Design, Simulation and Development of DC Switch Mode Power Supply feeding Plasma Torch based Incinerator for Radioactive Waste Management

Abstract

The radioactive solid wastes from various nuclear facilities are of variety of composition with radioactive contents. Each radioactive nuclide has its unique waste management methodology. The most suited DC plasma torch power sources have been utilized for the treatment at waste management facility for safe disposal of nuclear waste. The plasma torch being a very high temperature source destructs all sort of toxic compounds generated during incineration. The high temperature plasma torches are heat sources that exhibit unique functionality, higher power intensity and wide-ranging versatility. The article contains design study, circuit simulation, analysis and implementation of switch mode power supply feeding DC power to plasma torch based incinerator for radioactive waste management. Based on the configuration of the power supply schematics, the circuit is divided into modules and each module is designed individually. The modules comprises 18 pulse input rectifier, high frequency inverter, resonant converter and high frequency rectifier. The simulation results have been presented and compared with actual characteristics of the system, validating simulation performance.