Speaker
Description
A classical insulation problem occurring in many pulsed power and high voltage
applications is to feed high-voltage-carrying conductors through a conductive wall
at low (or even ground) potential. An ongoing development for a kicker
application utilizes a pulse forming line (PFL) with a charging voltage of up to
80kV. Since both cable ends must be connected within two oil tanks, customized
high voltage feedthroughs are required.
Due to impedance requirements, a special coaxial cable (CPP20) had been chosen
for this application. In order to generate an output pulse of about 7kA, the PFL
will be switched by a thyratron into a matched load. For insulation reasons, both
the thyratron and load will be situated within grounded oil tanks.
A special high voltage coaxial feedthrough has been developed to feed the inner
conductor of the CPP20 PFL into the oil tanks. The feedthrough is designed to
either be fully immersed in oil or to tolerate a certain air distance to the oil level
in the event of a vertical installation. Due to mechanical constraints, this
feedthrough must be as short as possible.
Several high voltage DC and pulse tests have been performed to find a
compromise between dimension constraints and insulation capabilities, in order
to assess the design. This poster will outline the results of this study, and give
details about the optimum design developed to achieve best performance.
