Discharge characteristics and instabilities in the UK-25 ion thruster operating on inert gas propellants
Discharge characteristics and instabilities in the UK-25 ion thruster operating on inert gas propellants
Electron-Bombardment Ion Thrusters are at the forefront of spacecraft propulsion technology. Application of these devices in the place of conventional chemical thrusters will allow large savings in mass and cost to be made on many missions. In particular the use of ion thrusters for orbit acquisition and north-south station keeping of geostationary satellites is imminent, and many previously impractical scientific missions will be possible.
As the range of missions expands, operation on propellants other then xenon and at operating points away from optimal will be necessary. Under such conditions ion thruster performance can be poor, erosion rates of thruster components can be high and destabilising plasma instabilities can be induced.
Experiments have been performed on the UK-25 thruster to investigate operating parameters and plasma properties when operating on the inert gas propellants xenon, krypton and argon. In particular voltage-current characteristics and Langmuir probe measurements have been made in the various discharge regions. The data from these experiments is unique for any ion thruster, and serves to provide a basis for understanding some of the processes occurring in the discharge.
A unique and comprehensive set of discharge conducted emission measurements has been recorded for all three propellants. Two specific instabilities were revealed, one associated with the hollow cathode discharge and the other with the anode electron collection process. Experimental and theoretical investigations of these instabilities have been made and their connection with performance degradation and erosion highlighted.
The main conclusions to the work are presented and suggestions made for future experimental work and the development of theoretical models. In particular more detailed measurement of plasma properties in the coupling plasma, baffle annulus and main discharge would enable more sophisticated theoretical models of plasma processes to be developed.
University of Southampton
1997
Edwards, Clive Henderson
(1997)
Discharge characteristics and instabilities in the UK-25 ion thruster operating on inert gas propellants.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
Electron-Bombardment Ion Thrusters are at the forefront of spacecraft propulsion technology. Application of these devices in the place of conventional chemical thrusters will allow large savings in mass and cost to be made on many missions. In particular the use of ion thrusters for orbit acquisition and north-south station keeping of geostationary satellites is imminent, and many previously impractical scientific missions will be possible.
As the range of missions expands, operation on propellants other then xenon and at operating points away from optimal will be necessary. Under such conditions ion thruster performance can be poor, erosion rates of thruster components can be high and destabilising plasma instabilities can be induced.
Experiments have been performed on the UK-25 thruster to investigate operating parameters and plasma properties when operating on the inert gas propellants xenon, krypton and argon. In particular voltage-current characteristics and Langmuir probe measurements have been made in the various discharge regions. The data from these experiments is unique for any ion thruster, and serves to provide a basis for understanding some of the processes occurring in the discharge.
A unique and comprehensive set of discharge conducted emission measurements has been recorded for all three propellants. Two specific instabilities were revealed, one associated with the hollow cathode discharge and the other with the anode electron collection process. Experimental and theoretical investigations of these instabilities have been made and their connection with performance degradation and erosion highlighted.
The main conclusions to the work are presented and suggestions made for future experimental work and the development of theoretical models. In particular more detailed measurement of plasma properties in the coupling plasma, baffle annulus and main discharge would enable more sophisticated theoretical models of plasma processes to be developed.
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Published date: 1997
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Local EPrints ID: 463034
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/463034
PURE UUID: d221cdb9-bfe0-4895-b4e3-394ab2735389
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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 20:39
Last modified: 04 Jul 2022 20:39
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Author:
Clive Henderson Edwards
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