Protecting a 1/8-Gigawatt Power Supply, or How Do You Make a 2000-A Fuse?

Fast Data-Acquisition System Detects Anomalous Waveforms and Shuts Down 2000-Anp Ignitrons Before They Can Melt. Principle Applicable to Many Other Systems Where Failures Must be Anticipated.

A new data-acquisition technique provides rapid acquisition, real-time threshold detection, and fast, multi-option response, for a large number of continuously-varying parameters. The concept was first employed in a multi-channel system recently installed in the main power supply for the Bevatron, a particle accelerator at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory. Read full article