Energy conversion system

An energy conversion device includes a discharge tube which is operated in a pulsed abnormal glow discharge regime in a double ported circuit. A direct current source connected to an input port provides electrical energy to initiate emission pulses, and a current sink in the form of an electrical energy storage or utilization device connected to the output port captures at least a substantial proportion of energy released by collapse of the emission pulses.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to energy conversion circuits utilizing discharge 
tubes operating in the pulsed abnormal glow discharge (PAGD) regime. 
2. Review of the Art 
Such discharge tubes and circuits incorporating them are described in our 
copending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 07/922,863 and 07/961,531. The 
first of these applications discloses discharge tube constructions 
particularly suited for PAGD operation, and the second discloses certain 
practical applications of such tubes, particularly in electric motor 
control circuits. The review of the art contained in those applications is 
incorporated herein by reference, as is their disclosure and drawings. 
It is known that there are anomalous cathode reaction forces associated 
with the cathodic emissions responsible for vacuum arc discharges, the 
origin and explanation of which have been the subject of extensive 
discussion in scientific literature, being related as it is to ongoing 
discussion of the relative merits of the laws of electrodynamics as 
variedly formulated by Ampere, Biot-Savart and Lorentz. Examples of 
literature on the subject are referenced later in this application. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The particular conditions which prevail in a discharge tube operated in the 
PAGD regime, in which a plasma eruption from the cathode is self-limiting 
and collapses before completion of a plasma channel to the anode gives 
rise to transient conditions which favour the exploitation of anomalous 
cathode reaction forces. 
We have found that apparatus utilizing discharge tubes operated in a 
self-sustaining pulsed abnormal glow discharge regime, in a double ported 
circuit designed so that energy input to the tube utilized to initiate a 
glow discharge pulse is handled by an input circuit substantially separate 
from an output circuit receiving energy from the tube during collapse of a 
pulse, provides valuable energy conversion capabilities. 
The invention extends to a method of energy conversion, comprising 
initiating plasma eruptions from the cathode of a discharge tube operating 
in a pulsed abnormal glow discharge regime utilizing electrical energy 
from a source in a first circuit connected to said discharge tube, and 
capturing electrical energy generated by the collapse of such eruptions in 
a second circuit connected to said discharge tube.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The basic PAGD function and the construction of discharge tubes 
specifically designed for PAGD operation are described in our 
corresponding copending applications Nos. 07/922,863 (the '863 
application) and 07/961,531 (the '531 application). For purposes of the 
experiments described below four aluminum H34 plate devices (one with 64 
and three with 128 cm.sup.2 plate areas) and three aluminum (H200) plate 
devices (one with 64 and two with 128 cm.sup.2 plate areas), with 
interelectrode gap lengths of 3 to 5.5 cm, were utilized at the indicated 
vacua, under pumpdown conditions and with either air or argon (ultra high 
purity, spectroscopic grade 99.9996% pure) constituting the residual gas 
mixture. The pumpdown conditions were as described in the '863 
application. Some experiments were performed with the tubes under active 
evacuation, at steady-state conditions, while others utilized sealed 
devices enclosing the desired residual gas pressures. 
The circuit designs utilized in the various experiments to be described are 
set out further below, and represent further developments and extensions 
of the circuits set forth in the '531 application. 
Test equipment utilized was as follows: 
An Edwards (trade mark) thermocouple gauge (TC-7) was employed for the 
determination of pressure down to 1 micron of mercury (0.001 Torr). 
Banks of Beckman (trade mark) rms multimeters 225 and 330 (30 and 100 kHz 
bandwidths, respectively) were utilized for all current measurements. 
Frequency meters capable of discriminating events up to 0.1 nanosecond 
apart, and having adjustable amplitude windows, were used. Direct analysis 
on a Tektronix (trade mark) dual-trace, storage scope (Model 549) was also 
carried out for both parameters. 
Split-phase, single-phase and two-phase motors were employed, of the 
synchronous, induction and universal types, as previously described in the 
'531 application, in the accessory electromechanical arm that may be 
coupled to the power producing circuit described in the present 
application. 
Large banks of 12 V, 6 Ah lead-acid gel cells (Sonnenschein (trade mark) 
A212/6S) were utilized either as power sources (designated as drive packs) 
or as accumulators of the energy (referred to as charge packs) captured by 
the test circuits. Charge packs made of rechargeable 9 V NiCad or of 
nominally nonrechargeable C-Zn or alkaline batteries were also utilized. 
PAGD emission areas were determined by metallographic examination of a 
series of craters produced by PAGDs in clean H34 cathodes, under a 
metallurgical Zeiss (trade mark) standard 18 microscope equipped with an 
epi-fluorescent condenser, very high power apochromatic objectives and a 
100 W mercury lamp. For best results a focusable oblique source of light 
(12 V halogen) was also added to the incident light. 
Following our low and high applied current studies on PAGD production as 
set forth in the '863 application, we noticed that the AC rms value of the 
component associated with each abnormal glow discharge pulse varied 
nonlinearly with the magnitude of the applied current. We originally noted 
the existence of a current induced shift of the entire PAGD region upward 
in the pressure scale: while the PAGD regime became more clearly defined 
as the applied constant DC was increased, the pressure required to observe 
the PAGD increased two to three orders of magnitude. In the course of 
these rarefaction studies we found that, at applied currents of 1 mA or 
less, the rms value of the different AC waveforms associated with the 
consecutive regimes of the discharge (TRD.fwdarw.NGD.fwdarw.AGD+PAGD) was, 
by more than half log, inferior to the value of the applied DC current, 
during the first two regimes (TRD and NGD) and reached a value equivalent 
to the applied current with the onset of spontaneous PAGD, at pressures 
&lt;0.1 Torr (see FIG. 1); however, in the downward tail of the PAGD regime 
(down to 3*10-3 Torr), the AC rms current component of each PAGD again 
decreased to more than half log of the intensity of the applied DC value, 
in a manner proportional to the log of the decreasing pressure. In stark 
contrast, at high applied currents of .sup..about. 500 mA, and aside from 
the high current-induced upward shift in pressure of the PAGD regime (to 
the point that the compression of the previous regimes on the pressure 
scale results in their suppressing, as was the case in the present 
example), the AC rms component associated with each pulse (see closed 
circles, FIG. 2) is, from onset of the discharge at .sup..about. 8 Torr, 
greater in magnitude than the value of the applied current (open circles, 
FIG. 2). Under the conditions described, the distribution of the field 
current associated with each pulsed abnormal glow discharge approached (on 
a linear Y axis; not shown) an unimodal gaussian distribution with the 
pressure peak at .sup..about. 1 Torr, and a corresponding observed maximum 
of 7.5.times. higher AC rms values than the applied DC values. 
We have previously described in the '863 application how the PAGD frequency 
is affected by several factors, namely: the magnitude of the parallel 
discharge capacitance, the value of the negative pressure for the relevant 
vacuum PAGD range, the magnitude of the applied potential, the magnitude 
of the applied direct current, the interelectrode gap distance and the 
area of the parallel plate electrodes. In the '531 application we have 
also described how the wiring configuration (plate diode versus triode) 
affects the PAGD frequency by adding tungsten autoelectronic emissions 
from the axial electrode, to those emissions from the plate. There are 
other factors which limit the PAGD regime of discharge and have also been 
discussed in the '863 application. The following data indicates their 
specific effect upon PAGD frequency. 
In the data presented in Table 1, control of the frequency parameter for 
the circuit shown in FIG. 9 is by a ballast resistance R1 within a 
specific range of interest (.sup..about. 800-150 ohms, for Table 1 
experimental conditions), and this in turn increases the applied current 
which, at "high current" values (i.e. &gt;100 mA, as for Table 1 conditions), 
will drive the PAGD frequency up, as previously reported in the '863 
application. 
Table 2 shows the effect of the progressive displacement of a given 
frequency, chosen as 200 PPS, with the cumulative pulse count of the same 
device, in the plate diode configuration. This displacement of the same 
frequency (cf. group #'s 1-3, Table 2) onto higher pressure regions is 
shown to be promoted by the alteration of the work function of the PAGD 
emitting cathode, such as this is caused by the cumulative pulse count and 
resultant crater formation on the electrode surface. After the first 
million pulses, the anode facing cathode surface is completely turned over 
by emission sites, and this corresponds well to the threshold crossed by 
group #2, Table 2. Once the cathode surfaces are broken in, the rates 
shown in groups #3 and 4, Table 2, tend to remain constant. Originally we 
wondered whether this might be caused by the alteration of the 
electrostatic profile of the plasma sheaths at the periphery of the 
envelope, due to the mirroring deposits that result from the sputter of 
ions and trapped neutral atoms (from air gases or metallic vapor) 
associated with the autoelectronic emission mechanism (and from further 
emissions triggered in turn, by secondary ionic bombardment of the cathode 
with molecular species present in the plasma ball formed over the primary 
emission site). However, reversal of the plate polarity (firing the 
ex-anode as a crater-free cathode) for over a million counts, followed by 
re-reversal to the original polarity, the entire operation being performed 
in air as the residual gas substrate, led to the partial recovery of the 
original work function for as long as the test was run (1.5*10.sup.4 
pulses), as shown by a comparison of groups #2,4 and 5, Table 2. From a 
metallographic examination of the surfaces of plates used solely as 
anodes, we have also concluded that prolonged PAGD operation has the 
effect, not only of cleaning the anode surface from surface films and 
adsorbed gases, as ionic bombardment promoted by electromagnetic induction 
coils does, but it also does more--it polishes the target surface and 
smooths it by a molecular erosive action. Observations of the surface of 
reversed cathodes, shows the same smoothing and polishing effects observed 
in exclusive anodes. Thus the recovery of the PAGD rates promoted by 
polarity reversal of the plates is not a function of the sputter-promoted 
mirroring deposits on the envelope wall, but a function of the actual 
work-function of the emitting cathode. 
Another variable that interacts with the PAGD frequency is the molecular 
nature of the residual gas: Table 3 shows the differential frequency 
response of air with a halogen quencher, argon, for the same pulse 
generator employed in the tests of Table 2. It is apparent that argon 
obtains much higher rates of AGD pulsation for the same range of negative 
pressure, for the same "broken in" cathode, than does the air mixture. All 
these measurements were taken at cathode support-stem temperatures of 
35.degree. C. 
Time of operation is also a variable affecting the frequency and operating 
characteristics of the cathode, as it becomes expressed by the passive 
heating of the cathode, an effect which is all the more pronounced at the 
higher pressures and at the higher frequencies examined. Utilizing the 
triode circuit discussed in the next section, the pulse rate of a PAGD 
generator with 64 cm.sup.2 plates can be seen (see FIG. 3) to decrease, at 
a negative pressure of 0.8 Torr, from 41 PPS to the operating plateau of 6 
PPS within 15 minutes of continuous operation, as the temperature of the 
cathode support increased from 19.degree. to .sup..about. 44.degree. C. As 
the temperature plateaus at .sup..about. 51.degree..+-.1.degree. C., so 
does the pulse rate at 6 PPS, for the remaining 48 minutes of continuous 
operation. 
However, in order to confirm this time-dependent heating effect and 
threshold, we also performed the same experiment, utilizing the same 
circuit and the same negative air pressure, with twice as large a cathode 
area (128 cm.sup.2, which should take nearly twice as long to heat), being 
operated for 18 one-minute long continuous periods equally spaced apart by 
15 minutes of passive cooling, with the cathode stem always at 
19.7.degree. to 21.degree. C., room temperature at the start of each 
period. The results surprised us, inasmuch as they showed that for a 
larger area tube which takes longer to heat to the same temperatures at 
comparable rates of PAGD triggering, one could observe a much earlier 
frequency reduction (by half, within the first 5 minutes or periods of 
interrupted functioning) in the absence of any significant heating effect 
(&lt;1.5.degree. C.) of the cathode (see FIG. 4). Repetition of these 
experiments has led us to conclude that, as shown in FIG. 5, the variable 
responsible for this repeatedly observed reduction in the PAGD frequency, 
when the PAGD operation sequence is systematically interrupted, is the 
state of charge/discharge of the battery pack (the charge pack) at the 
output of the triode circuit in question: the PPM rates in FIG. 5 decrease 
rapidly with the steepest rate of charging of the charge pack and the 
fastest recovery rate of its open circuit voltage; above a given state of 
charge, when the open voltage of the charge pack climbs more slowly (&gt;340 
V), in a log fashion, the PPM rate stabilizes at its plateau values. 
Confirmation of the importance of the charge pack in the PAGD function of 
the present circuitry here considered, comes from the fact that the size 
(the number of cells) and the intrinsic capacitance of the charge pack 
affect the PAGD frequency dramatically (see Table 4): increasing the 
charge pack size of 29 cells to 31, by 7% leads to a 10-fold reduction in 
frequency; further increases in the number of charge pack cells 
extinguishes the phenomenon. On the upper end of the scale, this effect 
appears to be tied in to restrictions that it places on the ability of the 
larger charge packs to accept the discharge power output once the charge 
pack voltage exceeds the PAGD amplitude potential. All of these 
measurements were conducted with the same 128 cm.sup.2 plate PAGD 
generator, at a pressure of 0.8 Torr and in the triode configuration (see 
FIG. 9). 
Other factors can also affect the frequency: the motion of external 
permanent magnetic fields oriented longitudinally with the interelectrode 
gap, external pulsed or alternating magnetic fields, external 
electrostatic or electromagnetic fields, specific connections of the earth 
ground, and the presence of a parallel capacitative, 
capacitative-inductive or self-inductive arm in the circuit, such as we 
have described for our electromechanical PAGD transduction method as 
described in the '531 application. 
Analysis of the modulation of PAGD amplitude is simpler than that of its 
frequency, because fewer factors affect this parameter: (1) magnitude of 
the applied potential, (2) interelectrode gap distance and (3) the 
negative pressure, as shown in the '863 application, for "low" applied 
currents. As the magnitude of the applied potential itself is limited by 
the gap and the pressure, to the desired conditions of breakdown, the 
important control parameter for the PAGD amplitude is the pressure factor. 
This is shown in FIGS. 6 and. 7, respectively for "low" (5 mA) and "high" 
(.sup..about. 500 mA) applied currents and for the same plate diode 
configuration of a H34 Al 128 cm.sup.2 plate PAGD generator (5 cm gap), in 
the simple circuit described in the '863 application; it is apparent that 
both positive and negative components of the amplitude of these pulses in 
the oscillograph, are a function of the pressure, but the maximum cut-off 
limit of our equipment, for the negative component (at 240 volts for the 
"low" current experiment and at 120 volts for the "high" current), 
precluded us from measuring the peak negative voltage of these pulses. 
