Heavy current impulse discharge in plasma generators

Abstract

V.N.Zhuravlev,V.A.Kolikov,A.I.Kulishevich,F.G.Rutberg Leningrad, USSR This paper presents the analysis of experimental investigation of helium discharge at maximum current in impulse 1, = 250 kA and current duration r= 250 /Us. The gas initial pressure in a discharge chamber is changed from 100 atm up to 3 250 atm. The chamber volume is 70 cm . Burning up of charge is performed by using a copper wire. The measured time dependences of current in a discharge circuit, voltage across discharge and pressure in a chamber prove high effectiveness of these discharges. The part of electric energy expended on increasing the gas internal energy reaches the values about 0.8, and the pressure in a discharge chamber is as 3 high as 4.10 atm. Helium initial pressure increasing leads to further enhancing the discharge effectiveness. This paper gives the estimations of plasma parameters in a discharge. The mechanism of heat exahange between the arc and the ambient gas is discussed. The relationship between % and the ratio of gas initial density and the average current during the discharge process is presented for impulae electric-arc preheater with 3 the active volume of 1000 cm .