High energy density capacitors for EML applications

Power systems in mobile EML applications require high energy density capacitors as power conversion, energy storage, and power compression devices. Applications include the electromagnetic launch of aircraft, ETC guns and naval launchers for shore bombardment. There is a wide envelope of operating conditions requiring several technology approaches. The ongoing, multifaceted development effort on high energy density pulsed power capacitors at General Atomics Energy Products has yielded capacitors with significantly higher energy densities (>5 J/cc) than were available a few years ago. This paper will describe the performance of this latest generation of capacitors and includes near term projections for products presently under development.