Research on Applications of TVS and Thyristor in a Pulsed Power Supply System used for EMG

A compact pulsed power supply (PPS) system is important for the electromagnetic gun (EMG) system, which should supply high energy and large current. The paper presents the setup of compact PPS system based on high energy density capacitors. The PPS system includes ten 50 kJ modules, which can be triggered in sequence. Each module is composed of a capacitor (1000 μF/10 kV), a pulse shaping inductor (20 μH), a crowbar diodes with a crowbar resistor(30mΩ), as well as a main switch which can be a triggered vacuum switch (TVS) or thyristors. The peak value of the output current of each module is 70 kA. Characteristics of the TVS and thyristors are comparatively studied to determine their influence on the output current and energy. The requirements for the diode-stacks of the crowbar are fast-recovery, high voltage withstanding. A proper protection measure is used in order to protect the crowbar diodes from the damage of over-voltage when switch is fired. In the end, the overall discharge currents of the PPS triggered in sequence are presented.