Tests of 6-MV triggered switches on APPRM at SNL

The Advanced Pulsed Power Research Module (APPRM) was constructed at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) to serve as a test bed for the development of pulsed power technologies and components that could be used in future generation high power facilities. This test bed is being used to develop, test, and certify switches for reliable 6 MV operations. Several switches have been designed and tested on APPRM. The first switch tested (in self break mode) was an evolved version of the Sandia designed HERMES III switch. It consists of a self breakdown (cascade) section where the discharge current flows in several parallel channels, and a trigger section where the current flows through a single spark channel. The second switch tested was an HCEI/Sandia Hybrid switch. The trigger section of the hybrid switch, designed at High Current Electronics Institute (HCEI) in Tomsk, Russia, includes six HCEI composite electrodes connected in parallel to a triggered gap via a 4-/spl mu/H series isolation inductor. The discharge current in the hybrid switch trigger section flows in several parallel channels eliminating the single channel flow as in the Sandia switch trigger section. The last switch tested is a HCEI switch design where the trigger and cascade sections are comprised of HCEI composite electrodes. The design of the switches and results of these tests are presented as well as the analysis and comparison of results.