Energy storage capacitor cell with semiconductor switches

The paper describes a capacitor cell of powerful capacitor storage intended for arc load operation. The cell with a stored energy of 64 kJ is developed on the basis of a high-voltage (18 kV) AVX capacitor (TPC, France) with a capacitance of 400 μF and provides generation of current pulses with an amplitude up to 60 kA. The discharge circuit of the cell comprises a semiconductor switch made as an assembly of connected-in-series reverse-switched dynistors (RSD), a crowbar diode switch and a replaceable toroidal inductor with an inductance of 25 μH, 40 μH or 80 μH. An assembly of protective diodes is connected in series with the RSD switch ruling out the reverse current pulses from flowing through the dynistors. All cell elements are mounted on the capacitor and occupy a space of 120 dm³. The RSD triggering circuit is described and the first results of capacitor cell tests are presented.