However, rms measurements of the pulse amplitude at the plates and DC 
measurements at the circuit output to the charge pack indicate that the 
negative component increases with decreasing pressure to a maximum, for a 
given arrangement of potential and gap distance; no pressure-dependent 
bell shape variation of the pulse amplitude, as that seen for the positive 
component at "high" applied currents (FIG. 7) is observed with the 
negative amplitude component. For the typical range of 0.8 to 0.5 Torr, 
the rms value for pulse amplitude varies from 320 to 480 volts, for a 5.5 
cm gap distance and applied DC voltages of 540 to 580. PAGD amplitude is a 
critical factor for the design of the proper size of the charge pack to be 
utilized in the optimal circuit. 
The development of the circuits to be described stemmed from fundamental 
alterations to the principles implicit in our previous methods of 
electromechanical transduction of AGD plasma pulses as described in the 
'531 application. Whereas this electromechanical coupling (capacitative 
and self-inductive), utilized directly, energizes the AGD pulses inverted 
from the DC input by the vacuum generator, the purpose of the development 
that led to the presently described experiments was to capture 
efficiently, in the simplest of ways, most of the pulse energy in a closed 
circuit, so that power measurements for the energy transduction efficiency 
of the observed endogenous pulsation could be carried out. Ideally, 
comparative DC power measurements would be performed at both the input and 
output of the system, taking into account the losses generated across the 
components; this would obviate the measurement problems posed by the 
myriad of transformations implicit in the variable frequency, amplitude, 
crest factor and duty-cycle values of the PAGD regime, and necessitated 
some form of rectification of the inverted tube output. From the start our 
objective was to do so as simply as possible. Early circuits utilizing 
half-wave rectification methods coupled in series to a capacitative arm 
(for DC isolation of the two battery packs), with the charge pack also 
placed in series, showed marginal recoveries of the energy spent at the 
PAGD generator input. Attempts at inserting a polar full-wave 
rectification bridge led, as shown in FIG. 8, to the splitting of the 
capacitor into capacitors C3 and C5, at the rectification bridge input, 
and capacitor C4 in series with both capacitors, all three being in a 
series string in parallel with the PAGD generator. Under these conditions 
a DC motor/generator could be run continuously in the same direction at 
the transversal output (U1 and U2) of the bridge; but if this inductive 
load was replaced with a battery pack CP (charge recovery pack), either 
the parallel capacitor C4 had to remain in the circuit, for the diode 
configuration or, less desirably, a further capacitor C6 could replace C4 
and connect one electrode, preferably the cathode C, to the axial member 
of the discharge tube T, thus resulting in a first triode configuration as 
actually shown in FIG. 8. Energy recovery efficiencies of the order of 15 
to 60% were obtained utilizing C6 in this manner, but measurements of the 
potential and currents present at the output from the rectifier bridge 
were substantially lower than those obtained using optimal values of C4. 
Effectively, under these conditions, much of the power output from the 
tube was never captured by the output circuit formed by the second, right 
hand arm of the system and, being prevented from returning as 
counter-currents to the drive pack DP by diodes D1 and D4, was dissipated 
and absorbed by the interelectrode plasma, electrode heating and parasitic 
oscillations. 
Solutions to this problem were explored using the circuit shown in FIG. 9, 
which still maintains the necessary communication link for the 
quasi-sinusoidal oscillation of the capacitatively stored charges at the 
input and outputs of the rectification bridge, but integrated the 
functions of capacitor C4 into the single rectification circuit, in the 
form of an asymmetric capacitative bridge C7a and C7b placed transversally 
to the capacitative bridge formed by C3 and C5 and in parallel with the 
charge pack CP at the output from the rectification bridge D5, D6, D2, D3. 
This second capacitative bridge is so disposed as to have its centre point 
connected to the anode A through capacitor C5. If the axial member of the 
Tube T were to connect to the junction of D2 and D3 instead of at the 
junction D5-D6, the function of bridge C7a and C7b would be connected to 
the cathode C through capacitor C3. The capacitative bridge is insulated 
from the charge pack whose voltage it stabilizes, by rectifiers D7 and D8, 
which also prevent leakage of charge across C7a and C7b. The anode and 
cathode oscillations generated by the electrostatic charge transduction 
through C3 and C5 into the poles of the charge pack are trapped by the 
transversal transduction of the C7 bridge, at the outputs from the 
rectification bridge, of which the oscillation has to become split between 
the bridge inputs into half-waves, for electrostatic transduction and full 
wave rectification to occur. In fact, under these conditions, removal of 
the C7 bridge will suppress the PAGD phenomenon, unless other circuit 
variables are also altered. The transversal bridge is thus an essential 
piece of this novel circuit. Variations in the circuit as shown in FIG. 10 
were then studied, the first two being selectable utilizing switch S2 
(FIG. 9). 
The presence of the capacitative bridge effectively reduces the dynamic 
impedance of the charge pack CP so that the output circuit approximates to 
a characteristic in which it presents a very high impedance to the tube T 
at potentials below a certain level, and a very low impedance at 
potentials above that level. 
With this modified circuit, more effective recovery of the energy produced 
by collapse of the PAGD pulses is possible, with more effective isolation 
from the input circuit utilized to trigger the pulses. Under these 
conditions, the energy captured by this circuit at the output, is not 
directly related to that utilized in triggering the pulses from the input. 
The attainment of this condition critically depends on the large 
capacitance of the transversal bridge being able to transfer the output 
energy from the tube T into the charge pack CP. Under these conditions, we 
have found, as will be shown below, that the large peak pulse currents 
released by collapse of the PAGD pulses released more energy than is used 
to trigger them, and these findings appeared to tally with other 
observations (abnormal volt-ampere characteristics and anomalous pulse 
currents, etc.) associated with the anomalous cathode reaction forces that 
accompany the auto-electronic emission-triggered PAGD regime. Experiments 
so far indicate that the power output can be increased proportionately to 
the series value of C3, C5 and the two identical C7 capacitors. 
The circuit of FIG. 10 can be integrated with a circuit such as that 
disclosed in the '863 application as shown in FIG. 11, in which a part of 
the energy recovered can be shunted by the switch S4 into an induction 
motor M1 having rotor R, to a degree determined by the adjustment of 
potentiometer R4 and the value selected for C4. 
The circuit of FIG. 11 can be further developed as exemplified in FIG. 12 
to include configurations which provide switching permitting interchange 
of the functions of charge packs and the drive packs, it being borne in 
mind that the nominal potential of the drive pack must be substantially 
higher than that of the charge pack, the former needing to exceed the 
breakdown potential of the tube at the beginning of a PAGD cycle, and the 
latter to be less than the extinction potential. 
FIG. 12 essentially represents a duplication of the circuit of FIG. 11, the 
two circuits however sharing two identical battery packs BP1 and BP2, and 
being provided with a six pole two way switch, the contact sets of which 
are identified as S1, S2, S3, S4, S5 and S6. When the contacts are in 
position A as shown, battery pack BP1 acts as a drive pack for both 
circuits, with the upper half (as shown) of the battery pack BP2 forming 
the charge pack for the upper circuit, and the lower half forming the 
charge pack for the lower circuit. When the pack BP1 is at least partially 
discharged, the switch is thrown so that contacts move to position B, 
which reverses the function of the battery packs thus allowing extended 
operation of the motors in each circuit each time the switch is thrown. 
Based on the manufacturer's data, and using current values within the range 
of our experimentation as discussed in the next sections, an optimal 
discharge cycle for a fully charged 6.0 Ahr battery pack at 0.300 A draw 
is 20 hours, as claimed by the manufacturer, and this corresponds to a 
cycling between 100% (12.83 V/cell open circuit and load start voltage) 
and &lt;1% (10.3 V/cell load voltage) of the battery's absolute charge 
capacity. Even though the discharge mechanism is a time cumulative process 
with a log function, the discharge can, within 4 to 5 hour time segments 
(or periods with 20-25% of the full range), be regarded as practically 
linear with time. This trait, or linearization of the discharge slope, 
becomes more marked with advancing age and decreasing absolute storage 
capacity of the cells. 
The proportionality between open circuit voltage and the percentage of 
residual relative capacity for these cells when new (uncycled and not yet 
aged) is uniform over 98% of the permissible charge capacity withdrawal; 
in practice this translates into a slope that becomes steeper with time, 
while the absolute storage capacity diminishes. In turn, this decreasing 
absolute capacity of the cells results in shorter load discharge times and 
their further linearization. 
A circuit in .general accordance with FIG. 9, employed in the studies 
reported in this and the following sections, utilizes a drive pack of 
46*12 V Lead acid gel-cells each with a 6.0 Ah rating, and a charge pack 
with 28 or 29*12 V identical cells. The charge pack was cycled anywhere 
from 11.2 V to 12.8 V/cell (open circuit voltages), within the 
proportional region of the relative capacity slope, to yield a capacity 
increment in the order of 50% (e.g. from 20 to 70%), anywhere within the 
range of 2 to 100% of its total charge capacity, assumed for now as 
invariant. The charging process, hereinafter referred to as a PAGD run, 
took about 20-30 minutes under optimal conditions. The drive pack 
typically consumed, in the same period of time, 4 to 11% of its initial 
total capacity , its open circuit voltage typically falling 0.1 to 0.2 V 
per cell after a PAGD run, within the open circuit range of 12.8 V/cell 
(100% relative capacity) and 11.2 V/cell (.sup..about. 2%). At the 100% 
capacity benchmark, the drive pack would theoretically have 20 h*46 
cells*12.83 V/cell*0.3 A=3.5 KWh, and the charge pack, for example, 20 
h*29*12.83 V/cell*0.3 A=2.2 KWh. Since the capacity per cell is linear 
with the open circuit voltage within the proportional range, as claimed by 
the manufacturer, we projected the open circuit voltage intercepts on the 
manufacturer's proportional curve in order to determine the residual 
percentage of the total relative capacity and the standard hours of 
operation left, from any experimental open circuit voltage measurements. 
Three pulse generators (2*128 cm.sup.2 and 1*64 cm.sup.2 plate areas) were 
employed in these studies; they were operated in PAGD runs at 1-120 
pulse/second rates, within a negative pressure range of 0.2 to 0.8 Torr 
and with applied direct currents of 0.2 to 0.6 A. 
Both drive and charge packs utilized cells which were bought new at the 
same time and had initial charge values of 12.4 to 12.55 V/cell (open 
circuit). These batteries are capable of energy densities of 33-35 Whr/kg. 
However, the experiments shown in Table 5 are selected from a series that 
spanned nearly 12 months, beginning 6 months after purchase; hence, loss 
of absolute storage capacity by the batteries had occurred in the 
intervening time, as a function of both age and charge/discharge cycle 
life. 
Measurements of the open voltage of either drive (D) or charge (C) (see 
column 2, Table 5) packs for 8 separate experiments, all utilizing the 
triode configuration, were performed before (b) and after (a) a PAGD run 
(see columns 3 and 4), at either 15 or 30 minutes (see column 26) of the 
open circuit voltage relaxation after a PAGD run was terminated. 
Corresponding open circuit voltages per cell are shown in column 5, and 
the percentages of the predicted total relative charge capacity resulting 
from the intercepts on the manufacturer's proportional curve are shown in 
column 6, Table 5. Equivalent maxima for the theoretical hours of 
operation left are shown in column 7, the percentage change in relative 
capacity arising as a consequence of either charge pack charge capture 
(capacity gained) or of drive pack output (capacity lost) is shown in 
column 8. Translating the intercepts into power units yields the values 
shown in column 9, Table 5, for total kWh left in each pack before and 
after PAGD production, those shown in column 10 for the actual power 
gained and lost during the periods of operation (presented in column 12) 
and those shown in column 13 for the power predicted to be gained or lost 
per hour of PAGD production. On the basis of the experimental open voltage 
values and their intercepts, the predicted net kWh values per hour of PAGD 
energy production (after deduction of measured losses) and the 
corresponding experimental breakeven efficiencies (where breakeven=100%) 
are presented, respectively, in columns 14 and 15. The PAGD frequency per 
second is shown in column 11; the number of 12 V cells, in column 16; the 
tube ID, in column 17; the cathode (and anode) area (s), in column 18; the 
plate material, in column 19; the input ballast utilized (R1, FIG. 9), in 
column 20; the size of each capacitor (C3 or C5) of the tube output 
bridge, in column 21; the size of each capacitor (C7a or C7b) of the 
transversal capacitative bridge, in column 22; the status of S4 and thus, 
of the parallel and auxiliary electromechanical arm (see FIG. 11), in 
column 23; the negative air pressure in column 24; the gap distance 
between the plates, in column 25; and columns 27,28 and 29, show the 
status of the elements of the switched on parallel electromechanical arm 
of the circuit--the parallel C4 capacitor, the motor input resistor R4 and 
the motor revolutions per minute (measured stroboscopically), 
respectively. 
From these figures of Table 5, and utilizing the data for the two first 
examples shown, we calculated the predicted performance of the system 
based on the open voltage measurements. In the first example, where the 
system was run continuously without interruption, the charge pack 
increased the percentage of its total capacity by 43% (a two-fold increase 
in capacity) and, during the same period, the driver pack decreased the 
percentage of its total capacity by 7% (a .sup..about. 10% decrease in 
capacity relative to the percentage of residual total capacity at the 
start, i.e. 77%) (cp. columns 6 and 8, Table 5). Subtracting the predicted 
initial total energy (0.835 KWh) available to the charge pack before the 
experimental run (first line of column 9, Table 5) from the predicted 
total energy (1.823 KWh, second line of column 9) available to the charge 
pack after the PAGD charge run, gives us the total energy gained by the 
charge pack: 0.988 KWh (column 10) in 21.5 minutes (column 12) of 
continuous PAGD performance. Conversely, subtracting the predicted final 
total energy (2.4 KWh) available to the driver after the experimental run 
(fourth line of column 9, Table 5) from the predicted total energy (2.66 
KWh, third line) available to the driver before the PAGD charge run, gives 
us the total energy lost by the drive pack: 0.26 KWh in 21.5 minutes. If 
we divide the total available energy gained by the charge pack, by the 
total energy lost by the drive pack, we obtain a surplus factor of 
3.9.times., or 388% of the breakeven point (column 15). The same values 
result from dividing the charge pack % of total capacity gain by the drive 
pack % of total capacity lost, and then downscaling this value by 
multiplying it by the typical scale factor for the two packs, 
29/46=0.63.times.. 
