Design and testing of a rotary arc gap switch for pulsed power

One of the key issues in the pulsed power generation and application is the switch technology. The switches are divided into two categories of the opening and the closing switch. The lack of good repetitive opening switches has inhibited the use of inductive energy storage system despite its high energy density. Being contrasted with the opening switches, the closing switches are relatively simple and can be readily available with capacitive energy storage system. The most popular closing-switches up-to date are spark-gap switches. Theses switches have very limited lifetime due to arc-corrosion resulting from pinch effect and localized arc-heating. To extend the switch lifetime by minimizing electrode-vaporization, rotary arc gap-switches are proposed in the literatures. The rotation of the arc can be achieved by providing rotating magnetic field from outside or by self-induced magnetic field. This study investigates a rotating arc gap (RAG) switch driven by the self-induced magnetic field. The physical dimensions, rotating arc-speed, arc voltage-drop, and its experimental set-up are described in detail.