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Publication series 2 — Energy & Product

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

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 on two postures. Conservative (unchanneled): 2,409 MW fusion yields 1.18 GW gross electric and 0.61 GW net, engineering gain Q_eng = 2.1. With the bounded proton-channeling credit: 1.34 GW gross, 0.84 GW net, Q_eng = 2.7. Every intermediate line — 312 → 183 MWe direct-converter chain, 894/410 MW bottoming split — 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 — and the floor already clears commercial thresholds.

The numbers

Net electric (conservative)0.61 GWe · Q_eng 2.1
Net electric (channeled)0.84 GWe · Q_eng 2.7
Gross electric1.18 / 1.34 GW
Fusion power basis2,409 MW (frozen 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 four-paper design series — data and code at DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21248916 (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.