Design of a Dissipation Circuit for a 560 MJ Inductive Storage Supply

The authors report on the design and component testing of a dissipation circuit for a 560 MJ inductive storage supply. This storage supply is charged by a 5 MA battery power supply. This battery upgraded supply (BUS) requires energy management at either the end of a test or as a means of aborting a test in the event of a fault. Energy management is accomplished by diverting the supply current into large dump resistors capable of dissipating the inductively stored energy through resistive heating. After most of the energy has been resistively dissipated, a low residual current exists in the resistor circuit due to the applied battery voltage of the battery power supply. This current is interrupted with final interrupter switches in series with the dump resistors. Both the divert and final interrupt switches are explosive opening switches. Special design features of these components include low-cost extruded aluminium switch elements for use in both the divert and final interrupt positions that have the designed-in capability to open thermally in the event of an explosive switch failure