Recovery Characteristics of Hydrogen Spark Gap Switches
Abstract
Many applications and laboratory-scale experiments make use of gas spark-gap switches because of their high power handling capability and simplicity. A simultaneous requirement of high repetition-rate, however, has traditionally excluded their use when repetition-rates above a few hundred hertz are necessary. The use of hydrogen, as well as operating a triggered gas switch in an undervolted mode, can result in recovery times as short as 100 microsecond. As part of a program to develop high repetitionrate switches for recirculating accelerators, a series of experiments have been performed to determine the recovery characteristics of high-pressure hydrogen switches under a variety of pulse conditions. The recovery curve for hydrogen obtained at low discharge energies and small gap spacings was found to be reasonably predictive of the recovery one could expect for energies up to 12 kJ, for currents to 170 kA, for voltages to 500 kV, and for gap spacings to 3 cm. Burst-mode measurements indicate that jitter can be limited to a few nanoseconds and that multiple pulses in a burst do not significantly degrade recovery. Details of these experiments will be presented.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA638705
Entities
People
- L. W. Hardesty
- M. G. Grothaus
- S. L. Moran
Organizations
- Naval Surface Warfare Center