Medium Voltage Power Supply with Enhanced Ignition Characteristics for Plasma Torches

This paper investigates a power supply of medium voltage with enhanced ignition characteristics for plasma torches. A series resonant half-bridge topology is presented as a suitable ignition circuitry. The ignition circuitry is integrated into the main power conversion system of a multi-phase staggered three-level dc-dc converter with a diode front-end rectifier. A plasma torch rated at 3MW, 2kA and having a physical size of 1 m is selected to be the high enthalpy source for a waste disposal system. The steady-state and transient operations of a plasma torch are simulated. The parameters of a Cassie-Mary arc model are calculated based on 3D magneto-hydrodynamic simulations. The circuit simulation waveform shows that the ripple of the arc current can be maintained within +/-10% of its rated value under the presence of a load disturbance. This power conversion configuration provides a high enough ignition voltage, around 5KA, during the ignition phase and high arc stability under the existence of arc disturbance noise resulting in a high-performance plasma torch system.