Modifications of the Kirkcudbright capacitor bank system for ETC operations

The 29-module, 32 MJ capacitor bank at the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) Electromagnetic Launch Facility, in Kirkcudbright, Scotland, has been modified to enhance its capabilities in driving electrothermal (ET) and electrothermal chemical (ETC) gun loads. The primary changes are: (i) installation of equipment allowing capacitor banks to be connected in series pairs, for higher-voltage operation; (ii) removable inserts for the module pulse-shaping inductors, to reduce inductance by approximately a factor of two for some of the modules; (ii) removable links connecting capacitors to the buswork in several of the capacitor bank modules, allowing reduction in module capacitance to as low as 1/2 of normal; and (iv) a set of high-energy inductors and associated buswork to allow insertion of a range of additional inductances in series with some modules. The modifications will allow a wide range of pulse shapes and durations to be delivered to ETC gun loads. This paper summarizes each of the modifications to the bank, and describes the performance of the system.