In an analogous fashion, we analyzed the results for the second example 
shown in Table 5. Here, the charger increased the percentage of its total 
capacity by 45.5% (a 22.75 fold increase in estimated total relative 
capacity) and, during the same period, the driver decreased the percentage 
of its predicted total capacity by 7% (a .sup..about. 17.5% decrease in 
capacity relative to the percentage of residual total capacity at the 
start, i.e. 40%). By dividing the predicted total available energy gained 
by the charge pack (0.962 KWh/18 minutes) by the expected total energy 
lost by the driver pack (0.246 Kwh/18 minutes) we obtain a surplus factor 
of 3.9.times., or 391% of the breakeven point. This corresponds to an 
interrupted, total sequential run of 18 minutes, each minute-long run 
being separated by a cooling and voltage relaxation period of 15 minutes 
before the next run is carried out, at an average PAGD frequency of 61 
PPS. 
Analysis of the remaining results illustrates how a number of PAGD 
controlling parameters interact to determine conditions for effective 
maintenance of a PAGD regime. The lower gain and higher loss per unit time 
registered for the third run of Table 5, which results in the lower 
breakeven efficiency of 230% and a smaller net power production rate than 
before (power estimates of 1.396 kWh/h of PAGD operation vs 2.387 kWh/h, 
for the second run, Table 5) illustrate, for example, the combined effect 
of lowering the pressure (0.8 to 0.7 Torr) and running the PAGD 
continuously (the heating effect), both of which depress the PAGD 
frequency. The fourth run of Table 5 identifies the continuous performance 
of a "broken in" softer grade of aluminum (column 19), having a lower 
work-function (as determined from the higher PAGD frequency spectrum) than 
the harder H34 plates of the previous examples, and shows that, despite 
the series value of the total capacitance being higher (5,333 mfd vs 4,030 
mfd for runs one through three), and despite the higher vacuum (0.2 Torr), 
the lower work-function results in a higher frequency; however, even 
though this run registers a predicted higher breakeven efficiency (310%) 
than the previous experiments, these conditions result in a 4/5-fold lower 
estimate of net power produced, when compared to the previous three PAGD 
runs. 
PAGD runs 5 and 6, Table 5, illustrate the effect of switching on the 
auxiliary electromechanical arm of the circuit shown in FIG. 11. 
Increasing the amount of charge capacitatively shunted into the 
electromechanical arm by higher C4 values (column 27), and increasing the 
current that feeds the squirrel cage induction motor utilized by lowering 
R4 (column 28), results in a power capture by the charge pack that 
registers an energy loss (predicted to be 96% efficient, falling short 4% 
of breakeven recovery), as most of the tube output power is spent in the 
electromechanical arm and its motor effect. Furthermore, under the 
conditions of maximum electromechanical action, the drain imposed on the 
drive pack becomes considerable (see loss in columns 10 and 13), even if 
the C3 and C5 values are reduced, column 21, Table 5). These runs also 
illustrate how the motor appears to function as an electrical induction 
generator having rpm values much higher than the synchronous values 
prescribed by the frequency of the PAGD (column 29, Table 5). 
The extremely large breakeven efficiency of PAGD run 5, Table 5, indicates 
that with selected values of C4 and R4, it is possible to operate the 
motor in the auxiliary arm and still accumulate excess energy from the 
PAGD production in the charge pack. 
Runs 7 and 8 illustrate results obtained for 64 cm.sup.2 plates, and a 
shorter interelectrode gap distance, for two pressures (0.8 and 0.5 Torr), 
the device being open to a rotary pump manifold in the first instance and 
sealed from the pump, in the second case. Despite the lower vacuum, the 
higher pulse frequency (32 vs 5 PPS) and breakeven efficiency (906% vs 
289%) registered by run 8 when compared to run 7, are a consequence of the 
method of run 8, which was interrupted systematically by 5 passive cooling 
periods, as in the case of run 2, whereas run 7 was continuous. This again 
resulted in higher average PAGD frequencies (at lower pressures), a 
predicted two-fold greater gain and a predicted two-fold smaller loss 
(columns 13 and 14) for run 8. 
FIG. 13 shows curves representing the slopes of the open circuit relaxation 
voltages, which are linear with the log of time elapsed from cessation of 
discharge, for both drive and charge packs, in the same run 8 set out in 
Table 5. The experiment in its entirety consisted of preliminary 
resistor-loaded measurement discharges and their corresponding open 
circuit voltages from the moment of cessation of the resistive discharge 
(illustrated, respectively, by the open squares of DPT1 for drive pack 
relaxation time 1, and by the open circles of CPT1 for charge pack 
relaxation time 1), followed by their relaxation rates in the wake of the 
PAGD production (the hatched squares of DPT2 for drive pack relaxation 
time 2, and the hatched circles of CPT2 for charge pack relaxation time 
2), and finally, by the relaxation rates from the final resistor-loaded 
measurement discharges (the black squares of DPT3 for drive pack 
relaxation time 3, and the black circles of CPT3 for charge pack 
relaxation time 3). Discharge resistances were 833 ohms for the charge 
pack, and 2083 ohms for the drive pack in all cases, corresponding to 
resistors R3 and R2, respectively, of FIG. 9. This methodology will be 
examined in greater detail below. It is apparent that, after every load 
period, be this resistive (CPT1, DPT1, CPT3 and DPT3) or due to PAGD 
operation (DPT2), the relaxation slope is positive; as shown from slopes 
CPT1 and DPT1, the log time proportionality of the open circuit voltage 
relaxation, under these conditions, tends to plateau after .sup..about. 30 
minutes. The exception to this general behaviour lies in the voltage 
relaxation slope CPT2, which is negative and reflects the charge 
accumulation occurring in the charge pack and obtained by capture of 
energy produced during PAGD operation, triggered by the energy drawn from 
the drive pack during load time 2. 
As a first approximation of electrical power generated and consumed by the 
energy conversion system of the invention, the previous open circuit 
voltage method is of significance in showing the basic trends involved in 
interaction of the operating parameters. However, in all likelihood, it 
overestimates the actual values of electrical power consumed and 
generated, for a variety of reasons. First, it assumes that the relative 
capacity scale of the batteries in the drive and charge packs is an 
absolute charge capacity scale with an invariant maximal charge retention, 
which it is not; in fact, the absolute charge capacity is itself a 
variable subject to several factors, such as the cycle life, overcharging 
or undercharged conditions, cell age, residual memory and the rate of 
charge and discharge. Hence, the inference of a uniform time scale on the 
basis of the open circuit voltage/capacity intercepts may not be 
warranted. Finally, it does not integrate the open voltage decrease over 
time, and utilizes the specification load current as the average current 
over time. 
In order to obviate these problems, we resorted to a variety of other 
measurement methods. First, we proceeded to compare the closed circuit, 
preliminary, resistive-load discharge measurements for either charge or 
drive pack, under conditions of negligible loss of power, as these 
measurements were statistical means (n=9) taken, at equal intervals, 
during the first 90 seconds of the load discharge, and obtained both just 
before the PAGD production runs (but separated from each PAGD run by an 
open circuit voltage relaxation of 30 minutes) and just after the runs 
(but equally separated by a relaxation of 30 minutes). As an example of 
the data generated by such an approach, FIG. 14 illustrates the shift of 
the slopes indicating marginal power loss for the drive pack (from the 
closed squares to the open squares) and those indicating gain of power for 
the charge pack (from the open circles to the closed circles), in actual 
total load power values. 
Integration of these power measurements over the projected load discharge 
time, taken from the family of curves generated on the basis of the 
manufacturer's load voltage over discharge time specifications, led to a 
direct comparison of the new values, as shown in Table 6, with the values 
presented in Table 5, for the first three instances introduced. All values 
of Table 6 were obtained by resistive measurements of power that entailed 
a negligible power loss. Table 6 confirms the fundamental equivalence of 
runs 1 through 3, as already seen from their corresponding analysis using 
the open voltage method (see runs 1 to 3, Table 5). This new power 
estimation method also confirms the lower loss encountered in run 2 
utilizing interrupted PAGD operation. While the breakeven efficiencies 
sensibly doubled using this method, the estimates of actual electrical 
power consumption recovery decreased by a 2 to 3-fold factor. Thus this 
direct load voltage/amperage measurement method of estimating actual power 
losses or gains, is a check upon the open voltage method previously 
utilized. 
Direct, instantaneous measurements of the voltage and current 
characteristics of the PAGD production and capture phenomena being 
discussed, were also performed during PAGD runs for diverse sets of 
conditions, including all those described in the two previous sections. In 
Table 7 we show these results for two PAGD generators having an identical 
electrode area (128 cm.sup.2) and connected to electrical energy capture 
circuits of three separate configurations as set forth in FIGS. 10A, 10B 
and 10C and column 2, Table 7. In the configuration of FIG. 10C, or double 
diode configuration, both electrode plates act as cathodes and the axial 
member as the anode collector (experiments 1-4, for the H220 device and 
13-14, Table 7, for the H34 device). In the configuration of FIG. 10B, or 
triode configuration, one plate acts as the cathode, the axial member as 
an auxiliary cathode and the other plate as a collector (experiments 5-9, 
Table 7). In the configuration of FIG. 10A or single (plate to plate) 
diode configuration, the axial member is disconnected, and the polarity of 
the plates remain as in the triode configuration (experiments 10-12). All 
measurements were taken after 1 minute of PAGD operation of the devices, 
which were, at the start of each run, at room temperature. All cathodes 
had been previously broken in with &gt;2*10.sup.6 AGD pulses. The open 
circuit voltage of the charge pack was, for all cases, at 359 to 365 
volts, before each test. The direct measurements of the PAGD input and 
output DC voltages and currents were obtained as statistical means of 10 
second long measurements, and at no time did the standard error of the 
plate voltage mean exceed 35 volts. 
The air pressure within the tube during these tests is shown in column 3, 
Table 7, the drive pack DC voltage (X), in column 5, the DC voltage across 
the plates (Y), in column 6, the drive pack output current (PAGD input 
current), in column 7, and the drive pack total watts output is shown in 
column 8. Columns 9 and 10 show the PAGD voltage (PAGD V=(X-Y)/I.sub.av) 
and the value of the PAGD extinction potential in V/cm. The recovery 
co-ordinates (ie the PAGD output energy) found at the U1-U2 output (FIG. 
9), are shown in columns 11 to 13, as the charge pack's E1-E2 input DC 
voltage, amperage and power watts, respectively. The calculated resistance 
of the entire circuit is given in column 14, the registered PAGD 
frequencies in column 16, and running conditions in columns 17 to 18. The 
breakeven efficiency obtained by direct comparison of the electrical power 
figures for the drive and charge packs, respectively, is given in column 
15. This assumes, for purposes of a generalization of power production 
rates over time, that the quasi-instantaneous, direct measurements here 
obtained can be translated to outputs obtained per unit time, and thus 
into direct Watt-hour measurements. 
Data from runs 1 through 4 demonstrate that, at these PAGD frequencies, 
there is no difference between using fast switching (32 nanoseconds) MUR 
860 diodes, or regular 40HFR-120 silicon diodes, in the rectification 
bridge of the electrical energy capture circuit, and that the PAGD 
frequency varies as a function of decreasing air pressure. 
Runs 5 to 14 show that, in general, for the same tube, the single and 
double diode configurations are the most efficient, for the same pressure, 
the diode configuration typically yields .about.1.5-2x larger breakeven 
efficiencies (cp runs 10-11 and 13-14, with runs 5-9, Table 7). The 
largest accumulations of power are also registered in the diode mode(s). 
This trend appears to be a function of the much lower cathodic 
work-function of the aluminum plates, than of the tungsten of the axial 
member utilized as an auxiliary cathode in the triode configuration. A 
feature of the data from these 14 different runs is the consistent excess 
power outputs (column 15, Table 7) and their narrower range (218 to 563%), 
when compared to those observed with the previous two methods of 
experimental analysis. 
Run 12, Table 7, shows that the switching on of the electromechanical arm 
can be performed without entailing a power loss in the PAGD capture 
circuit, as previously found for run 5, Table 5, utilizing the open 
circuit voltage method. In fact, with C4=8 .mu.F and R4=500 ohms, the AC 
induction motor behaves as an electrical flywheel (eg. 2800-3000 rpm for 
10 PPS inputs), while the electrical energy capture circuit still 
registers a sizeable excess electrical power production (compare runs 11 
and 12, Table 7). Runs 13 and 14 illustrate how the charge pack's state of 
charge and its inherent capacitance affects both the PAGD frequency and 
the power producing efficiency of the entire system: as the charge pack is 
reduced from 29 to 19 cells, the PAGD generator adjusts by reducing its 
frequency logarithmically and, while the charge pack input current is 
greater than before, the drive pack loss becomes still larger and the 
breakeven efficiency much lower (by &gt;1/2, from 563% to 228%). This is 
because the circuit must translate the naturally larger PAGD amplitude 
into a larger surplus of output current, and in this process becomes less 
efficient. 
If the first measurement method employed (the open circuit method) had to 
make too many theoretical assumptions about the system's performance under 
load conditions and hence about its effective charge capacity, the second 
approach still had to suppose an invariant discharge time and thus an 
invariant absolute charge capacity on the part of the battery systems 
(charge packs) employed for capture which it approximated by an operation 
of integral calculus. With the third method described above, theoretical 
assumptions were avoided except that, in these measurements, the actual 
performance of a given battery in terms of time, time of delivery and time 
of capture, was also ignored; no account is taken of the time-dependent 
modulation of the PAGD frequency, as effected by certain of the parameters 
analyzed, namely the charge pack state of charge, the method of sequencing 
the PAGD runs (continuous vs interrupted) and its concomitant heating 
effects, and the state of charge (load voltage and current capacity) of 
the drive pack. A simple, non-negligible, resistive measurement of power 
lost by the drive pack, and an identically non-negligible measurement of 
the power gained by the charge pack, for the same experiment and the same 
singular time of PAGD production, were performed repeatedly to corroborate 
the previous three approaches. For this purpose, all experiments were 
designed as a continuous series of sequential phases: 
1) before a PAGD run, a resistive discharge was measured across either pack 
over periods of 1 to 3 hours (utilizing the DP and CP resistances 
previously reported in the open voltage section) and followed by a 15 to 
30 minute open circuit voltage relaxation; 
2) then, the PAGD runs were performed, either continuously or as 
interrupted, composite sequences, and the corresponding open circuit 
relaxation voltage(s) were measured, after the cessation of the integral 
PAGD run; 
3) finally, resistive discharge measurements, obtained under identical 
conditions to those recorded before the PAGD run, were carried out for 
either pack, followed by concomitant battery voltage relaxation rate 
measurements. 
