Short-circuit primary side of a transformer to collect all the spikes at the secondary

Question

Abruptly detaching a power source from a coil produces a back-emf: this is a well known fact.

What I would like to achieve, in my experimentation, is to convey ALL the collapsing magnetic field to the secondary side of a transformer, shorting the primary side immediately before the magnetic flux starts to collapse.

This requires a very fast switching system, probably through mosfets.

As a power source, I have a 12V/10A battery and the transformer is a big MOT (Microwave Oven Transformer): at the moment the power reaches the primary coil passing through a SPDT relay and, when it switches, the power is disconnected and the primary coil shorted.

Unfortunately the relay is not so fast to achieve the desired result so a small arc can be observed at the internal relay contacts, showing that the magnetic field has collapsed on both ends of the transformer.

Is there a way to overcome the problem?

A circuit diagram will be appreciated a lot!

Edited on 25/03/2015

The primary feeding/detaching source/shorting the primary/re-attaching source/feeding sequence (in a countinuous loop) of the primary side has to be accomplished thousand time per second...

I have to collect the spikes of the back-emf (due to the collapsing magnetic field) ONLY on the secondary side!

Like in a water pump, the water (electric field) must flow in one direction only; when the magnetic field collapses (using the above analogy) acts like a water flow under pressure which tries to exits from any hole in the piping system: I want to seal the entrance (primay side of the transformer) when the pressure is at its maximum level and convey all the flux to the exit (secondary side of the transformer); no way for the water (electric flux) to flow back to the entrance.

So, in essence, I need an electronic "valve" rapid enough to avoid the back-emf on the primary side.

Answer 1

Pl. connect a fast acting fuse (capacity depends on the flux level in transformer you desire to experiment with) )in line with battery and transforme.connect a fast acting FREE wheeling diode across the transformer primary with cathode to positive (reverse biased) and do the testing. V T Ingole

Answer 2

You're using the battery to charge the transformer? Well, a quick and dirty way could be to put a fuse in series with the battery. Then just short the transformer. For a little better solution, construct a current limiter and put it in place of the fuse. Actually, I'd still leave the fuse in.

Edited, base on the addition of:

"The primary feeding/detaching source/shorting the primary/re-attaching source/feeding sequence (in a countinuous loop) of the primary side has to be accomplished thousand time per second..."

Using a fuse, you only get ONE cycle; then you have to replace the fuse. This is fine if all you want to do is measure the spike on the secondary. Your edited proposal shows it must be continuous...now it looks a lot like a switching supply. @Vijay may have been thinking of a "resettable fuse", but those are not going to work any any reasonable repetition rate.

The "fast acting diode" or even @PlasmaHH's use of MOSFETs can do a pretty good job, but your assertion that you must capture ALL of the stored energy suggests that they won't quite be good enough. You request sounds like physics research where you are interested in absolute measurements, rather than an electronic design of a device where you are able to make some trade-offs in order to get performance that is "good enough".

Edited again...I thought about this some more.

If you short the primary, it will attempt to absorb all the energy from the collapsing field. It will be dissipated in the (low) resistance of the primary. If you want to capture all the energy into the secondary, you really want to leave the primary open during this time. This should be a lot easier to arrange.