Original poster: Jim Lux <jimlux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
At 03:06 PM 3/24/2007, you wrote:
Original poster: "Jared Dwarshuis" <jdwarshuis@xxxxxxxxx>
Original poster: Jim Lux <<mailto:jimlux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>jimlux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Indeed. The Marx blast gap has been used at tens of kW in both
pressure and vacuum implementations. It's all a matter of airflow
and electrode design.
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Hi Jim:
I did say "sucker gap", did I not?
Yep.. and Marx gaps have been implemented with the pressure
differential created on the suction side. All that matters is
highspeed gas flow through the electrodes. Not how I'd do it myself,
but that doesn't mean that someone hasn't successfully done it in
the past. I would imagine that just about every kind of spark gap
one can imagine has been tried over the past 100 years or so. For
all I know, the high power suction gap was used to get around a
patent for a high powered pressurized gap.
I've also seen them implemented with the plasma pulled through the
center of the electrode and those with the plasma blown out through
an annular gap. The former is easy with a suction source, the
latter easier with pressure.
One I built used a vacuum cleaner to provide the suction in a
triggered gap along the Marx design. Granted, the motor died fairly
quickly, and it was noisy as all get out (not only was there gap
noise, but the scream of the vacuum cleaner motor contributed it's
share). A nice quiet air compressor a long way away with a big
receiver was a much more pleasant experience.
Closed systems, or open systems with gas bottles are not very
practical, and really have nothing to do with "sucker" gaps!
No gas bottles required.. just a good blower, pump, or compressor,
and that's just a matter of mechanical stuff. It's remarkably easy
to get sonic flow with 30 psi pressure differential (look up a
handbook for "choked flow through an orifice"). Heck, an ordinary
air nozzle on shop air will sometimes show Mach diamonds, especially
if the air is humid and there's no drier in the compressed air system.