Capacitor Bank Module for a Multimegajoule Energy Storage

Laser megajoule (LMJ) is a laser facility being built by the French nuclear science directorate, Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique. This facility is a large flashlamp pumped laser (1.8-MJ optical output). The pulsed power conditioning system of LMJ is based on a modular design of 480 modules (400-MJ energy capacitor bank). A new capacitor bank module (CBM) for the LMJ power conditioning system has been developed by the Institute of High Current Electronics (IHCE, Tomsk) in collaboration with International Technologies for High Pulsed Power (France). Two such modules were produced and tested in IHCE. The main parts of the CBM are the following: high-voltage power supplies, command control system, air conditioning system, capacitor block, and cables delivering the energy to a load. The parameters of the module are the following: total rated capacitance of 2900 (+4%) muF, charging voltage up to 24 kV, peak current amplitude of 240 kA, peak stored energy up to 864 kJ, pulsewidth at 10% of peak power of 360 mus, dimensions of 2.3 times 1.5 times 2.5 m3, and weight of ~2500 kg. In nominal regime (24-kV charging voltage, 40-m length cables), the energy delivered to flashlamps in each channel is 74 kJ (86% efficiency). No failures were observed in more than 1000 test shots, and all parameters of the CBM are well within the requirements. Detailed description of the module design, performance, and test results are stated in this paper.