Status of Fast Marx Energy Storage Development

Summary form only given. Design studies have been completed to investigate the impact of improvements in fast energy storage systems on the designs of: larger future simulators, simulator upgrades of operational machines, and for very compact, smaller simulators. The fast energy storage system that is under development is a fast Marx generator (FMG) with (LC)^1/2 = 300 ns. This new fast Marx energy storage system uses newly developed, low-inductance rail switches and low-inductance capacitors. These components are configured in a low-inductance FMG stage and then stacked in series to form a unit for the voltage required and a number of units in parallel for the required system inductance and stored energy. This new FMG technology will provide the capability to build X-ray machines in a significantly more compact configuration. The new FMG technology minimizes or eliminates the need for storing the energy in a large water transfer capacitor. A four-stage fast Marx prototype has been demonstrated with a total of 60 kJ energy stored and an output voltage of 680 kV. We will report the progress on the maintainable six-stage fast Marx.