Magnetic quenched gaps

To: "'Tesla List'" <tesla-at-poodle.pupman-dot-com>
Subject: Magnetic quenched gaps
From: Tesla List <tesla-at-stic-dot-net>
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 18:17:03 -0500
Approved: tesla-at-stic-dot-net


From: 	randy-at-gte-dot-net[SMTP:randy-at-gte-dot-net]
Sent: 	Tuesday, September 23, 1997 9:17 PM
To: 	Tesla List
Subject: 	Re: Magnetic quenched gaps

Tesla List wrote:
> 
> From:   Greg Leyh[SMTP:lod-at-pacbell-dot-net]
> Sent:   Monday, September 22, 1997 5:35 PM
> To:     Tesla List
> Subject:        Re: FW: Magnetic quenched gaps
> 
> David Huffman wrote:
> 
> > I have a question/problem with magnetic quenching. I can see how the
> > magnetic field can divert the arc in the gap and will cause it to
> > extinguish sooner then it would without the magnet. During the time
> > when the energy is mostly in the secondary (notch) and the gap is
> > filled with ions with relatively little movement, the magnetic field
> > applies very little force (F = qvB) on the stuff you want to remove
> > from the gap. It would seem that an air blast would work as good or
> > better since to be effective the field needs to be very large.
> 
> The air blast definitely needs to be supersonic, if it is to displace
> the entire gap volume in the 10's of microseconds allotted.
> But such a blast is a double-edged sword, as it will drastically affect
> the high current period of the arc, which should not be disturbed.
> I suppose it's a matter of whether the gap needs so much help quenching
> that it's worth it to reduce the gap performance somewhat.
> 
> -GL


Hmmm.."what if"  a synchroized motor driving a piston compressor?
I guess the inertial lag of the air column would prevent it
accellerating supersonic......or would the motor need to be
extremely large to stay synchronous with such a load? Just food for
thought.
Randy