Magnetic design and application in aviation lighting control systems

Two widely used constant current regulators in the aviation industry, resonant network type and saturable reactor type, are discussed in this paper. Their principles of operation are explained along with the US standard airport series lighting circuit. The analysis of the saturable reactor is presented to stress its importance in this application. The impact of the lamp transformer characteristics on the airport power system is also discussed. Oscillographs show that under various harmonic rich load conditions, the constant current regulator retains its sinusoidal output current waveform. This supplies compatible and reliable power in the airfields