Integrated Model and Digital Twin Development at Focused Energy

In the development of a commercially viable, scientifically feasible inertial fusion energy (IFE) reactor concept everything is a tradeoff: current and near-future technological capabilities, uncertainties in the science, and constraints on the final cost of electricity result in a challenging optimization problem that considers all components of a fusion power plant. Tackling this problem requires an integrated approach that properly captures all design parameters and can support design optimization studies, set R&D priorities, and ultimately act as a true digital twin of demonstration facilities. 

Focused Energy is rapidly developing an integrated simulation model that informs inertial fusion power plant (IF-PP) design and R&D efforts. The model is being used to inform the design of our conceptual reactor and to calculate the overall cost of an IF-PP. We will combine robust software, multiple levels of simulation and machine learning, multi-objective optimization, and uncertainty quantification to accelerate Focused Energy’s development of an IF- PP design.

In this talk we will describe the software considerations and initial design of the Focused Energy integrated model. We will discuss key decision points in our preconceptual IF-PP design and the numerical approach being used to inform those decisions. Finally, we will present current and future efforts in machine learning to accelerate simulations and to include the results of various high-fidelity Multiphysics simulation studies.