[[File:U.S._Department_of_Energy_-_Science_-_119_001_007_(10190811655).jpg | thumb | 220x124px | right | alt=SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORY'S Z ACCELERATOR, A PULSED POWER FACILITY IN OPERATION. |
A time-exposure photograph of electrical flash-over arcs produced over the surface of the water in the accelerator tank as a byproducts of Z operation. These flash-overs are much like strokes of lightning. The Z pulsed power accelerator at Sandia, which began operating in September 1996, is the world's most powerful and efficient laboratory
X-ray source. It is a modified version of the PBFA II accelerator which was used until 1996 for light ion fusion research.]]
Pulsed power is the science and technology of accumulating
energy over a relatively long period of time and releasing it instantly, thus increasing the instantaneous power. They can be used in some applications such as
food processing,
water treatment, weapons, and medical applications.
Overview
Energy is typically stored as electric potential energy within
, or in the case of explosive pulsed power, as chemical energy. The stored energy is released over a very short time scale resulting in a large amount of power being delivered to a load which can be used to study high energy density physics phenomena such as inertial confinement fusion using a
Z-pinch, and plasma physics or to create electromagnetic radiation.
Some electrically driven pulsed power accelerators make use of pulse-forming lines to compress the current pulse before reaching the load, as is often the case when are used as the prime power source. Other circuit architectures such as linear transformer drivers or impedance-matched Marx generators typically do not require any pulse compression.
Maximum power records
Single pulse energies as high as 100 MJ, power as high as a "few hundred terawatts" with voltages between 10 kV and 50 MV, and currents between 1 kA and 10 MA, have been achieved at least as of 2006.
[ "Pulsed Power Systems" Bluhm, Hansjoachim, 2006]
Usage
Railgun is one of the example usage of pulsed power and it is still at research stage due to its complexity.
See also
-
"kicker"
-
(EMP)
-
; "Z machine"
Manufacturers
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ABB Pulsed Power – Manufacturer of semiconductor-based replacements for thyratrons
