A corona stabilized, high PRF closing switch

Conference · Tue Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1996

OSTI ID:449492

MacGregor, S J; Turnbull, S M; Tuema, F A ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Strathclyde, Glasgow (United Kingdom). Dept. of Electronic and Electrical Engineering

This paper explains how the phenomenon of corona stabilization can be applied to high voltage, high PRF switching. A sealed corona stabilized spark gap has been operated at voltages of up to 50 kV, currents of up to 2 kA, and pulse repetition frequencies (PRFs) of up to 1 kHz and up to 5 kHz in burst mode. The effect of the corona is to stabilize the conditions in the switch at short times after breakdown and to create a suitable period for the reapplied voltage to reach the previous level before breakdown occurs. The switch therefore exhibits a much faster voltage recovery time compared to a more conventional uniform field spark gap and can therefore operate at high PRFs.

• OSTI ID: 449492
• Report Number(s): CONF-960634--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
CORONA DISCHARGES
DESIGN
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
PLASMA SWITCHES
SPARK GAPS
STABILIZATION