Fabrication and Testing of a 600-kJ Pulsed Power System

A 600-kJ pulsed power system (PPS) was built for various applications. The PPS consists of six 100-kJ unit modules. A single unit module is composed of a capacitor, a thyristor switch stack, a crowbar diode stack, and a pulse forming inductor. The module was designed to be operational for a maximum charging voltage of 10 kV and a peak current up to 75 kA. Each module can be triggered and controlled independently by a control computer via fiber optic communication. The six modules are combined into one frame and are charged to the same voltage by one capacitor charger. The design, fabrication and test results of the unit modules, and the 600 kJ PPS are presented in this paper.