Helium-3 Energy Calculator
Helium-3 Energy Released and People Supported Calculator
IMPORTANT - This is the BETA release of this tool. We believe that it's producing the correct results now, but are still verifying and checking the results, and information on the page with other sources. Please compare the results with other sources and check back again in a few days to ensure higher reliability of the results (we will also modify or remove this message). If you notice any issues with the results, or have any questions, or suggestions about the tool, please contact us.
Use the tool below to calculate the energy released in a Helium-3 fusion reaction for a specific mass of Helium-3,
and how many people could be
supported for 1 year with that amount of fuel, assuming a specific efficiency.
Note: You may want to scale down the final result (such as total energy, or number of people), for a more realistic results, e.g. at 50 % efficiency, half the energy would be availble and therefore half of the people, would be supported as with a 100 % efficient system with no energy losses.
Energy Released in the Fusion Reaction
| Fusion Reaction | Energy released per atom |
|---|---|
| Helium-3 - Deuterium Reaction | 18.35 MeV |
| Helium-3 - Helium-3 Reaction | 6.43 MeV |
Read more about the derivation of these values.
Calculation Results
Total Energy released for 1000000 g, 1000 kg, 1 tons Helium-3 Fuel (100 % Efficiency):5.86823360559085E+17 Joules, 586823360559.086 MJ, 586823360.559 GJ
163006489044190 Watt Hours, 163006489.044 Megawatt Hours (MWh), 163006.489 Gigawatt Hours (GWh), 163.006 Terawatt Hours (TWh)
Energy used (or required) by 1 person per Year: 12.71 Megawatt Hours per year
People supported per year with this amount of Helium-3 as Energy:
12825058.1 People for a Year (12.8 Million People for a Year)
of Helium-3 Fuel (100% Efficiency):
18.35 MeV per atom
2.93999412339E-12 Joules per atom
1769876462280.78 Joules per mol
586823360559.085 Joules per g
586823360559086 Joules per kg
Energy Used in the Fusion Reaction Explained
Helium-3 - Deuterium Reaction
1 atom Helium-3 fused with 1 atom Deuterium provides 18.35 MeV of energy.
i.e. 18.35 MeV of energy per 1 atom of Helium-3 used in the Helium-3 - Deuterium reaction.
Helium-3 - Helium-3 Reaction
1 atom Helium-3 fused with 1 atom Helium-3 provides 12.86 MeV of energy.
i.e. 12.86 MeV of energy per 2 atoms of Helium-3 in the reaction.
therefore, 12.86 / 2 MeV of energy per 1 atom of Helium-3 used in the reaction.
i.e. 6.43 MeV of energy per 1 atom of Helium-3 used in the Helium-3 - Helium-3 reaction.
So use 6.43 MeV for energy calculations for the Helium-3 - Helium-3 reaction.
Note the cleaner Helium-3 - Helium-3 reaction, requires a higher temperature, but creates no radioactive by-products.
According to
Wikipedia,
the average person in United States uses 12.71 megawatt hours (MWh) per year (which is the default setting for this tool).
More about Helium-3, Fusion Reactions and Reactors
Scientists believe that there is abundant Helium-3 on the Moon that can be mined, and brought back to Earth.
Currently Fusion reactors that can work with Helium-3 are still being developed and have not yet reached a
net positive output, but they may become more efficient in the coming years.
Many fusion nuclear reactions, use radioactive elements and create a neutron in the nuclear reaction which
can create much radioactive by-products
and radiocative waste.
In the conventional Tritium - Deuterium reaction for example Tritium is radioactive and produces energetic neutrons
which render reactor components radioactive (by means of activation products).
The main Helium-3 - Deuterium fusion reaction as well as the Helium-3 - Helium-3 fusion reactions
instead produce a proton in the main reaction,
and both Helium-3 and Deuterium are not radioactive.
The positive charge of the released proton also allows it to be contained more easily.
In the Helium-3 - Deuterium reaction, some radioactive material is produced in the process with the reaction (as it is believed
the Deuterium can also fuse with itself to produce neutrons).
The Helium-3 - Helium-3 fusion reaction is thought to be the cleanest of all,
not releasing any radioactive by-products in the reaction, but it requires even more energy than the Helium-3 - Deuterium reaction.
Example
Example 1
Calculate the energy that could be created with 250g of Helium-3 in a Helium-3 - Helium-3 reaction assuming 100 % efficiency.
Using the tool with the following inputs:
1. 250 grams Helium-3
2. 6.43 (MeV) for the energy per reaction.
3. 100 for the efficiency.
4. 12.71 (megawatt hours) for the energy used per person.
Results: 250g of Helium-3 produces 51681.679 GJ of energy, which is 14.356 gigawatt Hours (GWh), which can support 1129.5 people for a year.
Example 2
Calculate the energy that could be created with 250g of Helium-3 in a Helium-3 - Helium-3 reaction assuming 10 % efficiency.
Using the tool with the following inputs:
1. 250 grams Helium-3
2. 6.43 (MeV) for the energy per reaction.
3. 10 for the efficiency.
4. 12.71 (megawatt hours) for the energy used per person.
Results: 250g of Helium-3 produces 5168.16 GJ of energy, which is 1.436 gigawatt Hours (GWh), which can support 113 people for a year.
Disclaimer
DISCLAIMER: No warranty is given about the accuracy of these results, or the accuracy of the information on this page, use this information at your own risk.