Electrical pulsed power generators of the 1 TW class

Abstract

This paper reviews current trends in the technological design of electrical pulsed power generators of the 1 TW class. Using published data, design criteria for SIDONIX II, OWL II, KALIF and GAMBLE IIA are compared using a lumped circuit parameter. More precise predictions of machine performance are made with the GOST transmission line code. Code results show agreement to within 15% of the published experimental parameters. Electric stress limitations to power output are assessed for 1 TW level machines using empirical formulae and a finite element solution of Laplace's equation. The analysis is then used to study economic means of increasing output power so as to provide a multimodule approach to inertial confinement fusion at the 100 TW level.

The physics of fast Z pinches

“…Generators of a similar size include Double Eagle at Physics International, Blackjack 5 at Maxwell Laboratories, and Proto I1 at Sandia National Laboratories. Worldwide, about 15 generators operating at the current level of 1-3 MA and power to the load of -1-5 TW are used in Z-pinch research (some of them are described in Camarcat et al, 1985). There are also numerous smaller generators.…”

Primarily Experimental Results for a W Wire Array Z Pinch

“…For the fiber pinches [41, whose diameter ranged typically from tens of micrometers to several hundred micrometers, the time for establishing a radial equilibrium (a few nanoseconds) was short compared to the duration National Laboratory. Worldwide, about fifteen generators operating at the current level of 1 to 3 MA and power to the load of 1 to 5 T W are used in Z-pinch research [6]. In China, the study of high power Z pinches began in 2001 and has been conducted mostly at the China Academy of Engineering Physics, the Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology and the Tsinghua university.…”