Better Spark Gaps

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "S & J Young by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <youngs-at-konnections-dot-net>

Coilers,

Great improvements have been made in most TC components in the last decade.
But it seems our spark gaps are still the weak link.  Seems like there ought
to be ways to improve them so not so much power is wasted in them.  One
interesting paper, "Investigation of Spark Gaps Subjected to Altitude and
Air-Velocity Conditions, written in 1948, is available at this website:
http://naca.larc.nasa.gov/reports/1948/naca-rm-e8i17/
Spark gaps were tested to see how to maximize the energy in a gap for better
ignition of jet engines.  Their conclusion is that energy and average power
increased with pressure, velocity and electrode spacing, and that electrode
diameter and air temperature had negligible effect.

How do many of us improve gap quenching?  Blasts of air or high speed RSGs,
equating to high air velocities, longer spark paths and thus increased power
wasted in the gap.  Triggered spark gaps are a good innovation to get rid of
dangerous RSGs, but the gap is even longer and air blasts are usually needed
to quench them.  So they are even less efficient.

>From time to time ideas are brought up on this list:  magnetic quenching,
use of Hydrogen atmospheres, etc., but none seem to have caught on like
MMCs, for example.  80 years ago, some advocated massive parallel machined
surfaces for better heat dissapation, quenching and efficiency.  Terry has
the ultimate solution - a solid state switch instead of a spark gap.  But
some of won't live long enough for them to be affordable.  And some prefer
to putter with noisy, bright more visceral devices anyway.

So isn't it about time to tackle the spark gap and improve its efficiency?
Surely there must be some on the list who can figure out how to switch 10 KW
so that more of the energy makes it into our end product - long, beautiful,
amazing streamers!

Ideas anyone?
--Steve Young