Pulsed power

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 within electrostatic fields (capacitors), magnetic fields (inductors), as mechanical energy (using large flywheels connected to special-purpose high-current alternators), or as chemical energy (high-current lead-acid batteries, or explosives). By releasing the stored energy over a very short interval (a process that is called energy compression), a huge amount of peak power can be delivered to a load. For example, if one joule of energy is stored within a capacitor and then evenly released to a load over one second, the average power delivered to the load would only be 1 watt. However, if all of the stored energy were released within one microsecond, the average power over one second would still be one watt, but the instantaneous peak power would be one megawatt, a million times greater.

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.

Usage

Railgun is one of the example usage of pulsed power and it is still at research stage due to its complexity.

See also

• Crossatron – Type of gas-filled tube used as a pulsed modulator device
• Dipole magnet – Simplest type of magnet "kicker"
• Electromagnetic forming
• Electromagnetic pulse – Burst of electromagnetic energy (EMP)
• Explosively pumped flux compression generator – Non-nuclear device that creates an electromagnetic pulse
• Ignitron – type of gas-filled tube used as a controlled rectifierPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
• Linear transformer driver – connection of switches and capacitors designed to deliver rapid high power pulsesPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
• Magnetic pulse welding – metal welding processPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
• Particle accelerator – Research apparatus for particle physics
• Power (physics) – Amount of energy transferred or converted per unit time
• Pulse-forming network
• Thyratron – Gas-filled tube, electrical switch, rectifier
• Triggered spark gap – Two conducting electrodes separated in order to allow an electric spark to pass betweenPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Z Pulsed Power Facility – World's largest pulsed power facility, "Z machine"

Manufacturers

• ABB Pulsed Power Manufacturer of semiconductor-based replacements for thyratrons