The use of high-voltage pulsed electric fields in biotechnology and medicine has lead to new methods of cancer treatment, gene therapy, drug delivery, and non-thermal inactivation of microorganisms. Regardless of the application, the objective is to open pores in the cell membrane and hence either facilitate the delivery of foreign materials inside the cell or to kill the cell completely. Pulsed power supplies are needed for electroporation, which is the process of applying pulsed electric fields to biological cells to induce a temporary permeability in the cell membrane. The applications of pulsed electric fields are dependent on the output pulse shape and pulse parameters, both of which can be affected by the circuit parameters of the pulsed power supply and the conductivity of the media being treated. <br /><br /> In this research, two Metal Oxide Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET)-based pulsed power supplies that are used for electroporation experiments were designed and built. The first used up to three MOSFETs in parallel to deliver high voltage pulses to highly conductive loads. To produce pulses with higher voltages, a second pulsed power supply using two MOSFETs connected in series was designed and built. The parallel and series MOSFET-based pulsed power supplies are capable of producing controllable square pulses with widths of a few hundred nanoseconds to dc and amplitudes up to 1500 V and 3000 V, respectively. The load in this study is a 1-mm electroporation cuvette filled with a buffer solution that is varied in conductivity from 0. 7 mS/m to 1000 mS/m. The results indicate that by controlling the circuit parameters such as the number of parallel MOSFETs, gate resistance, energy storage capacitance, and the parameters of the MOSFET driver gating pulses, the output pulse parameters can be made almost independent of the load conductivity. <br /><br /> Using the pulsed power supplies designed in this work, an investigation into electroporation-mediated delivery of a plasmid DNA molecule into the pathogenic bacterium <em>E. coli</em> O157:H7, was conducted. It was concluded that increasing the electric field strength and pulse amplitude resulted in an increase in the number of transformants. However, increasing the number of pulses had the effect of reducing the number of transformants. In all of the experiments the number of cells that were inactivated by the exposure to the pulsed electric field was measured.

Pulsed electric field (PEF) processing has been demonstrated to be an effective non-thermal pasteurization method for food-treatment applications. With this method, high voltage, short-duration pulses are applied to a chamber through which liquid food is passed. If the voltage applied and the corresponding electric field develops a potential higher than a critical trans-membrane potential, the pores expand, and the membrane of the living cell is ruptured. Due to the lower amount of energy consumed during a PEF process, the temperature of the liquid is kept much lower than as opposed to conventional pasteurization. The PEF method thus kills bacteria and other microorganisms while preserving the nutrition and taste of the liquid foods. Although the parameter responsible for inactivation is the voltage applied, for any given voltage, the conductivity of the liquid defines a current through the liquid that causes the temperature to rise. Therefore, preventing excessive heating of the liquid requires the application of an efficient waveform. According to the literature, the most efficient waveform is a square wave since the entire energy applied would be used for the inactivation process. Although some power supplies are capable of generating such a waveform, the generation of an efficient waveform that satisfies all the requirements for producing a viable product for PEF applications is still a challenging problem. In this research, a cascadable pulse generator, based on a Marx generator design, was designed and implemented in order to generate a pulsed waveform for the treatment of liquid food. IGBT switches were used to charge capacitors in parallel and to discharge them in series as a means of generating a high voltage at the output. The design was implemented and tested for two stages, generating up to 6 kV and 1.6 kA square pulses with a controllable pulse width from 1 µs to 10 µs. Up to 3 switches were connected in parallel to enhance the current capability of the system. Also investigated are ways to improve the transient time by enhancing the IGBT driver circuit. The effect of design parameters such as pulse width, voltage, and current on the temperature rise in the liquid was also studied. A variety of liquid foods with different conductivities were tested in order to confirm the functionality of the system.

