Control method for reducing energy consumption of vacuum tube filament

Abstract

The invention provides a control method for reducing energy consumption of a vacuum tube filament in order to solve the problem of arrayed batch use of a high-power microwave source based on a vacuum tube and enable an equipment system of an active phased array system to have engineering practicability of high power, low energy consumption and fast response. According to the method, sectional intermittent work control is adopted for a vacuum tube filament power supply, so that low energy consumption of the filament in a task waiting period and fast response in a task section can be realized. The array type high-power microwave source based on the vacuum tube can achieve engineering practicability, the requirements of an equipment system of an active phased array system for high-power output, arraying, low energy consumption and fast response of the microwave source are met, the engineering development cost of the system is effectively reduced, and the practicability and generalization performance of equipment are improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the field of microwave technology, and in particular relates to a control method for reducing energy consumption of a vacuum tube filament. Background Art

[0002] Vacuum tubes, represented by traveling wave tubes and klystrons, offer advantages such as high output power, high efficiency, excellent temperature resistance, strong anti-interference capabilities, and low cost. Vigorously developing active vacuum tube array technology, developing high-power microwave sources based on miniaturized, high-power vacuum tubes and then utilizing spatial power synthesis, can significantly reduce the amount of equipment required for arraying, greatly improve mobility, and significantly reduce costs, offering broad development prospects. However, from an application perspective, the mass use of vacuum tube arrays still presents some challenges. The most prominent of these is the high energy consumption of vacuum tube filaments.

[0003] The filament, also known as the heater, is wound together with the vacuum tube cathode through a special process. As the most important components of an electron gun, the filament and cathode are both installed within the cathode casing of the vacuum tube. The cathode typically operates at a temperature of approximately 1050°C, while the filament heats up to approximately 200-400°C higher than the cathode. Heating the filament allows the cathode to reach a temperature sufficient for thermal emission. Depending on the power level, the filament energy consumption of a single vacuum tube ranges from tens to hundreds of watts. Generally, to ensure the transmitter can transmit power at all times, the conventional practice is to keep the filament and cathode of the vacuum tube in a constant-heat mode. This mode is suitable for traditional lumped transmitters, where filament energy consumption accounts for a very low proportion of the total energy consumption of the transmitter system. However, in active phased array systems, the number of vacuum tubes required for array configuration can reach thousands, resulting in filament standby energy consumption reaching tens or even hundreds of kilowatts. This standby energy consumption significantly increases the power consumption of the equipment and reduces its efficiency. This is an issue that must be addressed and addressed. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To address the mass deployment of high-power microwave arrays based on vacuum tubes and ensure the engineering practicality of active phased array systems with high power, low energy consumption, and fast response, this paper proposes a control method for reducing vacuum tube filament energy consumption. By employing segmented intermittent operation control of the vacuum tube filament power supply, this method achieves low filament energy consumption during mission waiting periods and fast response within mission phases. This low-cost, low-energy, and fast-response approach facilitates engineering application and widespread adoption.

[0005] The present invention provides a segmented intermittent filament operation control method for the vacuum tube filament power supply, providing intermittent operation control level and timing, and accurately controlling the filament power in each period, thereby achieving the goal of reducing the filament standby energy consumption and quickly responding to the launch mission requirements. The filament workflow is decomposed into four states: no task period, preparation task period, launch task waiting period, and launch task period. The level control and timing control specifically include the following steps (t represents time, the vertical axis C represents the level control command Command, P f Represents the filament power (Power of filament):

[0006] 1) t<t1 period, no task period: the control command sends "0", the filament power is 0, and the microwave source is turned off and does not work.

[0007] 2) During the period t1≤t<t2, the task preparation period is as follows: the control command is sent as "1", the filament is preheated, the preheating power is Wf, the preheating time is (t2-t1), the cathode temperature reaches the rated value, high voltage is applied at time t2, and the vacuum tube outputs the rated power.

[0008] 3) During the period t2≤t<t3, the waiting period for the launch mission: the control command is sent "1 / 2", the standby power of the filament is Wf / 2, and the cathode temperature drops by about 250°C; if high voltage is applied at this time, the vacuum tube outputs half power.

[0009] 4) During the period t3≤t<t5, the emission mission period: the control command is sent as "3 / 2", which quickly increases the filament power to 3Wf / 2 and maintains it for (t4-t3), and the cathode temperature quickly reaches the rated value again; after t4, the control command is sent as "1", and the filament power is reduced to Wf and maintained for (t5-t4). During this period, high voltage is applied and the vacuum tube output is rated power.

[0010] 5) During the period t5≤t<t6, the launch mission waiting period: the control command is sent "1 / 2", the filament standby power is Wf / 2, and the cathode temperature drops by about 250°C. If high voltage is applied at this time, the vacuum tube outputs half power.

[0011] 6) t≥t6 period, launch mission period or no mission period: If it is the launch mission period, the control mode of t3≤t<t5 period is repeated, and the control command is sent "3 / 2" to quickly increase the filament power to 3Wf / 2 and maintain it for (t4-t3); then the control command is sent "1", and the filament power is reduced to Wf and maintained until the end of the launch mission; if it is no mission period, the control mode of t<t1 period is repeated, and the control command is sent "0", the filament power is 0, and the microwave source is turned off.

