Title :
Development of a 150-kW, Battery Powered, Rapid Capacitor Charger for a Small Railgun in Burst Mode Operation at 3 RPS
Author :
Allen, Raymond J. ; Boyer, Craig N. ; Neri, Jesse M. ; Veracka, Mike
Author_Institution :
Plasma Phys. Div., Naval Res. Lab., Washington, DC
Abstract :
A battery powered rapid charger for the capacitor bank of a small, low velocity railgun is being developed to allow burst mode operation at 3 RPS in a compact system. Recent improvements in railgun efficiency have reduced the charge voltage requirement from 2.3 to 2.0 kV, thereby reducing the average charger power from 200 to 150 kW. The goal is to charge a 15-mF capacitor bank to 2.0 kV in 200 ms to allow countermeasure deployment in bursts of several rounds at a rate of 3 RPS (rounds per second). One module can currently produce 58 kW so three modules are required to meet the goal. Methods of increasing the module output to 75 kW so that only two modules are required are explored.
Keywords :
battery chargers; power capacitors; railguns; battery powered charger; burst mode operation; capacitance 15 mF; capacitor bank; low velocity railgun; power 150 kW; rapid capacitor charger; voltage 2.0 kV to 2.3 kV; Batteries; Capacitors; Control systems; Insulated gate bipolar transistors; Laboratories; Railguns; Rectifiers; Safety; Testing; Voltage;
Conference_Titel :
IEEE International Power Modulators and High Voltage Conference, Proceedings of the 2008
Conference_Location :
Las Vegas, NE
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-1534-2
Electronic_ISBN :
978-1-4244-1535-9
DOI :
10.1109/IPMC.2008.4743590