Under these experimental conditions, exact power measurements could be 
taken from an analysis of the actual battery discharge curves before and 
after the PAGD run. Based on a comparison of the curve trends of the 
pre-run resistive discharge of the drive pack with those of the post-run 
resistive discharge, the effective power drawn (.DELTA.E.sub.c) from the 
withdrawable power capacity of the drive pack incurred during a PAGD run, 
was ascertained. This represents the power consumption during the run, and 
the experimental value thus recorded constitutes the actual power figure 
that must be matched for breakeven () to occur. Hence, the breakeven value 
equals, by definition, the electrical energy input to the system. 
Similarly, a comparison of the charge pack pre-run and post-run resistive 
discharge curve trends identified the effective power (.DELTA.E.sub..rho.) 
added to the withdrawable capacity of the charge pack. This quantity 
represents the electrical energy recovered during the run. The relation 
for the two quantities is expressed by the breakeven efficiency (BE= %) 
equation: 
EQU %=.DELTA.E.sub..rho. /.DELTA.E.sub.c*100 
If the breakeven efficiency is less than %=100, then the apparatus 
registers a net loss in electrical energy in the CP with respect to the 
DP. Conversely, if %&gt;100, then there is a net gain in electrical energy 
in the CP, as compared to that lost in the DP. For purposes of this 
analysis, a limit to the minimum withdrawable capacity was placed, from 
experiment and in agreement with the load current curves of the 
manufacturer, at 115 W for the driver pack (average current of 0.250 A, 
minimum current of 0.230 A), and at 90 W for the charge pack (average 
current of 0.375 A, minimum current of 0.334 A), as a function of both 
their total cell size (respectively, 46:29) and the difference in the 
resistive loads employed for the discharge measurements. All cathodes had 
been broken in, as described before. 
The results obtained with this fourth method, for six selected experiments 
with three diverse types of devices (using different electrode plate 
areas, gap lengths, and electrode work-functions), configured both in the 
triode or the (single) diode (e.g. FIG. 10B) arrangements, at the 
indicated pressures, are presented in Table 8. In all cases, a net excess 
of combined battery pack charge, expressed as electrical watt hours, is 
registered (columns 8 and 10, Table 8) and the breakeven efficiencies are 
all &gt;100% (column 10). Experimental groups #1 and #2 again demonstrate 
that, for the same cathode, the interrupted PAGD sequence method of group 
#2 (1 minute of PAGD function, followed by a 15 minute relaxation, and so 
on) yields a higher breakeven efficiency because of the lower losses 
registered with this minimal plate heating method (column 10, Table 8). 
Group #3, Table 8, shows that the PAGD power production efficiency is also 
higher for a lower work-function cathode material (H220 vs H34), being 
subjected to PAGD auto-electronic conditions at a 4-fold lower pressure 
than the control groups #1 and #2; however, the lower pressure depresses 
the frequency and, together with the interrupted PAGD sequencing method, 
it also lowers the loss, causing an actually much larger breakeven value 
than registered for the previous two groups. Groups #4 and 5 exemplify the 
dual effect of lowering both the plate area and the gap distance: the 
former affects the PAGD event frequency, whereas the latter affects the 
PAGD amplitude, and thus the capture efficiency of the charge pack. 
Despite a cathodic work-function practically and operationally identical 
to that of groups #1 and 2, these smaller plate area and shorter gap 
devices utilized in groups #4 and 5, yield 3- to 6-fold lower net power 
outputs, as well as lower breakeven efficiencies, than the former groups, 
at the same pressure. Finally, group #6 exemplifies the results obtained 
for the plate diode configuration, where the frequency is lower (no 
triggering role for the axial member), and a higher loss leads to the 
lower breakeven efficiency, comparable to that of the lower area and 
shorter gap groups #4 and 5. 
In order to verify the discharge curve lengths employed in these analyses 
and experimentally establish the actual charge capacity of the battery 
packs, calibration resistive discharges, between the maximum charge state 
and the minimum limits chosen, were performed for each pack with their 
respective discharge resistances R2 and R3 (see FIG. 9). These discharge 
calibration curves were plotted for half maximal charge values shown in 
FIGS. 15A and 15B, and from the curve produced, we have determined the 
total half-charge capacities of each battery pack to be 1.033 kWh 
(100%=2.066 kWh) for the drive pack and 660 Wh (100%=1.320 kWh) for the 
charge pack. Based upon the corresponding maximal (100%) capacity values, 
we determined the actual percentages of the relative charge capacities 
shown in column 5, Table 8, which correspond to the experimental values 
obtained. We also noted that the curves plotted showed two quite distinct 
time linear slopes, the slope of the delivery of power per time unit 
steepening very markedly at the approach to the limits of the permissible 
withdrawable capacity, occurring at 115 W into R2, and 90 W into R3. 
The pre-PAGD run and post-PAGD run, drive and charge pack discharge curves 
corresponding to groups #3 and #6, respectively for triode and plate diode 
configurations, in Table 8, are shown in FIG. 16 (drive pack) and 17 
(charge pack), for group #3, and in FIG. 18 (drive pack) and 19 (charge 
pack), for group #6. In all cases, the open symbols represent the pre-PAGD 
run discharge curves, whereas the closed symbols represent the post-PAGD 
run discharge curves. 
As a further check on these values, a videographic, millisecond analysis of 
the singular power simultaneities occurring at both ends of the system 
(drive and charge packs) was performed for various 10 second samples of 
diverse PAGD runs. A typical example is shown in FIG. 20, which is a 
sample of the PAGD run designated as #6 in Table 8. Whereas the drive pack 
DC wattage spent as input to PAGD production varied from 36.6 to 57.82 
watts, by a factor of 1.6x, the DC wattage entering the charge pack as 
captured PAGD output varied more pronouncedly by a factor of 2.7x, from 
146.4 to 399.6 watts (all meters were in the same selected ranges of 
voltage and current) with the semi-periodic, intermittent character of 
each singular emission, though within specific, ascertainable ranges for 
both amplitude and current outputs. Assimilation of the singular behaviour 
of the PAGD in this sample, by a statistical treatment of its variation 
(n=64), indicates that the operational breakeven efficiency observed 
during this sampled period lies at 485.2%.+-.18% with projected 48.3Wh 
drive pack loss and 221.7Wh charge pack gain. This matches rather closely 
the observed 483% breakeven efficiency, and the 37.7Wh loss as well as the 
182.2 kWh gain for the overall PAGD run reported in group#6, Table 8, and 
indicates how close are the values obtained by the operational and 
extensive non-negligible resistive discharge power measurement methods 
employed. 
Finally, an example of the correlation between the drive pack PAGD load 
voltage and the charge pack PAGD charging voltage, as a function of the 
duration of the intervening PAGD run between resistive discharge 
measurements, is shown in FIG. 21, for the PAGD run corresponding to group 
#4, Table 8. 
Using the same pulse generator with H200 AL 128 cm.sup.2 plates, in a 
double diode configuration, and the same circuit values (but with CP=23 
cells), three experiments were conducted at different PAGD frequencies, as 
a function of varying air pressure. Analysis of driver pack losses and 
charge pack gains by the extensive load discharge measurement method, as 
described before, led to the determination of the gross and net gains 
(respectively, without and with losses included) per pulse, in 
milliwatt-hour, for each frequency, as well as of the gross and net power 
gains per second of PAGD operation. The results are shown in Table 9. Even 
though the gross and net gains of power per pulse were observed to 
increase with decreasing frequency, the gross power gain per unit time 
increased with increasing frequency. However, this last trend does not 
necessarily translate into a higher net gain per unit time, because the 
losses in the driver pack (not shown) also increase significantly with 
PAGD frequency. These losses are in all probability related to more energy 
retention by the plasma at higher frequencies when plasma extinction 
becomes incomplete. We expect net gains to reach optimal thresholds for 
any given type of circuit configuration set of values and pulse generator 
dimensions. 
Certain additional observations made during experiments with the double 
diode configuration of FIG. 10A may assist in understanding of the 
invention. 
1) Replacing residual air with argon gas leads to higher PAGD frequencies, 
as noted by us when utilizing a 128 cm.sup.2 H200 AC plate pulse generator 
in the double diode configuration (V=575). At 1 Torr, the pulsation rate 
went from 20 PPS in air to 1300-400 PPS in argon. With 29*12 v cells in 
the charge pack, input currents ceased to flow into it. Under these 
conditions, the tube potential across the plates decreased and the drop 
across the input resistor increased. The value of E(=V/d) became smaller 
(gap size=3 cm from plate to axial anode collector), as the extinction 
voltage decreased. 
2) With frequencies of 400 PPS, the currents flowing into the charge pack 
fell to zero. Replacing a fast-recovery type HFR 120 (1200v, 40A) diode 
bridge by a type MUR 860 (600v, 8A) diode bridge had no effect. When the 
amplitude of plate potential oscillations falls below the potential of the 
charge pack, there is also a tendency to produce arc discharges. For 
output currents from the vacuum pulse generator to enter the charge pack, 
the number of cells must be reduced so that the potential of the charge 
pack is low enough to admit the transduced currents. A reduction from 29 
to 23 cells allowed currents of 250 mA to enter the CP, and further 
reduction to 19 cells doubled these currents (per polarity arm). 
3) Our observations show that it suffices under these conditions (CP=19 
cells) to increase the vacuum, so that the frequency decreases, and the 
plate potential and the charge pack input currents increase. At 0.1 Torr, 
the currents reached 1A D.C. per plate, and at 0.05 Torr, 2A D.C. 
The interconnection between these factors indicates that the extinction 
voltage is a function of the PAGD frequency: the higher the PAGD 
frequency, the lower the extinction voltage, until empirical (in 
distinction from predicted) VAD field values are reached. As a 
consequence, the start voltage of the charge pack must be adjusted, by 
varying the number of cells composing it, so that it lies below the lowest 
extinction voltage of the PAGD, for any given geometry and gap distance. 
Secondly, as the ion plasma is made more rarefied, the frequency of the 
emissions decreases, but the peak values of the output voltage and current 
per pulse increase. The slower the PAGD and the more rarefied the 
atmosphere, the higher is the output energy produced by the system 
relative to the input energy. 
Autographic analysis of PAGD-induced cathode craters in H34 plates was 
performed, and their average inner diameter and maximal depth were 
determined. Similar studies were performed for PAGD-induced craters in 
Alzak (trade mark) plates. The secondary craters characteristically found 
in Alzak plates, along fracture lines irradiating from the main crater, 
are absent in H34 plates; instead, in H34 plates, one observes a roughened 
surface surrounding the emission crater, quite distinct from the original 
rough aspect of the pulled finish of these hardened aluminum plates. Also 
unlike the Alzak main craters, the H34 craters often have a convex center 
occupied by a cooled molten metal droplet, whereas the Alzak craters had a 
concave, hollowed out aspect. Eventually, as the pitting resulting from 
PAGD cathodic emissions covers the entire cathode, the metallic surface 
gains a very different rough aspect from its original appearance. In this 
process, craters from earlier metal layers become progressively covered 
and eroded by subsequent emissions from the same cathode. Altogether 
different is the surface deposition process occurring at the anode; here, 
the surface appears to become more uniform, through the mirroring and 
possibly abrasive actions of cathode jets. Macroscopically, with increased 
periods of PAGD operation, the anode surface appears cleaner and more 
polished. 
With the data obtained by the metallographic method of crater measurement, 
we estimated the volume of metal ejected from the cathode, by assuming 
that the crater represents a concavity analogous to a spherical segment 
having a single base (1/6.pi.*H [3r.sup.2 +H.sup.2 ], where H is the 
height of the spherical segment and r the radius of the sphere), while 
disregarding the volume of the central droplet leftover from the emission. 
The following are mean .+-.SEM crater diameters (D), crater depths (H) and 
maximum volumes (V) of extruded metallic material for two types of 
aluminum cathodes, Alzak and H34 hardened aluminum, subject to a high 
input current PAGD: 
1- Alzak: D-0.028 cm.+-.0.003; H-0.002 cm.+-.0.0002; V-6.2*10.sup.-7 
cm.sup.3 ; 
2- H34: D-0.0115 cm.+-.0.0004; H-0.0006.+-.0.0001; V-3.1*10.sup.-8 cm.sup.3 
; 
Accordingly, utilizing plates composed of either material with 3 mm of 
thickness, and thus with a volume of 38.4 cm.sup.3 per plate and 
considering that only 2/3rds of the cathode shall be used (a 2 mm layer 
out of the 3 mm thickness), the total number of pulses per plate total 
(TLT) and partial (PLT) lifetimes is theoretically: 
1- Alzak: TLT: 6.2*107 pulses; PLT: 4.1*10.sup.7 pulses; 
2- H34: TLT: 1.2*10.sup.9 pulses; PLT: 8.1*10.sup.8 pulses. 
Typically, an H34 device can produce .sup..about. 0.25 kWh per 10,000 
pulses. The corresponding value for a PLT is thus a minimum of 1.0 
MWh/Alzak cathode and of 20 MWh/H34 cathode. As the cathode for each 
combination is only 66.7% consumed, the vacuum pulse generator may 
continue to be used in a reverse configuration, by utilizing the other 
plate in turn as the cathode; thus, the estimated minimal values become, 
respectively, 2.0 MWh/Alzak pulse generator and 40 MWh/H34 pulse 
generator. The same rationale applies for the double diode configuration 
of FIG. 10C. 
We have created a two-ported system for the production of the singular 
discharge events which we have previously identified in the '863 
application as an endogenous pulsatory abnormal glow discharge regime 
where the plasma discharge is triggered by spontaneous electronic 
emissions from the cathode. We have examined the functioning of this 
two-ported system in order to determine what were the electrical power 
input and output characteristics of a sustained PAGD regime. Despite the 
wide (10-fold) variations in net power and breakeven efficiencies measured 
by the four different methods employed (open voltage measurements, time 
integration of negligible power measurements, operational power 
measurements and real time non-negligible power measurements), all methods 
indicate the presence of an anomalous electrical transduction phenomenon 
within the vacuum pulse generator, such as can result in the production at 
the output port of electrical energy measured and directly captured which 
is greater than would be anticipated having regard to the electrical 
energy input at the input port. With the most accurate of the methods 
employed we have found typical PAGD power production rates of 200 Wh/hour 
of PAGD operation, and these may reach &gt;0.5 kWh/h values. 