[0012] Among them, t1-t6 represent the filament working stages respectively.

[0013] Such orderly control and periodic circulation can achieve the goals of reducing energy consumption and achieving fast response for high-power microwave source systems based on vacuum tube arrays.

[0014] The beneficial effects of the present invention are

[0015] By adopting segmented intermittent operation control for the filament power supply, this invention effectively reduces standby energy consumption of vacuum tube filaments and ensures rapid response during the launch phase. This will facilitate the engineering application of vacuum tube-based array-type high-power microwave sources, meeting the requirements of active phased array equipment systems for high-power output, array-type operation, low energy consumption, and rapid response. This will effectively reduce system engineering development costs and enhance the practicality and dissemination of the equipment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 This is a working timing diagram of the filament segmented intermittent operation control method described in the present invention.

[0017] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the design principle and corresponding control diagram of the filament power supply in an embodiment of the present invention based on a high-power microwave source in a certain band.

[0018] Figure 3 The figure is a schematic diagram of the design principle of an embodiment of the present invention based on a high-power microwave source in a certain band. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] The following is a clear and complete description of the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the embodiments described are only some embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making any creative efforts are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0020] The present invention proposes a control method for reducing the energy consumption of vacuum tube filaments, which is achieved by segmented intermittent operation control of the filaments. Specifically, the following level control and timing control are adopted, combined with Figure 1 , where the horizontal axis t represents time (time), the vertical axis C represents the level control command (Command), P f Represents the power of filament:

[0021] 1) t<t1 period, no task period: the control command sends "0", the filament power is 0, and the microwave source is turned off and does not work;

[0022] 2) t1≤t<t2 period, preparation period: the control command is sent "1", the filament is preheated, the preheating power is Wf, the preheating time is (t2-t1), the cathode temperature reaches the rated value, high voltage is applied at time t2, and the vacuum tube outputs the rated power;

[0023] 3) t2≤t<t3 period, launch mission waiting period: the control command is sent "1 / 2", the filament standby power is Wf / 2, and the cathode temperature drops by about 250℃; if high voltage is applied at this time, the vacuum tube outputs half power;

[0024] 4) During the period t3≤t<t5, the emission mission period: the control command is sent as "3 / 2", which quickly increases the filament power to 3Wf / 2 and maintains it for (t4-t3), and the cathode temperature quickly reaches the rated value again; after t4, the control command is sent as "1", and the filament power is reduced to Wf and maintained for (t5-t4). During this period, high voltage is applied, and the vacuum tube output is rated power;

[0025] 5) t5≤t<t6 period, launch mission waiting period: the control command is sent "1 / 2", the filament standby power is Wf / 2, the cathode temperature drops by about 250℃, and if high voltage is applied at this time, the vacuum tube outputs half power;

[0026] 6) t≥t6 period, launch mission period or no mission period: If it is the launch mission period, the control mode of t3≤t<t5 period is repeated, and the control command is sent "3 / 2" to quickly increase the filament power to 3Wf / 2. After maintaining the power for t4-t3, the control command is sent "1" to reduce the filament power to Wf and maintain it until the end of the launch mission; if it is the no mission period, the control mode of t<t1 period is repeated, and the control command is sent "0", the filament power is 0, and the microwave source is turned off.

[0027] Such orderly control and periodic circulation can precisely control the filament power in each period, and achieve the goal of reducing energy consumption and achieving fast response in the high-power microwave source system based on vacuum tube arrays.

[0028] Combine Figure 2 A specific embodiment of the present invention is a filament power supply design for a high-power microwave source operating in a certain band. On the main circuit side, the filament power supply uses a 200V DC power supply, which is converted into a 20kHz frequency inverter square wave after filtering and half-bridge conversion. This is then stepped down by a filament transformer and subjected to potential isolation before being delivered to the filament and cathode terminals of six klystrons. On the auxiliary circuit side, the 200V DC power supply is converted to +15V via a DC / DC module to power the drive circuit. The drive circuit uses segmented intermittent filament operation control to adjust the inverter voltage amplitude output by the half-bridge conversion circuit, thereby reducing filament standby energy consumption and rapidly responding to mission requirements.

[0029] During the period t<t1, there is no task: the control command sends "0", the filament power is 0, and the microwave source is turned off and does not work;

[0030] During the period t1≤t<t2, the task preparation period is as follows: the control command is sent as "1", the filament is preheated, the preheating power is 24W, the preheating time is 5 minutes, the cathode temperature reaches 1050℃, high voltage is applied at time t2, and the klystron output rated power is 400kW;

[0031] During the period t2≤t<t3, the launch mission waiting period: the control command is sent "1 / 2", the filament standby power is 12W, the cathode temperature drops to 800℃, and high voltage is applied at this time, and the klystron outputs half power of 200kW;

[0032] During the period t3≤t<t5, the launch mission: the control command "3 / 2" is sent to quickly increase the filament power to 36W and maintain it for 30s, and the cathode temperature reaches 1050℃ again; after t4, the control command "1" is sent to reduce the filament power to 24W and maintain it for (t5-t4). During this period, high voltage is applied, and the klystron output is stable at 400kW.

