Investigation into the Acceleration Region Dynamics of a Magnetically Shielded Hall Thruster Operating on Krypton

Su, Leanne L.; Jorns, Benjamin

doi:10.1109/icops45751.2022.9812952

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…Figure 6(a) shows the measured angular ion current distributions at different Ar concentrations. In order to correct the ions generayed by charge-exchanged collisions, a low bound of the ion current distribution was used, which subtracted the current at the angle of 90 • from the raw signals [11]. The corrected signals are shown as dotted lines in figure 6(a).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, other cost-effective propellants must demonstrate acceptable performance in electric propulsion devices to justify a change in propellant choice. Many studies have thus investigated the performance and underlying physics for operation with various propellants such as iodine [8], krypton (Kr) [9][10][11][12][13][14], water vapor [15,16], diatomic nitrogen (N 2 ), air [17,18], and argon (Ar) [19,20]. Among them, Kr (83.8 amu), which is the next heaviest noble gas to Xe (131.3 amu), is widely studied and reported to generally provide higher specific impulse due to the lighter mass at a low cost [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Argon admixture-driven enhanced ionization and performance of a 5 kW Hall thruster on krypton

Lee,

Brabston,

Lev

et al. 2024

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

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Utilizing alternative propellants has been recognized as a strategy to reduce the total cost of propellants in electric propulsion-based missions. The aim of this study is to quantify the Hall effect thruster (HET) performance and operating characteristics using a Kr-Ar mixture to enable mission designers to evaluate the impact on mission and spacecraft design. We present the performance and plume plasma properties of the P5 5 kW-class HET operated with a Kr-Ar mixture with Ar volumetric flow rate fractions from 0 to 100%. The thruster is characterized at discharge power levels of 2.6 kW and 4.1 kW at constant discharge current and voltage over the range of Ar fractions. Despite higher ionization energy and lower mass of Ar, the thruster exhibited a similar level of thrust within 2% when comparing the pure Kr and 26%-Ar mixture cases. The derived ion energy distribution functions and analytical modeling suggest that the characteristic length for the ionization region is extended as the Ar fraction increases. The increased residence time of Kr at the extended ionization region and background energetic electrons from the ionized Ar neutrals are considered to cause this enhanced ionization of the injected Kr neutrals, leading to a 6% higher Kr ion density at the 26%-Ar case even at the 16% reduced injected neutral density than in the pure Kr case. The enhanced Kr ionization and generated Ar ions in the 26%-Ar case consequently led to a comparable thrust with that of the pure Kr case. The study indicates that mixing Ar with approximately 26% volumetrically with Kr can provide a similar or even higher thrust performance at the same discharge power. This will be particularly advantageous for various space missions that require high impulses by reducing the total cost of the propellant.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%