My QCW DRSSTC, small questions.

[Lucasww]

I've recently decided to build a QCWDRSSTC. I tested it for the first time today, and figured I should share it here with some things i've been wondering.

Specs:
UD2.9 Skip Pulse Driver
3.5 x 5 inch secondary, ~700T 34 AWG wire, 8x2 toroid, unloaded resonant freq around 300kHz
Upper pole operation around 370kHz
10nF 10kV MMC, 10 series 3 parallel B32642B0333J
Full bridge of FGH75T65SHD, Planned 150A maximum current
Async buck converter, with 2x FGH75T65SHD and 1x DSEI2X31-10B
100u buck inductor, 24u capacitance (doubles as decoupling on the bridge)

Pictures:

Inverter w/ FGH75T65SHD, capacitors and GDT


UD2.9 Skip Pulse driver (board by profdc9)


Ramp generator, using a modified version of Finn Hammer's design


Buck converter driver, using Loneoceans' design


Buck converter


And heres a ~2 foot spark, this was with basically no tuning, and a ~200v 7ms ramp


If I try to turn the voltage or pulsewidth up much further, I run out of energy in my bus caps. This makes sense, since I'm currently using 2 450v 3300u caps in series as a voltage doubler, as I live in 120v land
I have some smaller 200v 680u caps, and was wondering if theres anything wrong with using the smaller caps as a doubler, and putting the big caps in parallel on the output. Like this.


I know this will slow down the capacitor charging, but I don't plan on running more then 2 or 3 bps anyway for now, so if that's the only problem I'm okay with it.

If there as anything else I could do to improve it i'd like to hear, other than just tuning of course

[davekni]

I have some smaller 200v 680u caps, and was wondering if theres anything wrong with using the smaller caps as a doubler, and putting the big caps in parallel on the output. Like this.

That will work great.

[Lucasww]

Update, I tried it and it did work great! I now have it set up with 3x 3300u caps in parallel, and 2 680u caps for the doubler. I'm able to get close to 20ms 300v ramps before I get any voltage sagging, and make some very nice sparks.


Here's the bus cap setup on some aluminum bars.


Now, I'm gonna try and experiment with primary coils a bit. If i'm correct, Higher coupling should be better for QCW coils as long as theres no flashovers?

[All Science]

Great work on this coil! You've encouraged me to start working on my QCW again. Do you have anymore plans for this coil? Like putting it in an enclosure or squeezing a little more output from it?

[Lucasww]

Yes, I'm gonna try to do both. not sure how I'm going to do the enclosure yet, but I want it to look nice

[davekni]

If i'm correct, Higher coupling should be better for QCW coils as long as theres no flashovers?

Yes.  Higher coupling allows good power transfer over a wider frequency span, so performs better as arc capacitance reduces secondary frequency.

Higher coupling also separates upper and lower pole frequencies farther.  For a given uncoupled resonant frequency, higher coupling will increase upper pole frequency and reduce lower pole frequency.  Most QCW coils operate at upper pole frequency.  Increasing coupling without any other changes will increase frequency some.  Higher frequency is generally better for QCW performance, presuming your H-bridge can handle the increase.

[Lucasww]

Update, I did some very rough simulation in FEMM for some primary coils and came up with a design I liked, with a coupling around 0.44. I modeled some supports and had a friend 3D print them, and here's the result.





That's a 51" spark, 10x the secondary coil's length!
But, now I'm hitting OCD constantly at 150A. I'm not sure if my IGBTs can handle more, but they're rated for 150A continuous and are getting just warm enough for it to be noticeable after a minute at around 2BPS. Maybe they can take a bit more.
Alternatively, I might try lowering the current a bit. Maybe slightly lower coupling and going a turn lower on my primary? not sure.

[davekni]

Nice performance!

But, now I'm hitting OCD constantly at 150A. I'm not sure if my IGBTs can handle more, but they're rated for 150A continuous and are getting just warm enough for it to be noticeable after a minute at around 2BPS. Maybe they can take a bit more.

These IGBTs can likely handle more current, 200A or a bit more.  However, increasing current requires care:
First, phase lead and dead time need to be well adjusted.
Second, improved head dissipation during bursts.  Package immediately under die is likely getting much hotter during each burst.  To handle this, add a large copper heat spreader under each IGBT with good thermal compound between IGBT and spreader.  Apply mounting force over IGBT die rather than at screw holes.  Insulating pads between copper heat spreaders and heat sink.

[Lucasww]

First, phase lead and dead time need to be well adjusted.

I believe I have it pretty well adjusted already, but I've never used phase lead before so I'm not certain. I'll get some scope shots and send them here tomorrow if I have time, so you can take a look

Also, I tried going a tap lower on my primary, which seemed to ease up the current a bit while still running upper pole, but the frequency is now too low, sparks are shorter and more branched. I don't think theres a good way to do this without making a new secondary coil, but I think raising the resonant frequency of my secondary coil would help.

[Lucasww]

Okay, here's some scope shots of current and inverter output voltage. I had trouble avoiding noise on my scope but I think these look alright.



How's this look?