TACITRON SWITCH FOR THERMIONIC REACTOR POWER CONDITIONING

THE TACITRON IS A HIGH TEMPERATURE (300 - 1500 DEGREES C) SWITCH THAT CAN SWITCH HIGH CURRENTS (>10'S OF AMPERES PER SQUARE CM OF SWITCH ELECTRODE AREA) AND HIGH VOLTAGES (>200 VOLTS) AT SWITCHING SPEEDS IN THE 10'S TO 100'S OF KILOHERTZ. THIS SWITCH IS FULLY CONTROLLABLE SO IT CAN PERFORM THE SAME FUNCTIONS AS MANY OF THE SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES (TRANSISTORS, DIODES, THYRISTORS) EXCEPT THAT THE TACITRON CAN OPERATE AT TEMPERATURES THAT ARE MUCH HOTTER THAN THE 200 DEGREE C LIMITATION OF SEMICONDUCTORS. THE TACITRON CAN ALSO SURVIVE IN HIGH RADIATION ENVIRONMENTS SUCH AS THE CORE OF A NUCLEAR REACTOR. TETRA CORPORATION IS APPLYING ITS UNIQUE MODELING AND DIAGNOSTICS TECHNIQUES TOWARD INCREASING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE TACITRON FOR A WIDER RANGE OF APPLICABILITY. IMPORTANT USES INCLUDE: NUCLEAR REACTORS, HIGH TEMPERATURE BATTERIES, JET ENGINES, AND INDUCTRIAL FURNACES.