45 GW pulsed-power generator

Abstract

The construction of a 45 GW pulsed-power generator with an impedance of 2 Ω is presented. The generator can deliver a rectangular pulse of 300 kV with duration of 200 ns across a matched load. The generator is designed to be able to deliver a voltage of 500 kV into a 10 Ω unmatched load with an electric power of 25 GW. The primary energy storage of the generator consists of a 50 kV, 20 kJ capacitor bank. The 50 kV is discharged into a 1:12 transformer that charges a pulse-forming line to 600 kV. When charged, the pulse-forming line is discharged into the load via a spark gap. The transformer is of the type transmission-line-like where the high-voltage and low-voltage windings consists of high-voltage cables that are interleaved wounded. The pulse-forming line consists of 8x40 m long 110-kV coaxial cables, where both ends are connected to the load. Each cable is grounded at 20 m and connected in parallel. The cables have a characteristic impedance of 31 Ω and the parallel set-up makes the pulse-forming line impedance 2 Ω. The total length, height and width of the pulse generator are 4 m, 2 m and 1.2 m respectively.