Commercial high current ignitron development

Enhanced Active Resonant DC Circuit Breakers Based on Discharge Closing Switches

“…High-current ignitrons require water cooling and can only be switched a few times per minute as the mercury vapor has to condense back into the mercury pool. The ignitron's performance is limited in high current, high coulomb discharges due to plasma instability, high voltage drop, and possible ignitor resistance collapse [35]. This can be solved by using a hollow anode.…”