The discrepancies between the methods utilized have been extensively 
examined in the preceding section. Our systematic approach demonstrates 
that the most frequently employed method of measuring the charge capacity 
of batteries by the open voltage values is the least reliable approach for 
the determination of the actual net power lost or gained by the battery 
packs used in the system: when compared to all three other methods, it 
overestimates net power consumed and produced by up to 10 fold, as well as 
distorting the breakeven efficiencies, particularly at the extremes of 
operation. All this results from the grossly diminished (50-60% of 
manufacturer's theoretical estimate) effective charge capacity of the lead 
acid gel cells employed, as determined experimentally from FIGS. 18 and 
19, when compared to the theoretical maximal charge capacity values that 
serve as scale for the open voltage measurements. In other words, the 
effective energy density of the batteries during these experiments was in 
fact approximately half of the manufacturer's estimated 30 Wh/kg. 
Under these actual conditions of battery performance, the third and fourth 
methods (respectively, operational and real-time non-negligible power 
measurements) of power consumption and production proved to be the best 
approach to measure both PAGD electrical power input and output, as the 
results of both methods matched each other closely, even though the former 
is a statistical treatment of simultaneous events and the latter is a real 
time integration of their cumulative effects. The second method is clearly 
less reliable than either the third or the fourth methods, and this stems 
from the fact that the power consumption slopes of negligible resistive 
discharges not only are very different from the quasi-steady state 
discharge slopes (beginning at &gt;5-15 minutes) of extensive resistive 
discharges, but also their proportionality may not reflect the real time 
proportionality of equivalent prolonged resistive discharges. 
The main advantage of the fourth method is that it effectively takes into 
account the actual time performance of the batteries comprised by the 
overall PAGD production and capture system we have described. As such, the 
method may have the main disadvantage of reflecting more the limitations 
of the batteries employed (their high rate of degradation of the absolute 
value of total effective charge capacity, and limited efficiency in 
retaining charge derived from discontinuous input pulses) than indicating 
the actual power output. There are a number of possibilities for fine 
tuning of the system introduced by the present work, beginning with the 
utilization of secondary batteries or other charge shortage or absorption 
devices that have less variable or more easily predictable actual charge 
capacity. In this respect, there are two major shortcomings to the 
batteries used to form the drive and charge packs; (1) their significant 
memory effect and (2) their design for constant, rather than 
discontinuous, DC charging. Recently developed Nickel Hydride batteries 
are an example of an electrostatic charge-storage system that lacks a 
substantial charge memory effect, and their experimental batteries are 
being developed currently for higher efficiency intermittent charging 
methods. Electrostatic charge retention systems having better energy 
densities, better charge retentivities and insignificant memory effects 
will probably be more efficient at capturing and holding the energy output 
by the circuit. In practical embodiments of the invention, effectiveness 
in charge utilization will be more important than measurability, and any 
device that will use the energy effectively whilst presenting an 
appropriate back EMF to the system may be utilized. 
The effect of the performance characteristics of the drive and charge packs 
is only one amongst many parameters affecting operation of the invention. 
As shown by our extensive investigation of the diverse PAGD phenomenon the 
recovery of energy from it by electromechanical transduction as in the 
'531 application, or electrostatic capture as described above, the factors 
involved in modulating the frequency, amplitude and peak current 
characteristics of the PAGD regime are complex. Manipulation of these 
factors can improve electrical energy recovery, or reduce it or even 
suppress PAGD. We have so far noted numerous factors that affect PAGD 
frequency and some amongst those that also affect the PAGD amplitude. 
Aside from these factors, the circuit parameters of the output port 
portion of the circuit, in addition to the nature and chemical 
characteristics of the battery cells already discussed, the charge 
potential of the charge pack, the characteristics of the rectifiers in the 
recovery bridge in relation to the period of PAGD superesonant 
frequencies, and the effective values of the parallel and transversal 
capacitance bridges can all influence the results achieved. Certain 
factors however have a radical effect on PAGD operation, such as the gap 
distance and the charge pack potential. Too small a gap distance between 
the cold emitter (cathode) and the collector will result in an increasing 
reduction in energy recovery. The potential presented by the charge pack 
must be less than the voltage amplitude developed by the PAGD, as 
specified by a given gap distance at a given pressure. Too large a charge 
pack size with respect to PAGD amplitude and the gap length will preclude 
PAGD production or result in extremely low PAGD frequencies. In brief, the 
energy absorption rate and the counter potential presented by the charge 
pack or other energy utilization device are important factors in the 
operation of the circuit as a whole, and should either be maintained 
reasonably constant, or changes should be compensated by changes in other 
operating parameters (as is typical of most power supply circuits). 
Since our test results indicate that the electrical power output of the 
circuit can be greater than the electrical power input to the circuit, the 
circuit clearly draws on a further source of energy input. Whilst we do 
not wish to be confined to any particulary theory of operation, the 
following discussion may be helpful in explaining our observations. These 
observations have been discussed in some detail so that the phenomenon 
observed can be reproduced, even if the principles involved are not fully 
understood. 
In the '863 and '531 applications we have identified a novel, cold-cathode 
regime of vacuum electrical discharge, which we have termed the pulsed 
abnormal glow discharge (PAGD) regime. This regime, which occupies the 
abnormal glow discharge region of the volt-ampere curve of suitable 
discharge tubes, has the singular property of spontaneously pulsing the 
abnormal glow discharge in a fashion which is endogenous to the tube and 
its circuit environment that constitutes a vacuum pulse generator device, 
when it is operated under the conditions we have identified. In fact, when 
stimulated with continuous direct current, in such conditions, such a 
circuit responds with spontaneous abnormal glow discharge pulses that 
enable effective segregation of input and output currents. We have 
demonstrated electrically, metallographically, oscillographically and 
videographically, how the pulsed discontinuity results from a 
self-limiting, autoelectronic cathode emission that results in repeated 
plasma eruptions from the cathode under conditions of cathode saturated 
current input. The auto-electronic triggering of the PAGD regime is thus 
akin to that of the high-field emission mechanism thought to be 
responsible for vacuum arc discharges (VAD regime). However, under the 
PAGD conditions we have defined, this mechanism is found to operate in the 
pre-VAD region at very low field and low input average direct current 
values, with very large interelectrode distances and in a self-limiting, 
repetitive fashion. In other words, the PAGD regime we have identified has 
mixed characteristics: its current versus potential (abnormal glow) 
discharge curve is not only distinct from that of a vacuum arc discharge, 
but the electrical cycle of the PAGD regime itself oscillates back and 
forth within the potential and current limits of the abnormal glow 
discharge region, as a function of the alternate plasma generation and 
collapse introduced by the discontinuous sequencing of the auto-electronic 
emission process. Accordingly, the intermittent presence of the abnormal 
glow, as well as the observed segregation of the current flows, are due to 
the diachronic operation of these spontaneous cathode emission foci. The 
micro-crater and videographic analyses of the PAGD have demonstrated the 
presence of an emission jet at the origin of each pulse, a phenomenon 
which VAD theory and experiment has also identified. Metallic jets 
originating at the cathode spots of VADs have been known to present 
velocities up to, and greater than 1000 m/sec. 
In light of the above, the energy graft phenomenon we have isolated would 
have to be operated, at the micro-event scale, by the interactions of the 
cathode emission jet with the vortex-formed impulse-transducing plasma in 
the interelectrode space. Several aspects can be approached in terms of 
the complex series of events that constitute a complete cycle of 
operation, on a micro-scale. There are interactions within the cathode, 
interactions at the cathode surface, interactions between the emission jet 
and the plasma globule close to the cathode, and finally, interactions of 
the resulting electron and ion distributions in the interelectrode plasma, 
within parallel boundaries. 
In general, in the presence of an electrical field, the distribution of 
potential near the cathode forms a potential barrier to the flow of 
electronic charge, as this barrier is defined by the energy that the most 
energetic electrons within the metal, the Fermi energy electrons, must 
acquire before freeing themselves from the cathode surface potential to 
originate an emission jet. Before any free electrons become available for 
conduction in the space adjoining the cathode, they must cross the 
boundary posed by the potential barrier. With a weak applied field, 
classical electron emission from a metal can only occur if an energy 
practically equal to the work-function of the metal is imparted in 
addition to the Fermi energy. Under thermionic conditions of emission, the 
heating of the cathode provides the needed energy input. However, the 
cold-cathode Fowler-Nordheim quantum-field emission theory predicted the 
existence of a finite probability for an electron to tunnel through the 
potential barrier, when the applied field is high. Cold-cathode electron 
emissions are thus possible, under these conditions, at practically Fermi 
energy levels, as the high field would catalyze the tunnelling through the 
potential barrier by narrowing the barrier width for the Fermi energy 
electrons. The exact localization of the emission would then depend on the 
randomized fluctuations of high fields at the cathode, which were produced 
by positive space charges sweeping in proximity to it. For most purposes, 
this theory has been the working hypothesis of the last 60 years of field 
emission studies, which have centered upon the VAD mechanism, despite the 
fact that observed field gradients are evidently inadequate to explain 
breakdown as a function of the theoretical high field mechanism. The 
Fowler-Nordheim theory has therefore suffered major revisions and 
additions, mostly to account for the fact that it postulates, as a 
condition for cold-cathode field emission in large area electrodes, the 
presence of enormous fields (&gt;10.sup.9 V/m) and extremely low work 
functions, neither of which are borne out by experimental VAD 
investigations. Some researchers have found that the breakdown responsible 
for the VAD field emission is promoted by Joule heating and vaporization 
of microscopic emitter tips, and that this requires a critical current 
density (10.sup.12 A/cm.sup.2), while others emphasized that this 
explanation and these thresholds did not hold for large area emitters and 
that a space charge effect of concentrating the ion distribution near the 
cathode promoted breakdown under these circumstances, when the field 
reached a critical value; large field enhancement factors (&gt;1000-fold) 
have been postulated to explain the discrepancy between theoretical 
predictions and experimental findings regarding the critical breakdown 
field values, and others have demonstrated how this critical field value 
effectively varies with work-function and electrode conditioning. 
The PAGD regime and its self-extinguishing auto-electronic emission 
mechanism stands as an exception to the high field emission theory as it 
currently stands with all its modifications, especially given that in this 
phenomenon we are confronted.. with a cathode emission that spontaneously 
occurs across the large gaps in large plate area pulse generators, at very 
low field values (down to &lt;1*10.sup.4 V/m), as shown above and in the '863 
application. Moreover, a Fowler-Nordheim plot (in the form Log.sub.10 
(I/V.sup.2) vs 1/V) of the PAGD volt-ampere characteristic exhibits a 
positive slope, rather than the Fowler-Nordheim negative slope 
characteristic of VAD field emission. However, current density values 
obtained from correlations of autographic analysis of the cathode with an 
analysis of event-oscillogram (peak pulse currents), indicate that the 
PAGD current density J may reach values of 10.sup.5 to 10.sup.7 A/m.sup.2 
during the emission process (the larger Alzak craters have an associated 
lower J value), values which, at the upper end, do not reach the 10.sup.9 
A/m.sup.2 current density threshold required by the Fowler-Nordheim 
theory. Considering these two distinct observations with regards to field 
strength and current density, we have to admit the existence of a low 
field, large area cold-cathode auto-electronic emission endowed with high 
current densities, which is not predicted by current field emission 
theory. 
Unlike the typical VAD regime, the PAGD is neither a high frequency 
oscillation, nor does it occur in a random fashion. It constitutes a 
semi-regular, quasi-coherent, periodic energy transduction which cycles 
between cathode drop limits that are higher by a factor of 2-15 than 
typical vacuum arc cathode drops. The intermittent cathode emission 
responsible for the low frequency, pulsed behaviour of the abnormal glow, 
is also self extinguishing and self-starting, under the conditions we have 
defined. Furthermore, we have also identified a novel and unexpected 
dependency of the periodic pulse rate upon the cathode area. This 
indicates the presence of field emission control parameters heretofore 
unsuspected. It is likely that field fluctuations of the polarized 
pre-breakdown field is responsible for eliciting the particular 
localizations of the auto-electronic emission foci, as well as what 
imparts, in a lens-like fashion, the distorted field energy needed for 
electron surface release. In this sense, external, electrical or magnetic 
field fluctuations (e.g. motion of static charges or of constant magnetic 
fields) induced by us at pre-breakdown potentials, provoked PAGD emissions 
and breakdown at these levels. 
In general, VAD studies have shown that, for large area electrodes, 
microgeometry, adsorbed gas layers and gas impurity contents of the 
cathode play a role in modulating field emission. In our PAGD studies, the 
interactions at the cathode surface and across the cathode potential drop 
are clearly modulated by: (1) the nature of residual gases, as shown by 
our air vs Argon studies; (2) their pressure, (3) electrode conditioning, 
(4) work-function and (5) cumulative pulse count, amongst others. 
The plasma, in leak-controlled or low pressure PAGD devices, has both 
residual gas and metallic vapor substrates. In devices initially closed at 
high to very high vacua (diffusion pump pressures), the major residual 
substrate, whose presence increases with time of operation, is the 
metallic vapor released from the cathode and not impacted onto the 
envelope walls or the anode. It has been previously shown for externally 
(magnetically or electrostatically) pulsed plasma accelerators, that the 
amount of residual gas or vapor left in the interelectrode space 
diminishes with increasing number of consecutive discharges and a growing 
amount of electrode-insulator absorption of gas. The effect of such 
removal of residual gas or vapor is to decrease the vacuum of a sealed 
envelope. With high vacuum sealed PAGD generators we have observed that 
prolonged operation and sputter-induced mirroring of the envelope causes a 
progressive disappearance of the discharge, as the voltage potential 
needed to trigger it also increases. At the thermocouple, low frequency 
pulsed abnormal glow discharges can also be seen to increase the vacuum 
significantly. These results suggest instead the presence of a pumping 
mechanism in the PAGD which is somewhat analogous to that of sputter ion 
pumps, where collision of ionized gas molecules with the cathode is 
responsible for the sputtering of cathode material that either combines 
with the gas substrate (`gettering` action) or `plasters over` the inert 
gas molecules onto the anode (a process known as `ion burial`). These are 
the two basic pressure reducing actions of sputtered getter atoms, in ion 
pumps. However, in ion sputter pumps, the initiation of the cycle is a 
function of the presence of high velocity electrons in the high field 
plasma of the glow discharge, which are necessary to ionize the gas 
substrate molecules; also, the getter material typically has a high 
work-function for field emission. Hence, the sputtering is due to the 
secondary impact of plasma positive ions at the cathode, after plasma 
ionization has occurred in the interelectrode space. Altogether different 
is the mechanism of spontaneous, primary electron emission from the 
cathode, which is characteristic of the low field PAGD: here, the 
sputtering is caused by the electronic emission itself and attendant 
metallic vaporization processes. By artificially confining the firing foci 
to a part of the cathode, we have shown in the single diode configuration 
how the PAGD induced sputtering is associated with the cathode 
autoelectronic emission mechanism, rather than with the abnormal cathode 
glow per se, given the localization of sputtering onto the emission region 
of the plate, despite its overall cathode glow saturation. 
