A solid state modulator using energy recovery to delivery 20 kVA to an inductive load from a 2.5 kJ/s power source

A modulator using an energy recovery scheme has been developed which is capable of delivering 20 kW to an inductive load from a 2.5 kJ/s power supply. The modulator delivers peak current pulses of 390 A to 27 μH load at a repetition rate of 10 kHz with a current regulation of 0.1%. The modulator uses arrays of MOSFETs as the switching elements and a Maxwell capacitor charging power supply, model CCDS-2.502. The modulator can be conveniently reconfigured to vary the load current and energy/pulse delivered to the load. For applications requiring peak output currents greater than ≈400 A, the modulator efficiency will decrease. As a result, the maximum power which can be delivered to the load will be limited by the capacitor charging power supply. The efficiency of the modulator can be tailored to the specific application requirements by properly choosing the number of MOSFETs which comprise the FET arrays and paying close attention to the high-frequency characteristics of the energy storage capacitor