Applications of Pulsed Power Technology
摘要
The major applications of pulsed power technology have been discussed in this chapter. Among the various applications, nuclear fusion is the primary focus of this chapter due to the extremely high magnitude of energy required to achieve conditions favorable for fusion reaction to occur. The power converters used in magnetic and inertial confinement fusion reactors employ a combination of high-power semiconductors and traditional pulsed power switches to achieve optimum performance. The significance of pulsed power technology in military defense applications is discussed using the example of railgun, which uses electromagnetic propulsion to accelerate a projectile to hypersonic velocity without using conventional chemical propellant, thereby providing high-speed, long-range, and high-precision strike capability. Industrial applications like rock fracturing, particulate matter control and exhaust gas treatment, wastewater treatment, and material processing using pulsed power have been discussed in this chapter. This chapter also provides an overview of pulsed electric field that can either be used to inactivate microbes for food preservation or to breach tumor cells via electroporation. In the concluding sections of this chapter, agricultural and biological applications of pulsed power like food preservation and cancer therapy, respectively, have been discussed briefly.