Fusion neutrons from high energy density plasmas generated by pulsed laser irradiation of nanoscale atomic clusters have been explored in recent experiments at the University of Texas at Austin. A sufficiently strong (~200 T) magnetic field is expected to produce a magnetized, high temperature (10 keV) plasma with beta [approximately equal to] 1. Such a field along the laser axis may confine the plasma’s radial expansion, thus increasing fusion yield. As part of a multi-stage project to implement this experiment, a scaled (~40 T, ~500 KA) version of the final 200 T, 2.2 MA pulsed power device has been designed and built by Sandia National Laboratories and is now at UT-Austin. This apparatus, named MegaGauss, is meant to serve as a preparation tool for the 200 T system; as such, its current pulse was recorded for analysis, and is compared to a theoretical model to verify its response parameters (e.g. peak current, time to peak). Techniques and results of this comparison are discussed, followed by explanations of basic construction of the 40 T device and current sensing instrumentation. Discussion of MegaGauss is completed with a survey of notable failure modes, and a description of the often severe effects the miniature field-generating Helmholtz coil experiences due to the current pulse and magnetic field. Finally, a novel data archive scheme, structured around the familiar MDSplus archive system, is implemented in Labview and integrated into the main pulsed power control program. Specifically, methods for linking MDSplus’s robust functionality with Labview’s intuitive development environment are realized by means of a specialized software bridge between the two. These methods are used in software that allows MDSplus archives to be written and read exclusively through Labview. / text

Advantages of electrochemical wastewater treatment over conventional wastewater treatment include its smaller footprint, modularity, and ability to meet increasingly stringent government regulations. A power supply that can be packaged with an electrochemical stack could make electrochemical wastewater treatment more cost-effective and scalable. For this application, the series and series-parallel resonant converters are suitable power converter candidates. With an output current specification of 100A, the series-parallel resonant converter (SPRC) is superior due to its simpler output stage. The thesis presents the design of a 500W SPRC for a wastewater treatment cell stack. A rudimentary cell model is derived experimentally. The closed loop analysis, controller design and simulation results are presented. The output voltage and current are estimated using sensed quantities extracted from the high voltage, low current primary side. Low voltage experimental results verify the operation of the power stage and voltage estimation circuitry in open loop pulsed operation.

Advantages of electrochemical wastewater treatment over conventional wastewater treatment include its smaller footprint, modularity, and ability to meet increasingly stringent government regulations. A power supply that can be packaged with an electrochemical stack could make electrochemical wastewater treatment more cost-effective and scalable. For this application, the series and series-parallel resonant converters are suitable power converter candidates. With an output current specification of 100A, the series-parallel resonant converter (SPRC) is superior due to its simpler output stage. The thesis presents the design of a 500W SPRC for a wastewater treatment cell stack. A rudimentary cell model is derived experimentally. The closed loop analysis, controller design and simulation results are presented. The output voltage and current are estimated using sensed quantities extracted from the high voltage, low current primary side. Low voltage experimental results verify the operation of the power stage and voltage estimation circuitry in open loop pulsed operation.

Pulsed electric field (PEF) processing has been demonstrated to be an effective non-thermal pasteurization method for food-treatment applications. With this method, high voltage, short-duration pulses are applied to a chamber through which liquid food is passed. If the voltage applied and the corresponding electric field develops a potential higher than a critical trans-membrane potential, the pores expand, and the membrane of the living cell is ruptured. Due to the lower amount of energy consumed during a PEF process, the temperature of the liquid is kept much lower than as opposed to conventional pasteurization. The PEF method thus kills bacteria and other microorganisms while preserving the nutrition and taste of the liquid foods. Although the parameter responsible for inactivation is the voltage applied, for any given voltage, the conductivity of the liquid defines a current through the liquid that causes the temperature to rise. Therefore, preventing excessive heating of the liquid requires the application of an efficient waveform. According to the literature, the most efficient waveform is a square wave since the entire energy applied would be used for the inactivation process. Although some power supplies are capable of generating such a waveform, the generation of an efficient waveform that satisfies all the requirements for producing a viable product for PEF applications is still a challenging problem. In this research, a cascadable pulse generator, based on a Marx generator design, was designed and implemented in order to generate a pulsed waveform for the treatment of liquid food. IGBT switches were used to charge capacitors in parallel and to discharge them in series as a means of generating a high voltage at the output. The design was implemented and tested for two stages, generating up to 6 kV and 1.6 kA square pulses with a controllable pulse width from 1 µs to 10 µs. Up to 3 switches were connected in parallel to enhance the current capability of the system. Also investigated are ways to improve the transient time by enhancing the IGBT driver circuit. The effect of design parameters such as pulse width, voltage, and current on the temperature rise in the liquid was also studied. A variety of liquid foods with different conductivities were tested in order to confirm the functionality of the system.

