HB11—Understanding Hydrogen-Boron Fusion as a New Clean Energy Source

Abstract

HB11 Energy’s mission is to realize large-scale electricity generation from the fusion of hydrogen with boron-11 (the HB11, or “proton-boron”, reaction) without the environmental problems normally associated with nuclear energy. A non-thermal approach is taken in the initiation of the reaction using high-peak-power lasers, which was the pursuit of HB11 Energy founder Prof. Heinrich Hora’s career as a theoretical physicist. In the 1980s, the invention of Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA) of laser pulses by Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou (Nobel Prize 2018) enabled the possibility of experimentally validating the earlier theoretical predictions. Several experimental demonstrations of the HB11 reaction using CPA lasers inspired the establishment of HB11 Energy and with it, the possibility of realizing an aneutronic nuclear energy source with easily accessible and safe fuel resources that could last thousands of years. Like all quests for fusion energy, there are significant scientific challenges remaining. HB11 Energy Holdings Pty Ltd, an Australian company, was established as the best vehicle to co-ordinate a global collaborative research effort to address these challenges and build capacity to host large-scale public private partnerships, such as those now recommended by the US National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) (US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in Bringing Fusion to the U.S. Grid,: National Academies Press, Washington, D.C, 2021). If net-energy-gain can be achieved through HB11 Energy’s concepts, there are many engineering benefits over traditional DT fusion that will see a dramatically simpler and safer reactor being produced. A technoeconomic assessment of such a reactor is also discussed which presents many engineering challenges that will need to be met before commercial HB11 fusion can be deployed on a large-scale.

Alpha heating and avalanche effect simulations for low density proton-boron fusion plasma

“…Two different theoretical schemes for fusion with solid state p-11 B medium density are proposed in the international literature. The first concerns the scheme of HB11 Energy [49] and the second, a hybrid-like configuration [13,54]. In the two aforementioned schemes, the high density plasma expands very fast in a few tens of ps and the manifestation of the effects presented in this work, especially the chain reactions alpha heating effect and the related avalanche effect occur in relatively longer time intervals.…”

Borane (B m H n ), Hydrogen rich, Proton Boron fusion fuel materials for high yield laser-driven Alpha sources

“…The laser irradiates say the Ammonia Borane, BNH 6 , solid-pellet-target (section 4) or, high repetition rate laser irradiates molten-droplets/jets (section 5.1) or powder-coated-tape target (section 5.2). The in-target accelerated Protons collide with the Nitrogen nuclei to form the 11 C radionuclide: 14 N (p, α) 11 C [6]. The in-target, P-B fusion generated Alpha particles could also collide with the Nitrogen nuclei to form the 18 F radionuclide through the rreaction 14 N (α, γ) 18 F.…”

“…There is great interest in generating energy from nuclear fusion reactions of Proton-Boron nuclei by heating the fuel to high temperatures [7][8][9][10][11][12][13].…”

“…Shorter lived [hundreds of minutes or less] isotopes could be manufactured inside a laser-driven Alpha Source hospital facility and delivered promptly to the patient. Another key application, Nuclear Fusion Energy generation [7][8][9][10][11][12][13] from Proton-Boron Fusion reactions would be extremely beneficial because: the P-B reaction fusion energy is emitted as kinetic energy of charged (Alpha) particles which could be converted to electricity by applying Electric or Magnetic field; the P-B fusion reaction produces very low radioactivity due to absence of primary neutron generation (aneutronic reaction).…”

Proton spectroscopy for 11B(p,α)2α fusion reaction with RCF films: calibration and unfolding procedure

“…Moreover, its only output is given by alpha particle radiation. These features make the p- 11 B reaction appealing for possible future fuels for nuclear fusion reactors as the recent interest of private companies also demonstrates [4,5].…”