KRONOS FUSION ENERGYWHITEPAPER 15 / 40
Series B — Energy & Product

Electricity Without the Steam Detour: Multi-Modal Direct Energy Conversion

See it live in the 3D Model →

When fusion energy arrives as charged particles, you can harvest it like electricity — because it already is.

Most fusion concepts end in a boiler. MetroVolt's D-³He cycle delivers the majority of its power in charged particles and radiation, so the plant harvests through a multi-modal train: direct electrostatic conversion, radiation-to-electric surfaces, and a compact bottoming cycle.

The science

The deposited Table-22 power ledger runs the plant end-to-end. At the Mode-D operating point (exhaust-honest, f_exh = 0.18 honored by construction): 1,221 MW fusion yields 652 MW gross and 486 MW net electric, Q_eng = 3.9 — with the photon channel (876 MW of radiation at η_γ = 0.20, ≈175 MWe) as the direct train's largest working line. The Mode-C hot-ion columns (0.61 / 0.84 GWe) are retained as the labeled ceiling record. Every intermediate line is printed and reproducible.

Direct conversion of charged-particle streams at high efficiency has experimental heritage in plasma direct converters; MetroVolt's contribution is an integrated, gated design that never books credit beyond what its own exhaust-physics analysis (S51/S65) supports.

Why it matters

Skipping the full steam detour raises plant efficiency and deletes cost: less turbine hall, less cooling infrastructure, faster load response. The two-posture ledger gives buyers a floor and an upside on the same machine — with the operating floor stated first and the ceiling explicitly gated.

The numbers

Net electric (operating, exhaust-honest)486 MWe · Q_eng 3.9
Net electric (hot-ion ceiling, gated)0.61–0.84 GWe (labeled history)
Gross electric (operating)652 MWe
Fusion power basis1,221 MW (frozen Mode-D point)
LedgerTable 22, line-by-line, deposited
Straight answersThe DEC train's component efficiencies are engineering targets with cited heritage, and the channeling credit is bounded by the S72 analysis (≤30% tax redress) — the conservative posture is the baseline, not the brochure number.
Every figure in this paper traces to the openly deposited 81-simulation programme (S01–S81) behind the Kronos MetroVolt design paper — data and code at DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21746479 (CC BY 4.0). Read the series, run the code, check us.
Kronos MetroVolt is a conceptual design study. Quantitative values are simulation-derived and carry the feasibility gates stated in the series; Tier-2 flagship-code confirmations are deposited as runnable decks pending HPC execution. This document is informational and is not an offer of securities. © 2026 Kronos Fusion Energy, Los Angeles.