Very high-voltage, ultra-high power density, rotating electrical machines as compact pulsed power supplies

This paper presents several novel concepts for compact, high-voltage, pulsed power supplies for near-term and future military systems, as well as for commercial applications. The choice for electrical rotating converters arises from the gap of several orders in magnitude between the levels of energy density stored kinetically and the energy density stored in magnetic, or at even lower levels, in the electric field. Such compact power supplies represent, by their designs, hybrid systems comprising two or three stages in which the voltage is amplified. In general, the first stage is a modified compulsator providing the given energy per pulse at high current and a medium voltage. The second stage represents a very high voltage capacitor as a component of a resonant system, delivering an output at a 200 kV to over 800 kV level. Cascaded transformers with different insulation connections and resonance transformers provide the means of achievement for the second stage. Even inside the compulsator, there are two stages cascade-connected, leading to high voltages. The first one is magnetically independent (decoupled) from the second one and, being short-circuited, produces an extremely high magneto-motive force which can induce often a rotation by 180degrees, a very large voltage in the second winding. Practical data and comparative results are given and a comparison with the state-of-the-art machine shows that the presented designs are very advantageous and will represent a fundamental advancement in the power supplies technology.