Continual advancements in technology have led to the development of reliable, efficient and economical farm management systems, many of which utilize electric fences for effective control of farm animals. An electric fence system constitutes a conducting fence structure that is energized by a high voltage signal generated from an electric fence energizer. Modern electric fence energizers employ a pulsed power supply together with an appropriate high voltage charging scheme to generate high voltage pulses that energize the fence structure. The high voltage pulse delivers a non-lethal electric shock to an animal that comes into contact with the fence, and the consequent psychological impact on the animal is such that it is less likely to come into contact with the fence again. The complexity associated with modelling electric fence systems has hindered the development of proper mathematical tools that aid their design and optimization, and as a consequence, electric fence systems are currently designed using empirical rules together with a trial and error design approach. This Thesis therefore aims to fulfil this need by presenting new technologies and mathematical tools that can be used to design both intelligent and optimized electric fence systems. It presents a comprehensive study on electric fencing systems, which includes a detailed mathematical analysis on pulse propagation properties of electric fence networks and the development of high performance fence energizers that incorporates new pulses power supply technologies and high voltage charging schemes. With regard to the pulsed power technologies, two novel topologies with the ability to adapt their output pulse shape according to the fence conditions are proposed. The performance of these technologies is analyzed mathematically, and verified experimentally. In comparison to the existing fence energizer technology, energizers that are based on the proposed pulsed power supply designs are superior in performance. Furthermore, a novel Buck-Boost pushpull parallel-resonant converter technique, which is suitable for charging high voltage storage capacitors in an energizer, is also presented. The proposed technique allows for the push-pull parallel-resonant converter to operate with a frequency dependent variable voltage gain over a wide load range while maintaining zero voltage switching (ZVS). The operation of the converter is analyzed mathematically and verified experimentally to validate the proposed technique. In order to gain an insight into the propagation characteristics of electric fence networks, the Thesis presents a comprehensive mathematical model. The model uses the propagation properties of fence networks with frequency dependent distributed line parameters to obtain analytical solutions for the propagation function in the frequency-domain. As these analytical solutions are complex in nature, they are solved numerically to obtain time-domain solutions, the accuracy of which are verified through experiments and simulations. The mathematical tools and new technologies proposed in the thesis can be used to design electric fence systems that are more efficient and effective than the existing systems. In addition, the tools proposed are also expected to aid the design of electric fence based communication channels for intelligent farm management systems.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on March 18, 2008) Includes bibliographical references.

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on September 24, 2009). Thesis advisor: Dr. Scott Kovaleski. Includes bibliographical references.

Doctor of Philosophy / Railguns are highly complex multi-disciplinary engineering systems that use electricity to launch projectiles at very high speeds. This dissertation investigates new technologies, models, and theories necessary for the development of practical systems to bring the railgun out of the lab and into the field. The research focuses on improvements to the size, weight, performance, and efficiency of components of the railgun's power supply as well as improvements to its control. Extensive theories useful for the design and modeling of the system were developed with emphasis on scaling, efficiency, and physics. These technologies were experimentally demonstrated on a reduced scale railgun system.