10. Electrical breakdown: Electrical breakdown in highly pressurized water

A modular pulsed power system with a matched source impedance of five Ohms was set up to investigate the breakdown phenomena in pressurized water. The hydrostatic pressure applied to the test cell could be varied from 0.1 MPa to 10 MPa. Experiments have been carried out under well defined conditions: sample purity, applied voltage waveshape (ns-rise time, 100 ns duration), electrode conditions (stainless steel hemispheres). The development of the breakdown phase in water at different hydrostatic pressures was investigated by measuring the voltage collapse and the emitted light from the discharge with high time resolution.