Low pressure switch progress report

Technical Report · Mon Nov 17 04:00:00 EST 1980

OSTI ID:6919013

Lauer, E J; Birx, D L; Masamitsu, J A; Melendez, R E; Smith, I D; Yu, S S

A low pressure switch is being testing with applied E-field approximately ten times larger than previously used. The switch is connected to a 5.4 ohm transmission line, and charge voltages up to 150 kV have been tried. Self-breakdown critical conditions have been measured and pd (Paschen) scaling is found to hold as predicted by a numerical model. The time dependent current is measured following triggering and the current initially increases exponentially with time with the rate constant varying linearly with gas pressure and increasing with increasing molecular mass. Good agreement is obtained with a one-dimensional time dependent numerical model for space charge limited electron flow enhanced by positive ions arising from gas ionization. For a Blumlein with a 49 ns idealized pulse length, the rate of rise of current is acceptable up to charge voltages of 50 or 100 kV and is inadequate for larger voltages. The time jitter is good and preliminary tests indicate that the voltage holding recovery time is short (100 ..mu..s). Modifications are suggested that may improve the performance.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Livermore (USA). Lawrence Livermore National Lab.
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 6919013
• Report Number(s): UCID-18848
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

200301* -- Power Transmission & Distribution-- AC Systems
EHV & UHV-- (-1989)
24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
AC SYSTEMS
ARGON
BREAKDOWN
DATA
DESIGN
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLUIDS
GASES
HVAC SYSTEMS
HYDROGEN
INFORMATION
NONMETALS
NUMERICAL DATA
PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE TESTING
POWER SYSTEMS
POWER TRANSMISSION LINES
PRESSURE DEPENDENCE
RARE GASES
SWITCHES
TEST FACILITIES
TESTING