A 10 GW Tesla-Driven Blumlein Pulsed Power Generator

A repetitive 0.6 MV, 10 GW Tesla-driven Blumlein pulsed power generator, with an overall energy efficiency in excess of 90%, has been designed, manufactured and demonstrated by the Pulsed Power Group at Loughborough University. This paper describes the application of various numerical techniques used to design a successful generator, such as filamentary modeling and electrostatic and transient circuit analysis. All the major parameters of both the Tesla transformer and the Blumlein pulse-forming line were determined, enabling accurate modeling of the overall unit to be performed. The wide-bandwidth embedded sensors used to monitor the dynamic characteristics of the overall system are also presented. Experimental results obtained during this major experimental program are compared with theoretical predictions and the way ahead toward generating faster output voltage impulses is considered.