Power Supply for Plasma Heating--Diversified Technologies, Inc., 35 Wiggins Avenue, Bedford, MA 01730-2314; 781-275-9444
Dr. Marcel P. J. Gaudreau, Principal Investigator
Mr. Michael Kempkes, Business Official
DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-99ER82777
Amount: $749,699

Future high power physics experiments will require an order of magnitude increase in power delivery over present systems. The cost and inefficiency of conventional power supplies is a significant issue in both the deployment and operation of future systems in the 10 MW – 200 MW average power range. Improved power supply designs that are cost effective and efficient are critical to the technical and economic feasibility of fusion research. This project will leverage high voltage, solid state switching technology to design and build prototype high frequency (5 – 20 kHz), high voltage, multi-megawatt DC power supplies with significant improvements in life cycle cost over conventional 60 Hz power supplies. Phase I designed and built several 4 MW buck regulator power supplies. A power control system was designed using switching buck regulators and solid state series protection switches (crowbar replacements). The reliability, efficiency, and cost of manufacturing were assessed for this system. In Phase II, a single string of the power control system, consisting of one buck regulator and two series klystron protection switches, will be built. The system will be installed at an operational fusion experiment, and its performance will be evaluated.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: In a 200 MW system, each percentage increase in power supply efficiency saves approximately $1M/year in electricity costs alone. This savings, and expected manufacturing cost reduction, should significantly reduce the cost of future high energy fusion systems and programs. Commercial applications of this technology include large ion implantation systems and pulsed electric field food sterilization.