Energy is an American privately held company that aims to commercialize fusion power through use of a sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch.

[1] The firm aims to scale their technology to maintain plasma stability at increasingly higher energy levels, with the goal of achieving scientific breakeven and eventual commercial profitability.

Zap Energy formed following the positive initial results achieved by an experimental device named Fusion Z-pinch Experiment (FuZE) as part of the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) ALPHA program.

[7][8] Zap Energy's technical origins rely on the work of Dr. Uri Shumlak at the University of Washington, starting in 1995.

[6] The university built three experimental machines to test the flowing pinch: The Shumlak lab developed custom tools to measure their plasmas.

[22] In May 2021, Zap closed $27.5 million in Series B funding including from Addition, Energy Impact Partners, Chevron Technology Ventures, and Lowercarbon Capital.

[30][31] In June 2023, Zap Energy secured significant new repetitive pulsed power manufacturing capabilities by acquiring the liquidated assets of ICAR.

[32] Also in June, Zap Energy was selected as a World Economic Forum Technology Unicorn, valued at more than one billion USD.

[33] In April 2024, Zap Energy published a research paper showing that FuZE had demonstrated 1-3 keV plasma electron temperatures (11 to 37 million degrees C), the simplest, smallest, and lowest cost device to do so.

Supporting simulations suggest that to reach net power, ~650 kiloamps (kA) of current is needed through the flowing pinch.

[43] Possible solutions include materials like graphene, making machines with bigger spot sizes, active cooling, or other work-around.

Possible solutions include higher shot rates, multiple machines, and longer and wider pinch beams.

Normal pinch plasma will form instabilities such as the ones shown above, which will disrupt the plasma.
A diagram of the four-step process for pinch assembly. [ 9 ] [ 10 ] A voltage is applied to the center cathode, which is a copper tube, encased in tungsten carbide. Fusion fuel is pumped into the back of the chamber, and then ionized using Paschen breakdown . A Lorenz force sweeps the ionized plasma forward, assembling the pinch between the cathode and the wall. Current flows from the cathode along the plasma to the grounded end cap, ions move in the other direction.
An example of a flowing pinch formed on the FuZE device. Here a pinched plasma 50 cm long and 0.6 cm wide flows across an electrode gap.
An example of a flowing pinch formed on the FuZE device. Here a pinched plasma 50 cm long and 0.6 cm wide flows across an electrode gap. [ 17 ]
A computer-aided design (CAD) drawing of a sheared-flow stabilized Z pinch device
A computer-aided design (CAD) drawing of a sheared-flow stabilized Z pinch device
A model of scaling up the current inside the flowing pinch.
A model of scaling up the current inside the flowing pinch.