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Design of high voltage power converter for traveling wave tube amplifier

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Journal of Electronics (China)

Abstract

Traveling Wave Tubes (TWTs) are widely used in the radar and communications system as RF power amplifiers. A highly sophisticated power supply is required by TWT. In order to meet the severe requirements of Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier (TWTA), a novel two-stage topology high voltage converter for TWTA is proposed. The converter is based on Zero-Voltage Switching and Zero-Current Switching (ZVS/ZCS) resonant techniques. The high voltage converter operation principles are investigated and major features of the converter are discussed. The power switching mode of ZVS/ZCS is obtained. The experimental results show that the converter has good soft switching characteristics. Compared to the conventional hard switched Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) techniques, the high efficiency and low ripple of the converter for TWTA are realized. The efficiency of High Voltage Electronic Power Conditioners (HV-EPC) over 93.5% under the condition of 38∼46 V input voltage and 260∼300 W input power. The switching frequency of first-stage (preregulator) of HV-EPC is 89 kHz and the switching frequency of second-stage (postregulator) is 44.5 kHz. The highest output voltage of the HV-EPC is helix voltage which is about −6.8 kV. It is especially suitable for TWTA utilized in space satellite applications due to its high switching frequency and high power density.

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Correspondence to Yu Chen.

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Chen, Y., Wang, G. & Su, X. Design of high voltage power converter for traveling wave tube amplifier. J. Electron.(China) 31, 587–596 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11767-014-4187-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11767-014-4187-2

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