5000h Endurance Test of an Indium FEEP 2x2 Cluster

Genovese, A.; Buldrini, N.; Andres, Karl Hermann

doi:10.2514/6.2006-4827

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…At present, a contemporary FEEP thruster operates at the emission current of hundreds of μ A in order to obtain the thrust of tens of μ A. For instance, in the work of Genovese et al (2006), one FEEP thruster of an indium FEEP 2×2 cluster operates at the emission current mean value of 104.6 μ A with a mean mass efficiency of 72 per cent over 4,800 h. This value is larger than the minimum emission current calculation from the theory of the authors. For a certain propellant mass, the lower emission current, the less indium FEEP emits.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Minimum emission current of indium‐field emission electric propulsion thruster

Duan

Kang

Zhao

2010

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology

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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -Field emission electric propulsion (FEEP) thruster is a type of electric propulsion based on space-proven indium liquid metal ion sources. The lifetime of FEEP thruster limits its application in space. A better method to improve its lifetime is the reduction of emission current. This paper aims to discuss the minimum emission current of operating FEEP thrusters. Design/methodology/approach -In this work, theoretical models, including fluid-flow model and ion formation model, are analyzed. Current densities of these models are discussed and the minimum emission current is calculated. Findings -There are few equilibrium states under low emission current conditions. However, the minimum emission current is the only stable state at which the FEEP thruster can operate. Research limitations/implications -This analysis is mainly based on the needle indium FEEP, which is compared indirectly with experiments of gallium. Practical implications -This paper attempts to help designers choose appropriate electric parameters to improve the lifetime of FEEP. Originality/value -By introducing and analyzing theoretical models, this paper calculates the minimum emission current for stable operation of FEEP.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Minimum emission current of indium‐field emission electric propulsion thruster

Duan

Kang

Zhao

2010

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology

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“…Recently, a cluster of 2 × 2 LMIS were successfully demonstrated in a 5000 h endurance test [7] running at a thrust level of 25-30 µN. In this test, it was shown that a single emitter demonstrated 175 Ns (the overall assembly demonstrated 440 Ns) with a propellant consumption of only 3 grams.…”

Section: Clustered-feep Thrustermentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Both approaches have been pursued. The LMIS clusters are presently at a higher technology-readiness levels (TRLs) due to extensive development and testing especially during the GOCE and LISA pathfinder satellite programs [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. A multiemission tip LMIS based on porous tungsten is presently under development for an mN-FEEP thruster targeting the needs of future Earth observation missions [13].…”

Section: Indium Feep Thrustersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of Electric and Chemical Microthrusters

Scharlemann

2011

International Journal of Aerospace Engineering

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The increasing application of microsatellites (from 10 kg up to 100 kg) as well as CubeSats for a rising number of various missions demands the development of miniaturized propulsion systems. Fotec and The University of Applied Sciences at Wiener Neustadt is developing a number of micropropulsion technologies including both electric and chemical thrusters targeting high performance at small scales. Our electric propulsion developments include a series of FEEP (field emission electric propulsion) thrusters, of which the thrust ranges from µN to mN level. The thrusters are highly integrated into clusters of indium liquid-metal-ion sources that can provide ultralow thrust noise and long-term stability. We are also developing a micro PPT thruster that enables pointing capabilities for CubeSats. For chemical thrusters, we are developing novel micromonopropellant thrusters with several hundred mN as well as a 1-3 N bipropellant microrocket engine using green propellants and high specific impulse performance. This paper will give an overview of our micropropulsion developments at Fotec, highlighting performance as well as possible applications.

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“…Moreover, a dedicated contamination test is presently running as part of an extended In-FEEP endurance test. 12 Typical emitter voltages range from U E = 5 to 10 kV for currents of I E = 10-600 µA. This corresponds to a thrust of 1-64 µN.…”

Section: Thruster Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indium Field Emission Electric Propulsion Microthruster Experimental Characterization

Tajmar

Genovese

Steiger

2004

Journal of Propulsion and Power

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Indium liquid metal ion sources have been flying for more than 10 years on a variety of spacecraft for spacecraft potential control and as the core element of mass spectrometers. Since 1995, a dedicated indium field emission electric propulsion (In-FEEP) thruster has been under development and recently passed a 2000-h endurance test. The In-FEEP thruster is a micropropulsion device for the 1-100 µN thrust range with low thrust noise and high resolution. The latest performance characteristics including direct thrust measurements and beam profiles are summarized. This information is very important for many upcoming missions that require ultraprecise dragfree control such as the Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Mission, LISA, Terrestrial Planet Finder/Darwin, or SMART-2. Nomenclature c = thrust coefficient factor, % e = elementary charge, 1.6 × 10 −19 C F = force, N g = standard gravitational acceleration, 9.81 m · s −2 I B , I E , I extr , I PS = ion beam, emitter, extractor, plume shield current, A I sp = specific impulse, s m ion = indium ion mass, 1.906 × 10 −25 kg m R = reservoir mass, kġ m ion ,ṁ droplet ,ṁ = ion, droplet, total mass flow rate, kg · s −1 r = emitter-accelerator distance, m U B , U E = extractor bias, emitter voltage, V v = velocity, m · s −1 η m = mass efficiency, % τ = temperature, K

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5000h Endurance Test of an Indium FEEP 2x2 Cluster

Cited by 9 publications

References 3 publications

Minimum emission current of indium‐field emission electric propulsion thruster

Minimum emission current of indium‐field emission electric propulsion thruster

Development of Electric and Chemical Microthrusters

Indium Field Emission Electric Propulsion Microthruster Experimental Characterization

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