Design and Optimization Procedure for High-Voltage Pulse Power Transformers

A design and optimization procedure for high-voltage pulse transformers is presented. The procedure is enhanced by the integration of core loss measurements under pulsed excitation, by electrical peak field calculations and by checking of the isolation distances, which are compared to scaled high-voltage breakdown data. The procedure is applied with specifications of the compact linear collider, and the sensitivity of system parameters such as the number of primary turns, core material, transformer oil, and high-voltage cable length is investigated by comparing their Pareto fronts. With amorphous core material, the highest efficiency is achieved. Replacing mineral oil by natural ester results in an efficiency reduction of 0.5%, and an increase in HV cable length from 1.5 to 5 m reduces the efficiency by 0.6%. Finally, the optimized transformer's pulse shape is investigated over the entire load range.