These observations would thus seem to corroborate the hypothesis of a 
progressive vacuum increase with the cumulative number of emitted pulses, 
were it not for the fact that experiments performed with leak controlled 
devices (reported here and in previous studies) show that, when the 
negative pressure is maintained by balanced leak admission of air or 
argon, pulse rates still decrease with cumulative pulse count, and do so 
neither as a function of an increase in vacuum, nor as a function of 
envelope mirroring (unless this is so extensive as to establish envelope 
conduction), but rather as a function of processes (generally referred to 
as conditioning) inherent to the electrodes, specifically, to the cathode. 
We have further shown that, for such altered emitter states, the pressure 
of the vessel must be increased, not because of an increasing vacuum 
(precluded by the controlled gas leak), but because of the effect that 
residual gases may have in modulating the low field PAGD emission. 
PAGD electrode conditioning is a cathode-dominant process resulting from 
the cumulative emission of high numbers of pulses by a cathode, and has 
been shown to be a factor independent of the nature and pressure of the 
residual gas and partially reversible only by operation with reversed 
plate polarity, unlike reports of copper cathode-dominant conditioning. It 
is thought that electrode conditioning and the accompanying increase in 
VAD breakdown potential are due to the progressive adsorption of residual 
gases, though cathode-dominant conditioning processes, such as subjecting 
the vacuum gap to consecutive discharges, have been shown to correlate the 
decrease in plasma impulse strength with electrode outgassing of absorbed 
or adsorbed gases. Moreover, given the pitting action of crater formation 
at the cathode by the PAGD regime, and, as we shall see below, the 
metallic plating of the anode, the PAGD cathode-dominant process of 
conditioning we have observed with respect to decreased pulse frequency 
and increase in potential, suggests that the apparent increase in cathode 
work function is not due to gas adsorption or absorption. These processes 
are more likely to occur on the plated anode. It is likely that, given the 
observed PAGD pressure reducing effect caused by the cathodic jet, a 
certain outgassing of the cathode is in fact occurring during PAGD 
function. One might also expect that the anode, if plated by sputtering 
atoms, would increase its gas content in the formed surface film. However, 
controlled leak experiments suggest instead that some other type of 
alteration of the cathode work function is occurring, which is, as we 
shall examine below, independent of the adsorbed gas state of the 
electrodes, as well as independent of the PAGD ion pump-like effect. 
Nonetheless, even at the level of the anode, the PAGD sputtering action 
may have contradictory effects: it may impact interelectrode gap molecules 
onto the collector, as well as release, by ionic bombardment and 
vaporization, gases adsorbed to, or contaminating the anode. If we assume 
that gas adsorption by impact on the collector is the predominant 
mechanism, one could explain the increase in the number of breakdown sites 
per unit time, as observed by us for a re-reversed cathode, if the number 
of PAGD breakdown sites depended on the quantity of adsorbed gases, eg 
oxygen, on the cathode being tested. Recovery of the cathode work-function 
would depend on the electronic charge recovery of the positively charged, 
adsorbed or occluded gas layer at the cathode- either by reversal or as a 
function of time of inactivity. The surface film theory of `electrical 
double layer formation at the cathode` in fact contended that, low field 
flash over is a photocathodic effect dependent upon the presence of a 
glowingly positively polarized gaseous film at the cathode; this film 
would lower the cathode emissivity by decreasing the field between the 
cathode surface and the leading edge of the cathode glow, across the 
cathode drop. However, even though the surface film theory of `electrical 
double layer formation at the cathode` predicts the lowering of the 
emission breakdown potential and the increase in flash over rate when the 
electrodes are reversed--as the anode would have acquired a surface charge 
capable of affecting the breakdown potential, it acknowledges 
nevertheless, that the anodic surface charge hardly explains the observed 
intensity of the polarization effects. Moreover non-reversed, conditioned 
cathodes retained their lower PAGD frequencies in a time independent 
manner, for as long as reversal was avoided (excluding a PAGD frequency 
recovery effect due to plate cooling, which may be as short as 15 
minutes). PAGD conditioning was independent of idle time and increased 
with cumulative pulse count. Moreover, the AGD pulses are not UV 
photocathodic Townsend discharges, liberating secondary electrons via 
positive ion impact at the cathode. Nor could photocathodic emissions 
generate currents of the magnitude observed in the PAGD. Lastly, the PAGD 
discharge and breakdown thresholds appear to be unaffected by UV, though 
they may be somewhat depressed by visible light, and the emission 
mechanism in the PAGD is the primary process. 
Removal or flattening of protuberances and tips from the emitting cathode 
by the action of the discharge, is a process also thought to play a role 
in hardening the cathode or increasing its field emission work-function. 
However, this explanation may not be adequate for the PAGD emission 
process, if we consider our metallographic findings of a smoothing action 
of the discharge at the collector. In fact, it would appear that the 
flattened, smoother, plated, mirrored and cleaner surfaces subjected to 
PAGD bombardment are the explanation for the observed increased emission 
ability of re-reversed cathodes: mirrored Alzak surfaces emit at higher 
frequencies than do dull H34 and H220 surfaces; new, polished surfaces 
emit at a higher frequency than do pitted, broken in surfaces; anode 
surfaces, never before utilized as cathodes but subjected to prolonged 
PAGD action, emit at higher frequencies when employed as cathodes, than do 
new, identical cathode surfaces; and ex-cathodes, employed for prolonged 
periods as anodes, regain a higher emission frequency upon re-use as 
cathodes. The better PAGD emission performance of smoother cathodes, 
compared with the worse VAD emission performance of the same, when pitted 
cathodes (lacking protuberances) are used, requires explanation. 
Rakhovsky has put forth a VAD model for cathode spots, that distinguishes 
between Type I spots (quickly moving spots, far from steady state and 
responsible for crater formation), and Type II spots (quasi-stationary and 
near steady-state, but leaving an itinerant track with no sign of crater 
formation). Whereas the former would obey the Fowler-Nordheim requirement 
for high fields (&gt;10.sup.9 V/m), the latter could hardly be expected to do 
so with typical arc voltage drops in the order of 10 V. Once again, 
autographic analysis of the PAGD emission aspect indicates mixed 
characteristics: the PAGD cathode spot is a hybrid. It behaves as an 
intermittent instability that leaves single (e.g. in H34) or clustered 
(e.g. in Alzak) craters, which are both qualities of Type I cathode spots; 
and it exists under low field conditions (&lt;10.sup.5 V/m), with cathode 
drops of 20 to 150 V, in a quasi-coherent mode, leaving an itinerant track 
of successive craters when operating at the higher frequencies, all of 
which are properties approaching those of a VAD Type II cathode spot. 
Furthermore, the macroscopically visible metal sputtering (due to the 
explosive action of the PAGD emission phenomenon) occurring at the upper 
end of the permissible DC current input scale, and the presence of large 
solidified molten metal droplets in and around the craters, suggest models 
which have been proposed for explosive electronic emission. Explosion 
models propose that the creation of a residual plasma ball in front of a 
microprotuberance provokes the large potential drop at the prospective 
emission focus and sufficiently high resistive and Nottingham heating to 
reach &gt;10.sup.7 A/cm.sup.2 current densities during the explosive 
consumption of these microemitters. Whether the explosive action 
associated with cathode spots is an auxiliary effect that applies solely 
to the vaporization of the emitting microprotrusion, or an integral 
emission and vaporization explosive process, it does not appear that it 
can be restricted to high-field VAD Type II cathode spots, given that it 
can be equally made to occur with the low field PAGD hybrid cathode spot, 
and be macroscopically observed. Indeed, in the plate diode configuration, 
it is easy to visualize the metallic particle explosions that surround and 
accompany the plasma jets, near to upper current limit conditions. 
However, if we are to assume that any of these models apply to the 
emission mechanism, we would, in all likelihood, have to conclude that the 
PAGD initial emission sites must be submicroscopic (100 to 10 nm), rather 
than microscopic. Resolution limits to our own metallographic examination 
of the smoothing action of the PAGD discharge on the collector would thus 
have precluded us from detecting formation of such submicroscopic 
protrusions, as well as their presence in a `soft` cathode- and thus infer 
their disappearance from a pitted, hardened cathode; but if the 
disappearance of such submicroprotuberances were responsible for the 
observed alteration of cathode work function, one would also thereby have 
to postulate the existence of a mechanism for microroughness regeneration 
(eg. tip growth) at the anode, in order to explain the observed increased 
emission upon cathode re-reversal. Furthermore, this regeneration would 
have to be actively promoted by operation with reversed polarity, and this 
is problematic. Focusing of the distorted or magnified field upon alumina 
inclusions on pure iron electrodes has been demonstrated to degrade 
breakdown voltage for field emission, but the effect was greater for 
larger microscopic particles. If we were to apply this concept to our 
work, it would require the existence of unmistakably abundant microscopic 
heterogeneities in the quasi-homogeneous electrode surfaces employed, 
which we did not observe; on the contrary, their absence suggests that 
either the microroughness responsible for the low field PAGD emission is 
submicroscopic, or that the field distortion responsible for eliciting the 
PAGD is independent of the presence of these protuberances. This last 
possibility must be taken all the more seriously, in light of the fact 
that PAGD functioning is able to cover with craters the entire surface of 
an emitter. 
Whereas the discharge potentials observed in the PAGD have been shown to be 
relatively independent of the kind of gas present, there is a gas effect 
in the PAGD phenomenon, particularly in what concerns its frequency, 
observed when the same `run down` cathode was capable of much higher 
emission rates when exposed to argon, than to air. Utilizing the technique 
of bias sputtering, it has been demonstrated that the number of charge 
symmetric collisions (dependent upon sheath thickness d and the ion mean 
free path) in the plasma sheath, which are responsible for lower energy 
secondary peaks in ion energy distribution N(E), at pressures of 0.2 Torr, 
is substantially greater in argon than in argon-nitrogen mixtures, and 
thus that, under these conditions, mostly Ar.sup.+ and Ar.sup.++ ions 
impact the negatively biased electrode. In non-equilibrium RF discharges, 
greater ion densities have also been attained with argon, than with air. 
With respect to field emissions, one would expect a gas effect only with 
regards to changes on surface conditions, though such studies have shown 
contradictory effects of argon upon cathode work function. In light of the 
foregoing, and given that the PAGD is an emission discharge and not a 
sputtering discharge per se, in the strict sense, we can conceive of the 
role of inert gas atoms in increasing, as compared to air or nitrogen, the 
ion energy density distribution at the PAGD cathode spot interface with 
the cathode surface emitter, and thus elicit increased emission rates from 
the cathode, by pulling electrons from the metal via the field effect. 
While this is consistent with the concept of focused distortions of 
space-charge field fluctuations inducing localization of the emission 
foci, the argon effect can be observed in the PAGD regime over the entire 
range of the Paschen low vacuum curve, and into Cooke's mid to high vacuum 
curve, at low fields and without negative biasing. Thus, it is not simply 
a high pressure (nor a gas conditioning) effect, even if the gas effect in 
question applies to the description of a local pressure rise at the 
emission site/cathode spot interface, which may play a role in enhancing 
the local field. 
