A 2-Megawatt load for testing high voltage DC power supplies

A high power water-cooled resistive load, capable of dissipating 2 Megawatts at 95 kilovolts is being designed and built. The load utilizes wirewound resistor elements suspended inside insulating tubing contained within a pressure vessel which is supplied with a continuous flow of deionized water for coolant. A sub-system of the load is composed of non-inductive resistor elements in an oil tank. Power tests conducted on various resistor types indicate that dissipation levels as high as 22 times the rated dissipation in air can be achieved when the resistors are placed in a turbulent water flow of at least 15 gallons per minute. Using this data, the load was designed using 100 resistor elements in a series arrangement. A single-wall 316 stainless steel pressure vessel with flanged torispherical heads is built to contain the resistor assembly and deionized water. The resistors are suspended within G-11 tubing which span the cylindrical length of the vessel. These tubes are supported by G-10 baffles which also increase convection from the tubes by promoting turbulence within the surrounding water