Theoretical investigation of pulsed plasma thrusters

Turchi, P. J.; Mikellides, Ioannis G.; Mikellides, Pavlos G.; Schmahl, C. S.

doi:10.2514/6.1998-3807

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…These thrusters, however, still suffer from very low efficiencies (<10%) due to a combination of losses from late-time ablation, poor energy coupling into the propellant, and inefficient acceleration. While various research efforts are underway [3,4] to improve PPT efficiency, several novel efforts have stood out that yield significant increases in performance over the historical design shown in This paper is declared a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States…”

Section: Sponsor/monitor's Acronym(s)mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Proposed On-Orbit Demonstration of an Advanced Pulsed-Plasma Thruster for Small Satellite Applications

Bromaghim¹,

Spanjers²,

Spores³

et al. 1999

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Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing this collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports (0704-0188), 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. . This experiment will demonstrate a high performance PPT, making it a viable thruster for various applications such as orbit raising and initiating and maintaining clusters of small satellites. The experiment will also be the first flight of a new micro-propulsion thruster -a miniaturized version of the PPT, known as the micro-PPT (u-PPT). The u-PPT is ideal for very precise attitude control and pointing, formation flying, and for primary propulsion on microsatellites. A novel on-board diagnostic package will be used to assess the contamination of optical and thermal control surfaces as a result of firing the PPTs. Ground-based observations will also be conducted to assess the on-orbit performance and possible communication impacts of the thruster firings. REPORT DATE

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Section: Sponsor/monitor's Acronym(s)mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Proposed On-Orbit Demonstration of an Advanced Pulsed-Plasma Thruster for Small Satellite Applications

Bromaghim¹,

Spanjers²,

Spores³

et al. 1999

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“…However, the model does not incorporate the mass produced after the primary pulse (post-pulse mass), this post pulse mass could be significant in ablative pulsed plasma thrusters as observed from various experimental results. MHD modelings have also undergone major advancements to account for the late-time ablation mass [11,18,19]. Numerical calculations were also performed for ablation controlled discharges and were applied to the plasma calculations for a Micro-PPT [20,21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mathematical Modeling of Liquid-fed Pulsed Plasma Thruster

Misra

2018

Aerospace

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Liquid propellants are fast becoming attractive for pulsed plasma thrusters due to their high efficiency and low contamination issues. However, the complete plasma interaction and acceleration processes are still not very clear. Present paper develops a multi-layer numerical model for liquid propellant PPTs (pulsed plasma thrusters). The model is based on a quasi-steady flow assumption. The model proposes a possible acceleration mechanism for liquid-fed pulsed plasma thrusters and accurately predicts the propellant utilization capabilities and estimations for the fraction of propellant gas that is completely ionized and accelerated to high exit velocities. Validation of the numerical model and the assumptions on which the model is based on is achieved by comparing the experimental results and the simulation results for two different liquid-fed thrusters developed at the University of Tokyo. Simulation results shows that up-to 50% of liquid propellant injected is completely ionized and accelerated to high exit velocities (>50 Km/s), whereas, neutral gas contribute to only 7% of the total specific impulse and accelerated to low exit velocity (<4 Km/s). The model shows an accuracy up-to 92%. Optimization methods are briefly discussed to ensure efficient propellant utilization and performance. The model acts as a tool to understand the background physics and to optimize the performance for liquid-fed PPTs.

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“…Magneto-hydro-dynamics modelings (MHD modelings) for plasma acceleration processes in PPTs have been greatly modified. MHD modelings have been developed to account for the late-time ablation processes [18] [27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple Plasma Stream Electromechanical Model for Pulsed Plasma Thruster

Misra

2018

Preprint

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Conventional snowplow/1-D models assume the existence of single completely ionized plasma sheet in the discharge chamber of pulsed plasma thrusters (PPTs). However, extensive experimental analysis and observations suggest the presence of multiple plasma streams and partial ionization of the propellant gas. A multi-layered plasma-neutral mass sheet one-dimensional numerical model is developed for PPTs in the present paper. The model accounts for the secondary plasma sheets generated due to the crowbar breakdowns as well as the neutral gas generated after the main discharge. The model accurately calculates the position of the plasma and neutral mass sheets, mean exit velocity, thrust delivered and the mass of individual plasma sheet developed in PPTs. The model is validated and discussed for two different ablative pulsed plasma thrusters. In the last section, the plasma sheet model and electrical circuit model are also validated for a liquid propellant PPT developed at the University of Tokyo. Results show that the multi-sheet assumption provides an accurate prediction for the discharge current and performance parameters. The multiple sheet assumption model accounts for most of the experimentally observed phenomena's which the conventional slug models tend to ignore.

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Theoretical investigation of pulsed plasma thrusters

Cited by 8 publications

References 2 publications

A Proposed On-Orbit Demonstration of an Advanced Pulsed-Plasma Thruster for Small Satellite Applications

A Proposed On-Orbit Demonstration of an Advanced Pulsed-Plasma Thruster for Small Satellite Applications

Mathematical Modeling of Liquid-fed Pulsed Plasma Thruster

Multiple Plasma Stream Electromechanical Model for Pulsed Plasma Thruster

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