Background:

At the terminus of the Power Transfer Conduits are the plasma injectors. One of these devices is fitted in each nacelle, and has the task of sending a precisely aimed plasma flow through the center of the warp coils.

Because of the relatively low accuracy with which a PTC usually controls the plasma flow, the plasma injector system must often be designed to re-condition the fuel flow in order to dampen down turbulence and so ensure a smooth flow through the warp coils. In many UFED designs, most especially those systems with the highest raw power output, the plasma flow from the PTC is split into two parts and sent through swirl dampers before being recombined during the injection process. Long experience has found that this method reduces the size of the required hardware to a reasonable minimum.