Graduation Semester and Year

2019

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering

Department

Electrical Engineering

First Advisor

David A Jr

Abstract

Pulsed power systems rely on the interconnection of several unique stages for successful implementation. These stages can include, but are not limited to a prime power source, power conditioning circuit, intermediate energy storage, pulsed forming network, and the load. There are many possible intermediate energy storage devices that can be considered, two of which are inductive and capacitive. There are many advantages and disadvantages that each offer. Inductive energy storage is several times more energy dense than capacitive energy storage but most of the time, an opening switch is required to transfer the energy to the load and those are difficult to implement, especially repetitively. Capacitive energy storage is more power dense and often requires a closing switch for energy transfer which are easier to implement. Though inductive energy storage is occasionally used, capacitive energy storage is typically used more often. Applications demanding voltages as high as 100 kV will often rely on film-type capacitors. In order to charge and discharge them repetitively at high frequency, they must be able to be charged and discharged at high current. High rate discharge is typically factored into the design, but repetitive high rate recharge is not. This brings into question how these types of capacitors will perform, age, and eventually fail when they are charged, discharged, recharged, and discharged again rapidly at high current. Furthermore, the impact an elevated ambient temperature has on them is also of interest. To answer these questions, a capacitive-inductive-capacitive (CLC) circuit has been assembled and commissioned. In the circuit, the first capacitive element serves as a primary storage device and the second capacitor acts as the capacitor under test. The inductive elements are used to shape the recharge pulse. The capacitor under test is discharged into a low impedance water load, rapidly recharged from the primary storage capacitor, and then discharged again. The capacitor under test is housed in a thermal chamber so the ambient temperature can be adjusted as needed. In this report, a brief introduction to capacitive energy storage, the design of the testbed, the construction of the testbed, some lessons learned, and some preliminary results will be documented.

Keywords

High voltage, High voltage capacitors

Disciplines

Electrical and Computer Engineering | Engineering

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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