Experimental Study of a 2.3-MV Field-Distortion Oil Switch

A 2.3-MV field-distortion oil switch was built and experimentally studied. Based on the JianGuang-I facility in China, an experimental stand was established for tests of the switch. Both static and dynamic performances of the switch were studied in detail. Experiment results show that the switch works well at approximately 2.3 MV with a 350-ns rise time. Field-distortion mechanisms worked well. In addition, the requirements of the trigger-voltage peak were not as rigorous as anticipated. With trigger voltages higher than 75 kV, the switch worked well with no problems. As the trigger voltage increased, the switch-breakdown delay and its jitters decreased rapidly. With a 250-kV trigger voltage, the breakdown delay of the switch was approximately 132 ns. Its jitter (the standard deviation) was as low as 4.4 ns. Finally, electrode erosions of the switch are also presented and analyzed.