A three-stage inductive voltage adder for industrial applications

We report on an Inductive Voltage Adder (IVA) [1] development designated for industrial applications like electroporation, environmental applications, etc. The IVA described [2]-[4] is a three-stage demonstrator which shows the feasibility of using conventional high power IGBT semiconductor switch modules instead of spark gaps or arrays of low-power IGBTs. The pulse generator described produces pulses with peak voltages and currents of up to 12kV and 6kA, respectively, at a pulse duration of typically 1μs FWHM (full width at half maximum). The IVA is tested in single pulse mode and at low repetition rates due to load and power supply constrictions. Each IVA stage is designed as a radial transmission line fed by several parallel pulse modules (“bricks”) which contain the electrical components, like capacitors, inductors, and switches. The combined power of an individual stage is added to the preceding stages in a section called “transformer”. The transformer matches the electric and magnetic fields and is realized as a combination of radial and coaxial transmission lines. Each stage of the IVA is matched to the next stage and is connected in series with a coaxial transmission line. The mechanical dimensions of the three-stage IVA demonstrator are: outer diameter 820 mm, outer diameter of the coaxial transmission line 210 mm, height of the IVA 352 mm. The I VA geometry, in particular the most critical parts radial transmission line and transformer section, is simulated by a transient electromagnetic field solver to analyze the reflections and transmission coefficients of the device.