[0033] During the period t5≤t<t6, the launch mission waiting period: the control command is sent "1 / 2", the filament standby power is 12W, the cathode temperature drops to 800℃, and high voltage is applied at this time, and the klystron outputs half power of 200kW;

[0034] During the period t≥t6, the launch mission period or the non-mission period: if it is the launch mission period, the control mode of the period t3≤t<t5 is repeated, and the control command is sent "3 / 2" to quickly increase the filament power to 36W and maintain it for 30s; then the control command is sent "1" to reduce the filament power to 24W and maintain it until the end of the launch mission; if it is the non-mission period, the control mode of the period t<t1 is repeated, and the control command is sent "0", the filament power is 0, and the microwave source is turned off.

[0035] The 24W, 12W, and 36W mentioned above refer to the filament preheat power, filament standby power, and filament fast-start power of a single klystron tube, respectively. For six klystron tubes, multiply the values ​​by 6.

[0036] Combine Figure 3 This invention uses a high-power microwave source device operating in a specific wavelength band as an extension of a specific embodiment to illustrate its effectiveness. The device comprises a centralized power supply module, a six-channel driver amplifier module, and six miniaturized klystrons. Input signals include a 200V DC bus voltage, a 10mW RF excitation, a modulation trigger pulse, and a filament segmented intermittent operation control command. Each miniaturized klystron channel has a peak output power exceeding 400kW and is connected to a horn antenna.

[0037] In this embodiment, the device typically operates in a high-frequency pulse output mode with a width of 1µs and a pulse repetition frequency of 100Hz. A single klystron filament preheats at 24W, requiring 5 minutes, and outputs a peak power of 400kW. This device utilizes an array-based integrated design of six klystron tubes, with a filament preheat power of 24W × 6 = 144W and an output peak power of 400kW × 6 = 2400kW. This corresponds to a high-frequency average power of 2400kW × 1µs × 100Hz = 240W.

[0038] Before adopting the filament energy consumption control method described in the present invention, the corresponding filament energy consumption of the device was 144W, which is 144W / 240W = 0.6 times the average power of the high-frequency output; after adopting the described filament energy consumption control method, calculated based on 50% standby and 50% working time, the corresponding filament energy consumption was 108W, which is 108W / 240W = 0.45 times the average power of the high-frequency output. Before and after the improvement, the filament energy consumption was effectively reduced by (144W-108W) / 144W = 25%. The launch mission response time is 30s. It can be seen that after large-scale array formation based on thousands of klystron tubes, the effect of reducing filament energy consumption will be very significant, and the effect of rapid response can also be guaranteed at the same time.

[0039] The present invention is not limited to the above specific embodiments, and various modifications and variations are possible. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made to the above embodiments based on the technical essence of the present invention shall be included in the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A control method for reducing energy consumption of a vacuum tube filament, characterized in that: By providing intermittent working control level and timing for the vacuum tube filament power supply, the filament power in each period is controlled, thereby achieving the goal of reducing the filament standby energy consumption while quickly responding to the launch mission requirements. The filament work process is decomposed into four states: no mission period, preparation mission period, launch mission waiting period and launch mission period. Its level control and timing control specifically include the following steps: 1) No mission period, t<t1: the control command sends "0", the filament power is 0, and the microwave source is shut down and does not work; 2) Preparation period, t1≤t<t2: the control command is sent "1", the filament is preheated, the preheating power is Wf, the preheating time is t2-t1, the cathode temperature reaches the rated value, high voltage is applied at time t2, and the vacuum tube outputs the rated power; 3) Launch mission waiting period, t2≤t<t3: The control command is sent "1 / 2", the filament standby power is Wf / 2, and the cathode temperature drops by about 250°C; if high voltage is applied at this time, the vacuum tube outputs half power; 4) During the launch mission, t3≤t<t5: the control command "3 / 2" is sent to quickly increase the filament power to 3Wf / 2 and maintain it for t4-t3, so that the cathode temperature quickly returns to the rated value; after t4, the control command "1" is sent to reduce the filament power to Wf and maintain it for t5-t4. During this period, high voltage is applied and the vacuum tube output is rated power; 5) Launch mission waiting period, t5≤t<t6: The control command is sent "1 / 2", the filament standby power is Wf / 2, the cathode temperature drops by about 250℃, and if high voltage is applied at this time, the vacuum tube outputs half power; 6) Launch mission period or no mission period, t≥t6: If it is a launch mission period, repeat the control mode of t3≤t<t5 period, send the control command "3 / 2", quickly increase the filament power to 3Wf / 2, and maintain it for t4-t3; then send the control command "1", the filament power is reduced to Wf, and maintained until the end of the launch mission; if it is no mission period, repeat the control mode of t<t1 period, send the control command "0", the filament power is 0, and the microwave source is turned off; Among them, t1-t6 represent the filament working stages respectively; Through orderly control and periodic cycles, the goal of reducing energy consumption and achieving fast response of the high-power microwave source system based on vacuum tube array is achieved.

Images