Novel multiple-switch Blumlein generator

The Blumlein generator has been one of the most popular pulsed-power circuits. The pulse forming lines are charged simultaneously, and then discharged via a single switch, such as a spark gap. The generator can be used for single pulse or at a high repletion rate. However, for large pulsed power generation, one critical issue for such a single-switch based circuit topology is related to large switching currents. In this article, we propose a novel Blumlein circuit topology based on multiple switches. The pulsed forming lines are charged in parallel and then are synchronously commutated via multiple switches. No special synchronization trigger circuit is needed for the proposed circuit topology; this robust circuit topology is simple and very reliable. A prototype multiple-switch Blumlein generator with two spark-gap switches has been experimentally evaluated with both resistive and corona plasma loads. In terms of the switching currents, it is observed that the two switches can be synchronized within 2–3 ns. The energy conversion efficiencies are 82% and 76.8% for a matched resistive load and a plasma reactor, respectively.