Energy balance of the TW pulsed power generator KALIF-HELIA

Summary form only given. KALIF-HELIA is a TW pulsed power generator based on the high energy linear induction adder principle. At nominal conditions-i.e. 95 kV charge voltage of the Marx generator-it should produce an electrical pulse with a fwhm of 50 ns, a peak voltage and current of 6 MV and 400 kA respectively. Based, on transmission line calculations the estimated pulse energy into a 15 Ohm load is from 110 to 130 kJ, depending on the switch-out timing of the PFL water switches. The energy stored in the Marx generator charged to 95 kV is 357 kJ. For negative polarity operation the beam energy produced by an electron diode was achieved from electrical measurements and from calorimeter data. Both consistently showed beam energies of typically 60 kJ. Possible reasons for this unexpectedly low beam energy may be losses due to:- the energy transfer from the Marx generator to the intermediate stores-the switching characteristics of the gas- and/or water switches-pulse synchronization problems related to spread of the gas-and/or water switches-insulation properties of the cores of the induction cells-the magnetically insulated voltage adder and/or the vacuum transmission line In this paper the energy losses will be discussed on-basis of extensive measurements performed on KALIF-HELIA and recent results from detailed transmission line code calculations.