Considered together, the PAGD emission-derived sputtering, the observed 
metallic plating of the anode and the explosive aspect of the discharge, 
suggest the presence of a jet of metallic vapor present in the discharge 
and running, contrary to the normal flow of positive ions, from the 
cathode to the anode. This jet appears to have properties similar to the 
high speed vapor ejected from the cathode in a VAD, as first detected by 
Tanberg with his field emission pendulum (Tanberg, R. (1930), "On the 
cathode of an arc drawn in vacuum", Phys. Rev., 35:1080) In fact, the VAD 
high field emission process is known to release, from the cathode spot, 
neutral atoms with energies much greater than the thermal energy of the 
emission discharge. This anomalous phenomenon brings into play the role of 
the reported cathode reaction forces detected in vacuum arc discharges 
(Tanberg, as above, also Kobel, E. (1930), "Pressure and high vapour jets 
at the cathodes of a mercury vacuum arc", Phys. Rev., 36:1636), which were 
thought to be due to the counterflow of neutral metallic atoms, from the 
cathode onto the anode (charged metallic ions are normally expected to 
target the cathode). In absolute units of current, this current quadrature 
phenomenon has been shown to reach, in the VAD regime, proportions of the 
order of 100*I.sup.2 (see also the Aspden papers referenced below). Early 
interpretations attributed this to the cathode rebounding of &lt;2% of gas 
substrate-derived plasma positive ions hitting the cathode and being 
charge neutralized in the process, but having kept most of their thermal 
energy. Tanberg held instead that the counterflow of neutral particles 
responsible for the cathode reaction force was cathode derived, 
effectively, that it constituted a longitudinal interaction acting in the 
direction of the metallic arc jet. However, even though secondary high 
energy distributions of neutral atoms emanating from the cathode do not 
have thermal energies, their modal distribution does (Davis, W. D. and 
Miller, H. C. (1969) J. Appl. Phys., 40:2212) furthermore, the major 
anomalous atomic counterflow that accompanies the high energy electron 
flow toward the anode, was shown mass spectrographically to consist 
predominantly of multiply ionized, positively charged ions of cathode 
metal, rather than neutral atoms. If this made it easier to abandon the 
primacy of the rebounding model, it was now more difficult for field 
emission theorists to accept and explain the observed high energies (ion 
voltages in excess of the discharge voltage drops) and the high ionization 
multiplicity associated with these counterflowing positive ions. This 
field of investigation has indeed been one of the mounting sources of 
evidence suggesting that there is something amiss in the present laws of 
electrodynamics. The anomalous acceleration of counterflowing ions, and 
the energy transfer mechanisms between high speed or `relativistic` 
electrons and ions in a plasma (Sethion, J. D. et al, "Anomalous 
Electron-Ion Energy Transfer in a Relativistic-Electron-Beam-Heated 
Plasma" Phys. Rev. Letters, Vol. 40, No. 7, pages 451-454), in these and 
other experiments, has been brilliantly addressed by the theory of the 
British physicist and mathematician, H. Aspden, who first proposed a novel 
formulation of the general law of electrodynamics capable of accounting 
for the effect of the mass ratio factor (M/m') in the parallel (and 
reverse) motion of charges with different masses, (Aspden, H. (1969) "The 
law of electrodynamics", J. Franklin Inst., 287:179; Aspden, H (1980) 
"Physics Unified", Sabberton Publications, Southampton, England). The 
anomalous forces acting on the counterflowing metallic ions would stem 
from their out of balance interaction with the emitted high speed 
electrons, as predicated by the electrodynamic importance of their mass 
differential. This results in a fundamental asymmetry of the plasma flow 
between electrodes, localized onto the discontinuous interfaces of the 
plasma with the electrodes, namely, in the cathode dark space and in the 
anodic sheath: on the cathode side, electrons act upon ions, as the 
emitted electrons having less than zero initial velocities, drift against 
the incoming ion flux and in parallel with the ion and neutral 
counterflows; on the anode side of the discharge, positive ions flowing 
toward the cathode confront mainly the incoming counterflow of positive 
ions and neutral atoms, as the high speed electrons have abnormally 
transferred their energy to counterflowing, high speed, cathodic metal 
ions. An out of balance reaction force thus results at the cathode, to 
which the leaving metallic atoms impart a force of equal momentum but 
opposite direction, a force which is added to the cathode momentum 
generated by impacting, normal flowing positive ions. Moreover, Aspden 
confirmed theoretically the fundamental contention of Tanberg's 
experimental findings that an electrodynamic force will manifest itself 
along the direction of the discharge current flow, and thus, that the 
atomic counterflow is a metallic jet. Aspden further demonstrated that 
this asymmetry of plasma discharges does not imply any violation of the 
principles of conservation of energy and charge equivalence, given that 
there will be no out-of-balance force when such anomalous forces are 
considered in the context of the whole system of charge which must, 
perforce, include the local electromagnetic frame itself. Such discharges 
must be viewed as open energy systems, in balance with their 
electromagnetic environment: their apparatuses may constitute materially 
closed or limited systems, but they are physically and energetically open 
systems. Current work on Aspden's formulation of Ampere's Law indicates 
that both classical electromagnetism and special relativity ignore 
precisely, in circuits or in plasma, the longitudinal interactions that 
coexist with transverse ones. Standing longitudinal pressure waves, of a 
non-electromagnetic nature, have been previously shown in plasma 
electrons, which did not conform to the Bohm and Gross plasma oscillation 
mechanism (Pappas, P. T. (1983) "The original Ampere force and Bio-Savart 
and Lorentz forces", I1 Nuovo Cimento, 76B:189; Looney, D. H. and Brown, 
S. C. (1954) "The excitation of plasma oscillations" Phys. Rev. 93:965) 
The present theoretical approach to the novel regime of electrical 
discharge which we have isolated in specially designed devices, and to its 
mixed glow-arc characteristics, suggests that a similar, out-of balance 
current quadrature phenomenon occurs in the discharge plasma during the 
low field, autoelectronic emission-triggered PAGD, and is responsible for 
the observed surplus of energy in the experimental system described in 
this report. Clearly, all the evidence we have adduced indicates that 
there is a powerful longitudinal component to the emission-triggered PAGD, 
ie that the discharge pulses characteristic of this pre-VAD regime are 
longitudinally propelled jets of cathode-ejected high speed electrons and 
high speed ions. We have performed experiments, in the PAGD regime of 
operation, with very thin axial members that bend easily when placed in 
the path of the discharge, or with Crooke radiometer-type paddle-wheels, 
and both show the presence of a net longitudinal force in the plasma 
discharge acting in the direction of the anode, which confirms the 
magnitude of the atomic counterflow (ionized and neutral) present during 
the PAGD, very much like Tanberg's pendulum did for the VAD. These 
observations also tally with the explosive action of the emission 
mechanism, such as we have examined it above. In this context, two aspects 
of the PAGD are remarkable: the fact that a phenomenon akin to field 
emission occurs at low field values, for large area electrodes across 
large gaps, and the conclusion that the PAGD must deploy an excessively 
large counterflow of, in all probability, both ionized and neutral 
cathodic particles. The observation of ion current contributions to the 
cathode current on the order of 8 to 10%, in VADs, can hardly apply to the 
PAGD mechanism responsible for the anomalous currents and counterflows 
observed. Hence, we should further expect that the characteristically 
intermittent, or chopped current regime of the PAGD, is a major factor in 
the generation of disproportionately high energy longitudinal pulses and 
in allowing our system to capture most of the electrical energy output 
from the device. In all probability, field collapse at the end of 
discharge favours the nearly integral collection of the plasma charge, and 
ensures the transduction of most of the plasma energy of the pulse 
(blocked, as it is, from flowing back through the input port to the drive 
pack) to the output port, through the parallel, asymmetric capacitance 
bridge that interfaces with the charge recovery reservoir (the charge 
pack). Collapse of the field of the discharge may also be a contributing 
factor to the anomalous acceleration of ions, and to the observed anode 
plating effect. It is equally possible that such abnormally large 
longitudinal pulses may never be observable, for a given arrangement and 
scale, above threshold frequencies of the oscillation; we have, in this 
sense, presented data that indicates that for a given geometry, above 
specific PAGD frequencies, the capture of surplus energy decreases 
steadily in efficiency until it ceases altogether, for a given 
arrangement. The point at which this surplus begins to decrease coincides 
with the setting in of frequency-dependent irregularities in the discharge 
sequence and, most importantly, it coincides with a reduction of the peak 
pulse current for each PAGD pulse. We have further remarked that 
increasing the PAGD frequency above the zero surplus point, for a given 
arrangement, by manipulating any of the frequency control parameters, 
provokes the slippage of the PAGD into a full fledged VAD regime, while 
input currents greatly increase and output peak currents greatly decrease 
(to comparable peak input levels of 10 to 15A). The transition between the 
two modes of emission-triggered discharge, PAGD and VAD, thus appears to 
be tied in to adjustable thresholds in the frequency of the emission 
discontinuities; in this sense, it is rather likely that the plasma field 
collapse plays a major role in regularizing and optimizing the anomalous 
energies of field emissions, as in the PAGD regime. At low frequencies of 
low field emission, the emission regime is highly discontinuous, 
diachronic and regular, for it has time to fully extinguish the discharge; 
hence the PAGD singularity, in which the phases of each discharge pulse 
are well defined and sequential. Above a given high frequency, when ion 
and electron recombination will happen more often, before each can be 
collected at the electrodes, the stream of emitted discontinuities merges 
into a noisy, randomized continuum, where simultaneous emissions become 
possible and the plasma field no longer has time to collapse and fully 
resolve the longitudinal pulses. Any anomalous energy generated is then 
minimized and trapped in the plasma body and, in these conditions, the VAD 
regime eventually sets in. Such model would easily explain why the high 
field VAD experiments performed to date have never detected such 
extraordinarily large anomalous forces. 
On the other hand, the quasi-coherent aspect of the discharge suggests that 
the vacuum gap, in functioning during the PAGD regime both as an insulator 
and as a conductor with capacitative and self-inductive properties, is 
periodically altered by large and intense polarizations which are resolved 
by the discrete emission of longitudinal pulses from the cathode. It is 
possible that these nonlinear oscillations resulting from sudden 
depolarization of the vacuum gap by high speed explosive emissions 
elicited at the convection focus of the distorted field, might be in 
resonance or near resonance with the external circuitry, but the most 
apparent effect of increasing the capacitance in all bridge members is to 
increase the jet current and the transduced current flowing into the 
charge pack. The PAGD amplitude variation also presents, after the large 
negative discontinuity, a growing oscillation at very high resonant 
frequencies, which are typical of inductive chopping currents in a VAD, 
before extinction occurs. Unlike the VAD inductive case, in the absence of 
any coils other than the wire wound resistors, the PAGD relaxation 
oscillations which follow each pulse only extinguish the discharge when 
the voltage potential of the amplitude curve rises above the applied 
voltage, just as the plasma potential drops the most. Given the entirely 
non-inductive nature of the external circuit utilized in many instances, 
the inductive properties in evidence are those of the vacuum device 
itself. It also suggests that, in the absence of any need of an applied 
external magnetic field for the PAGD discharge to occur coherently, it is 
possible that the magnitude of the currents generated produces by itself a 
significant self-magnetic field. Thus, we cannot rule out the possibility 
of a self-organization of the plasma discharge, which may, in Prigogine's 
sense, constitute a dissipative structure (Prigogine, I. and George, C. 
(1977), "New quantization rules for dissipative systems", Int. J. Quantum 
Chem., 12 (Suppl.1):177). Such self-ordering of the PAGD plasma jet is 
suggested by the experimentally observed transition of these pulses from 
the current saturated limit of the normal glow discharge region, into the 
PAGD regime, as a function of increasing current: smaller foci of 
discharge can be seen to discontinuously agglutinate into larger emission 
cones, or into jets with a vortex-like appearance, when the input current 
reaches a given threshold. It is possible that, under these conditions, 
the distribution of the charge carriers and their sudden fluctuations may 
render any steady state plasma boundary conditions ineffective and provoke 
a singularity in the discharge mechanism; this nonlinear behaviour, 
together with any self-magnetic effects, might provide radial coherence of 
the plasma flow along the longitudinal path of the discharge. This concept 
is akin to what has been proposed for periodically evanescent solution 
structures referred to as instantons, that represent self-organizing 
transitions between the two states of a system. The PAGD may well be an 
instance of an instanton type structure bridging the open, or conductive, 
and the closed, or insulating, states of the vacuum gap. An analytical 
formulation of the problem of the plasma flow from the cathode spot to the 
anode, which would take into account the self-magnetic and self-organizing 
properties of the PAGD plasma channel, would be extremely difficult, given 
the out of balance longitudinal force, its abnormal energy transfer and 
associated counterflow, as well as the competition between collisional and 
inertial exchanges. 
The plating observed at the anode most likely results from the impact of 
counterflowing ions (and possibly neutral atoms), whereas the pitting of 
the (locally molten) cathode results from the emission of vaporized 
metallic material and electrons, as well as, secondarily, from bombardment 
by incident positive ions. The first action smooths the surface by 
mirroring it (deposition of cathode-derived atoms) and abrading it, 
whereas the latter smooths it in places by rounding concavities and by 
forming molten droplets upon local cooling, while simultaneously 
roughening it on the crater peripheries. One might think that this cathode 
roughening should lower the work function and facilitate the discharge, 
but the facts indicate that just the opposite must be happening in view of 
changes in the PAGD according to the nature and state of the cathode 
surface. The observed alterations of electrode work function for PAGD low 
field emission must thus be related to the molecular and charge effects of 
these different actions at the two electrodes. It appears that for large 
parallel plate electrodes, the PAGD low field emission is modulated by the 
nature and, most likely, by the molecular structure of the metallic 
surface layer of the emitter. 
We have thus devised a system for the capture as electricity of the energy 
of anomalously energetic longitudinal pulses sequentially triggered by 
spontaneous emissions of high speed electrons and ions generated from low 
work function cathodes, during the low field and singularly mixed PAGD 
regime of electrical discharge in vacuo. To confirm the above 
interpretation of the anomalous flux in the observed PAGD phenomenon, the 
cathode jet composition, as well as time- and usage-dependent changes 
occurring in the tubes, with diverse sealed negative pressures and after 
submission to prolonged PAGD operation, must be analyzed mass 
spectroscopically. In any event, the excess energy present in the 
anomalous counterflowing force appears to stem from a discharge mechanism 
that effectively pulls high speed electrons and constituent atoms out of a 
metal surface, at low fields and with high current densities, and is 
modulated by a complex multiplicity of parameters. The system described 
appears to transduce efficiently the observed nonlinear longitudinal pulse 
discontinuities of the plasma field, under conditions of current 
saturation of the cathode, because the self-extinguishing and 
self-limiting properties of the discharge allows the energy from the 
collapse of the discharge to be captured. The particular design of the 
circuitry, which couples a rectification bridge to the asymmetric bridge 
quadrature of large capacitances, placed at the output of the PAGD 
generator, permits effective capture. Our findings constitute striking 
evidence for Aspden's contention of a need to revise our present 
electrodynamic concepts. The dual ported PAGD discharge tube circuits 
which we have described are the first electrical systems we know of which 
permit effective exploitation of anomalous cathode reaction forces and 
allow for the recovery of electrical energy from systems exhibiting this 
effect. Any apparent imbalance in the electrical energy input to the 
system and withdrawn from the system by its operator must be considered in 
the context of the entire continuum in which the system operates, within 
which it is anticipated that accepted principles of energy balance will be 
maintained. 
Moreover, the energy conversion system of the invention has substantial 
utility as an electrical inverter accepting direct current, and providing 
one or more of a direct current output at lower voltage and higher 
current, variable frequency input to alternating current motors, and, by 
suitable combinations of discharge tube systems, more flexible DC to DC 
conversion systems. 
As an alternative to the batteries used in the experiments described, a DC 
power supply may be utilized or, more advantageously from the viewpoint of 
entailing less transformation losses, a DC generator to provide the 
electrical energy input to the system. As a DC motor can be run directly 
from the rectified output of the circuit of FIG. 9 at El-E2, in place of a 
battery charge pack, DC motor/generator sets of suitable characteristics 
(in terms of back E.M.F. and circuit loading) can be used to charge the 
batteries of the drive pack, utilizing the rectified PAGD output to drive 
the DC motor component of the set. This provides a simple, one battery 
pack solution, where the PAGD input and output circuits are electrically 
separated by the DC motor/generator interface: the drive pack is 
simultaneously being discharged to drive PAGD production, and charged by 
the DC generator output which, in turn, is being driven by the 
electromechanical transformation of the rectified PAGD output that would 
typically accrue to a charge pack in the experiments already described. 
The main limitations to such an arrangement lie in the efficiency of the 
motor and generator transformations utilized. 
A pulsed DC source could be used to provide input to the circuit if 
suitably synchronized, but care is needed not to interfere unduly with the 
autoelectronic mechanism of the field induced cathode emissions. 
TABLE 1 
______________________________________ 
Results for the ballast resistance (and current) dependent PAGD 
frequency utilizing an H34 aluminum pulse generator with 
128 cm.sup.2 plates at 5.5 cm distance, in the triode configuration, 
at a pressure of 0.8 Torr. The circuit employed is that of the 
present invention, as described in the third Results Section. 
