Flyback resonant charger for high repetition rate pseudospark pulse generator

A compact resonant capacitor charging power supply, incorporating a flyback transformer and high power IGBT module is presented. The power supply is developed for rapidly charging a pulse forming network (PFN) which is then switched by a commercial pseudospark device. Rapid charging of the PFN enables the Pseudospark pulse generator to operate at the high repetition rate required for transient plasma ignition experiments. Based on flyback architecture, the output voltage of the charger can be controlled by adjusting the on-time of the IGBT. This eliminates the need for a precisely controlled DC power supply, reducing the size and cost significantly compared with the alternative forward resonant charging architecture. The flyback resonant power supply can charge a 21 nF PFN to 30 kV within 20 us. Operation is burst mode with maximum 100 pulses per burst at 4 kHz repetition rate