Missouri
Energetics and Pulsed Power Laboratory
Department
of Electrical & Computer Engineering | College of Engineering
Missouri Energetics and Pulsed Power Laboratory
Welcome! The MU-EPPL is a world class laboratory and leader in pulsed
power and energetics research and development. We have expertise in all
aspects of nuclear and plasma science, pulsed power, accelerator
technology, and energetic particle creation, manipulation, and
detection. We also have extensive experience in the application of
these technologies to pulsed power circuit and switch design, plasma
and electric space propulsion, nuclear safeguards and special nuclear
material detection, materials processing, as well
as application to medical and biological systems. The
laboratory is currently, or has been supported by Air Force Office of
Scientific Research, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Los Alamos
National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory, and the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, among
others.
Tiger Pulsed Power Machine
The MU-EPPL is home to the Tiger Pulsed Power Machine. The Tiger
Machine is a high current, high voltage accelerator, composed of a
32-stage
Marx bank, coupled to from 1 to 4
water filled intermediate storage capacitors. With a low impedance
switch and a 4-Ohm load, the machine can deliver up to 500-kA at 2-MV
within several hundred nanoseconds.The Tiger machine provides a unique educational and research facility for a University environment. The facility provides national laboratory scale pulsed power for student training as well as world-class research. Experiments ranging from laser triggered gas switch design and testing, high voltage breakdown phenomena, dense and heavily magnetized plasma science, z-pinch and wire initiation experiments can all be accomodated on the facility. And, with a unique four experimental position design, a number of experiments can be fielded on the machine simultaneously.