Design of Pulse Power Supply by Rotating Spark Gap for Repetitive Surge Voltage Generation

Application areas of the pulsed power supply (PPS) are growing day by day. They are used for simulating multiple lightning and switching over voltages on power system equipment, as recurring surge voltage generator for conducting life test on the insulation system of Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) inverter fed rotating machines, food sterilization, solving the ecological problems and in medical applications. Therefore, a pulsed power supply that is compact, flexible, provides high repetition rate, fast rise time, cost effective and responds to the application need is inevitable. This paper provides a description of a pulse power supply using a rotating spark gap (RSG) for repetitive surge voltage generation. The output pulse shape is affected by the impedance of the test object and voltage measuring unit. A mathematical model is developed to relate the output pulse voltage parameters with these impedances. Experimental results are presented with different wave shaping networks connected at the output of the rotating spark gap. This pulse power supply can be used as repetitive surge voltage generator in high voltage testing as well as for insulation evaluation of rotating machines driven by power electronics.