DCV = 560. 
Regime of Pulse Rate 
R in .OMEGA. 
Discharge &gt;100 V 
______________________________________ 
5,000 NGD 0 
(Cold Cathode) 
600 PAGD 10 PPS 
300 PAGD 40 PPS 
150 PAGD 180 PPS 
100 VAD 0 
50 VAD 0 
______________________________________ 
TABLE 2 
______________________________________ 
128 cm.sup.2 H220 Al; 570 volts DC; 300 .OMEGA. = R1; Diode 
Configuration 
PPS p(Torr) Cumulative Pulse Count 
______________________________________ 
1) 200 0.08 .about.2.4 .times. 10.sup.5 
2) 200 0.5 .about.1.5 .times. 10.sup.6 
3) 200 0.8-1 .about.2.5 .times. 106 
4) 25 0.5 3 .times. 10.sup.6 pulses 
5) 200 0.5 1.5 .times. 10.sup.6 
(after first electrode reversal) 
______________________________________ 
TABLE 3 
______________________________________ 
RESIDUAL GAS EFFECT 
pressure PPS 
in Torr in AIR in ARGON 
______________________________________ 
0.45 ND 10 
0.5 1.8 .+-. 0.3 ND 
0.55 4.8 .+-. 0.9 16.7.+-.1.8 
1.0 11.4 .+-. 0.8 448 .+-. 27.4 
1.25 214.5 .+-. 14.3 
ND 
2.0 36.2 .+-. 2.6 206 .+-. 19.6 
158.7 .+-. 24 
2.5 1.36 .+-. 0.3 0 
______________________________________ 
TABLE 4 
______________________________________ 
Charge pack 
No. of cells PPS PAGD 
______________________________________ 
36 0 - 
31 1 + 
29 10 + 
19 1 + 
9 0 - 
______________________________________ 
TABLE 5 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
1 2 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 
Expt. 
Battery 
3 Open 5 % total 
Max. 
% rel. cpty 
Total 
.DELTA.kWh 
PAGD 
No. Pack 
Position 
Voltage 
V/cell 
rel. cpty. 
hr. left 
gained 
lost 
kWh gain 
loss 
per sec 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
1 Charge 
start 
348 12.0 
40 8 0.835 8 
Charge 
end 366 12.62 
83 16.6 
43 1.823 
0.988 
Driver 
start 
576 12.52 
77 15.4 2.660 
Driver 
end 572 12.43 
70 14 7 2.402 0.258 
2 C b 331 11.41 
2 0.4 0.040 61 
C a 351 12.1 
47.5 9.5 45.5 1.002 
0.962 
D b 553 12.02 
40 8 1.327 
D a 546 11.9 
33 6.6 7 1.081 0.246 
3 C b 345 11.9 
32.5 6.5 0.673 3 
C a 361 12.45 
72.5 14.4 
40 1.559 
0.886 
D b 559 12.15 
51 10.2 1.710 
D a 552 12.0 
40 8 11 1.324 0.386 
4 C b 360 12.41 
70 14 1.512 32 
C a 373 12.86 
103 &gt;20 33 2.238 
0.726 
D b 562 12.22 
54.5 10.9 1.838 
D a 557 12.11 
48 9.6 6.5 
1.604 0.234 
5 C b 340 11.7 
20 4 0.408 2 
C a 365 12.59 
83 16.6 
63 1.818 
1.440 
D b 527 11.45 
3.2 0.6 0.101 
D a 517 11.24 
1.8 0.4 0.2 
0.056 0.045 
6 C b 340 11.72 
21.5 4.3 0.438 8 
C a 367 12.66 
87.5 17.5 
66 1.927 
1.489 
D b 589 12.8 
100 20 3.530 
D a 564 12.26 
58.5 11.7 41.5 
1.979 1.551 
7 C b 318 10.97 
1.2 0.24 0.023 5 
C a 359 12.38 
67.5 13.5 
66.3 1.454 
1.431 
D b 575 12.5 
77 15.4 2.656 
D a 567 12.32 
63.5 12.7 13.5 
2.160 0.496 
8 C b 328 11.71 
20 4 0.393 32 
C a 350 12.5 
76.5 15.3 
56.5 1.606 
1.213 
D b 582 12.65 
87.5 17.5 3.055 
D a 579.5 
12.60 
84 16.8 3.5 
2.921 0.134 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
1 2 12 13 14 15 16 18 
Expt. 
Battery 
3 Exptl. 
rel. kWh/h 
net kWh/h 
Breakeven 
Cell #/ 
17 Cathode 
19 
No. Pack 
Position 
time 
gain 
loss 
production 
efficiency 
pack tube 
Area Plate 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
1 Charge 
start 
21.5' 2.071 388% 29 A26 
128 cm.sup.2 
H34 
Charge 
end 2.791 
Driver 
start 46 
Driver 
end 0.720 
2 C b 18' 2.387 391% 29 A26 
128 cm.sup.2 
H34 
C a 3.207 
D b 46 
D a 0.820 
3 C b 21.5' 1.396 230% 29 A26 
128 cm.sup.2 
H34 
C a 2.473 
D b 46 
D a 1.077 
4 C b 63.5' 0.465 310% 29 A28 
128 cm.sup.2 
H220 
C a 0.686 
D b 46 
D a 0.221 
5 C b 80' 1.064 6,750% 
29 A26 
128 cm.sup.2 
H34 
C a 1.080 
D b 46 
D a 0.016 
6 C b 21.5' -0.173 
96% 29 A26 
128 cm.sup.2 
H34 
C a 4.155 
D b 46 
D a 4.328 
7 C b 64.5' 0.870 289% 29 A45 
64 cm.sup.2 
H34 
C a 1.331 
D b 46 
D a 0.461 
8 C b 28.5' 2.272 906% 28 A45 
64 cm.sup.2 
H34 
C a 2.554 
D b 46 
D a 0.282 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
1 2 20 21 22 23 25 26 27 28 29 
Expt. 
Battery 
3 R1 C3/C5 
C7a/C7b 
Motor 
24 Gap 
OV rlx. 
C4 R4 Motor 
No. Pack 
Position 
ohm 
mfd mfd arm Pressure 
cm time mfd 
ohms 
rpm 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
1 Charge 
start 
300 
20,700 
3,300 
off 0.8 Torr 
5.5 
30' NA NA NA 
Charge 
end 
Driver 
start 
Driver 
end 
2 C b 300 
20,700 
3,300 
off 0.8 Torr 
5.5 
30' NA NA NA 
C a 
D b 
D a 
3 C b 300 
20,700 
3,300 
off 0.7 Torr 
5.5 
15' NA NA NA 
C a 
D b 
D a 
4 C b 300 
34,700 
5,500 
off 0.2 Torr 
5.5 
30' NA NA NA 
C a 
D b 
D a 
5 C b 150 
34,700 
3,300 
on 0.8 Torr 
5.5 
15' 8 500 
1,200 
C a 
D b 
D a 
6 C b 300 
20,700 
3,300 
on 0.8 Torr 
5.5 
15' 16 0 2,000 
C a 
D b 
D a 
7 C b 600 
34,700 
3,300 
off 0.8 Torr 
4 30' NA NA NA 
C a 
D b 
D a 
8 C b 600 
34,700 
5,500 
off 0.8 Torr 
4 30' NA NA NA 
C a 
D b 
D a 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
TABLE 6 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
Expt. 
Battery Load Watts/ Total 
.DELTA.kWh 
rel. kWh/h 
net 
No. Pack 
Position 
Voltage 
cell 
Hr. left 
kWh gain 
loss 
gain 
loss 
kWh/h 
B. Eff. 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
1 C s 335.7 
4.445 
4 0.516 3.014 
776% 
C e 357.5 
5.05 
12 1.757 
1.241 3.46 
D s 568.0 
3.20 
13 1.766 
D e 564.6 
3.175 
11 1.606 0.16 0.446 
2 C s 315.5 
3.93 
1 0.114 1.012 
504% 
C e 327.8 
4.25 
4.5 0.502 
0.387 1.225 
D s 540.7 
2.91 
4 0.535 
D e 535.3 
2.87 
3.5 0.462 0.073 0.243 
3 C s 328 4.23 
2 0.245 1.175 
703% 
C e 351.7 
4.91 
7 0.737 
0.492 1.370 
D s 546 2.95 
5 0.680 
D s 545.5 
2.90 
4.5 0.610 0.070 0.195 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
TABLE 7 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
1 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 
Expt. 
2 Pressure 
4 DP Plates 
DP DP PAGD 
PAGD CP 
No. Config. 
Torr Tube 
DCV DCV DCA Watts 
Volts 
V/cm DCV 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
1 dd 0.8 A29 562 350 0.65 137.8 
212 77.1 375 
2 dd 0.09 A29 562 402 0.60 96 160 58.2 378 
3 dd 0.8 A29 560 371 0.59 111.5 
189 68.7 374 
4 dd 0.09 A29 563 409 0.49 75.9 
154 56 379 
5 t 1.5 A28 561 439 0.41 49.9 
122 22.2 377 
6 t 1.5 A28 560 425 0.51 68.9 
135 24.5 375 
7 t 1.0 A28 556 398 0.48 75 158 28.7 376.5 
8 t 0.5 A28 559.5 
398 0.68 109.8 
161.5 
29.4 377.5 
9 t 0.5 A28 563 390 0.75 112.45 
173 31.5 373 
10 sd 0.5 A28 565 422 0.47 67.2 
143 26 376 
11 sd 0.5 A28 561.5 
415 0.50 73 146.5 
26.6 380 
12 sd 0.5 A28 562 413.5 
0.55 81.7 
148.5 
27 380 
13 dd 0.25 A28 553 438 0.35 40 115 41.8 381.5 
14 dd 0.25 A28 549 325 0.70 156.8 
224 81.5 263 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
1 12 13 14 15 17 18 19 
Expt. 
2 CP CP Total Breakeven 
16 Bridge 
Input 
Motor 
20 
No. Config. 
DCA Watts 
Resistance 
Efficiency 
PPS 
diode 
diode 
status 
FIG. 3 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
1 dd 1.25 
468.8 
326 340% 450 
M860 
HFR off + 
2 dd 0.70 
264.6 
% 270 276% 92 M860 
HFR off 
3 dd 0.65 
243.1 
243 218% 500 
HFR HFR off 
4 dd 0.76 
288 314 379% 77 HFR HFR off 
5 t 0.58 
219 298 439% 52 HFR HFR off 
6 t 0.69 
259 265 376% 100 
M860 
HFR off 
7 t 0.57 
213.1 
329 284% 355 
M860 
HFR off 
8 t 0.67 
252.9 
238 230% 92 HFR HFR off 
9 t 0.65 
280 266 249% 118 
M860 
HFR off + 
10 sd 1.03 
387.3 
286 530% 25 M860 
HFR off 
11 sd 0.73 
277.4 
293 379% 11 HFR HFR off + 
12 sd 0.71 
269.8 
270 330% 10 HFR HFR on + 
13 dd 0.59 
225.1 
329 563% 10 HFR HFR off 
14 dd 1.36 
257.7 
320 228% 1 HFR HFR off 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
TABLE 8 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
1 2 4 5 7 8 9 10 
Expt. 
Battery 
3 Total 
Rel. 
6 Limit 
.DELTA.kWh 
Exptl. 
abs. kWh/h 
11 
No. Pack 
Position 
Wh Cap. 
Torr 
in W gain 
loss 
time gain 
loss 
net BE 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
1 C b 159 12% 0.8 
90 21.5' +664 
846% 
C a 428 32% 269 753 
D b 1764 85% 115 
D a 1732 84% 32 89 
2 C b 118 9% 0.8 
90 18' +616 
2,667% 
C a 303.5 
23% 192 640 
D b 542.3 
26% 115 
D a 535 25.9% 7.3 24 
3 C b 950.4 
72% 0.2 
90 70' +186 
3485% 
C a 1,161 
88% 210.9 191.7 
D b 660 32% 115 
D a 654 32% 6.5 5.6 
4 C b 15.8 1.2% 
0.8 
90 64.5' +53.7 
406% 
C a 81.9 6% 65 60 
D b 181 8.7% 115 
D a 165 8% 16 14.7 
5 C b 34.5 2.6% 
0.8 
90 28.5' +169.1 
436% 
C a 138.8 
10.5% 104.3 219.6 
D b 1,114 
54% 115 
D a 1,089 
53% 24 50.5 
6 C b 55.4 4.2% 
0.8 
90 74' +117 
483% 
C a 237.6 
18% 182.2 148 
D b 669.3 
32% 115 
D a 631.7 
30.6% 37.7 30.6 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
1 2 14 15 17 18 19 21 22 
Expt. 
Battery 
3 12 13 Cathode 
gap 
16 PAGD seq. 
R1 Plate C3/C5 
C7a/C7b 
No. Pack 
Position 
Config. 
Tube 
area cm PPS 
method 
ohms 
material 
20 
mfd mfd 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
1 C b Triode 
A26 
128 cm2 
5.5 
8 Continuous 
300 
H34 20,700 
3.300 
C a 
D b 
D a 
2 C b Triode 
A26 
128 cm2 
5.5 
61 Interrupted 
300 
H34 20,700 
3,300 
C a 
D b 
D a 
3 C b Triode 
A28 
128 cm2 
5.5 
32 Interrupted 
300 
H220 34,700 
5,500 
C a 
D b 
D a 
4 C b Triode 
A46 
64 cm2 
4.0 
5 Continuous 
600 
H34 34,700 
5,500 
C a 
D b 
D a 
5 C b Triode 
A46 
64 cm2 
4.0 
32 Interrupted 
600 
H34 34,700 
5,500 
C a 
D b 
D a 
6 C b Plate 
A29 
128 cm2 
5.5 
8 Interrupted 
300 
H220 34,700 
5,500 
C a Diode 
D b 
D a 
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TABLE 9 
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Utilizing: 
Al H200, 128 cm.sup.2 plates 
DP = 46 cells 
CP = 23 cells 
CP Gain 
Net Gain 
CP Gain Net Gain per per 
per pulse 
per pulse 
second second Pressure 
PPS in mWh mWh mWh mWh in Torr 
______________________________________ 
#1 1.5 22.3 11.7 33:45 17.55 0.2 
#2 8 5.6 4.4 44.8 35.2 0.8 
#3 110 0.78 0.27 85.8 29.7 2.0 
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