Long-Term Test of a Triggered Marx-Generator in Repetitive Operation

For the industrial-scale electroporation of sugar beets the use of a set of synchronized, hence triggered, Marx-generators promises an energy-efficient processing. Such generators need to operate during a seasonal campaign of 100 days without interruption. In order to obtain some experience in the possible problems of the design, a long- term test is performed. The following issues are considered to be critical: the wear of the spark gaps, the jitter of the switching time (important for the synchronization), and the durability of the over-voltage trigger circuit directly switched into the charging current´s path. The paper deals with some aspects of the test.