In the last fifteen years, self-healing high voltage capacitors have become standard technology for singleshot and low repetition rate (< 1 shotlminute) applications in R&D environments, such as inertial confinement fusion, electromagnetic launchers, electrochemical guns, high field magnet facilities, etc. Such capacitors offer higher energy density andor longer life and higher reliability in many applications.Standard self-healing capacitors, built with vapordeposited metallized electrodes, have limited ability to carry both peak pulse and continuous RMS (root mean square) currents, generate more heat than discrete foil capacitors. and have lower thermal conductivity for heat dissipation.For these reasons, many pulse power applications have been unable to utilize self-healing technology.For example, moderate to high repetition rate (?IO Hz), high voltage capacitors built today are generally not of the self-healing type due to the higher energy losses and poorer thermal conductivity of metallized electrode capacitors. This results in large thermal gradients and overheating.Instead, such capacitors are still manufactured using discrete foil electrodes, which provide excellent electrical and thermal conductivity.The economic and technical benefits of self-healing capacitors continue to drive research and development to expand their operational envelope. Areas of research include "hybrid" electrode systems, integrated cooling, segmented electrodes, and higher temperature dielectrics. This paper will explore the application of self-healing capacitor technologies to repetitive pulse power systems. Present status of the technology will be described and future performance improvements will be projected.
LDISCRETE FOIL ELECTRODES
A. Film Capacitor StructuresThis paper primarily focuses on wound film capacitor structures used for large energy storage, pulse discharge applications. Other manufacturing techniques, such as flat-stack or monolithic constructions generally utilize the same dielectric and electrode materials, and are therefore subject to the same capabilities and limitations.A typical extended foil capacitor dielectriclelectrode structure is shown in schematic cross-section in Figure 1. Such a stack of layers is wound onto a permanent core or removable arbor to form a capacitor winding. The foil 0-7803-7540-8/02/$17.000(LOM IEEE 634 electrodes are typically 4-12 um-thick aluminum foils. The dielectric layers are typically 5-20 um-thick Kraft cellulose paper, polypropylene, or polyester film. Termination of the foil electrodes is by soldering, "schooping" (e.g. arc spray or flame spray), or other techniques on the right and left edges of the structure.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.