Plume study of an electrospray thruster using a HAN-based dual-mode ionic liquid propellant
Plume study of an electrospray thruster using a HAN-based dual-mode ionic liquid propellant
This paper investigates the electrospray performance of FAM-110A, a novel hydroxylammonium nitrate (HAN) based ionic liquid propellant developed for a chemical-electric dual-mode space propulsion system. FAM-110A was tested using a PET-100 electrospray thruster with a porous emitter, and its electrospray performance was compared with the widely used 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (EMI-BF4) propellant. The FAM-110A thrusters demonstrated a lower onset voltage and comparably high emission current. An external electric field was applied in front of the plume collecting plate to study the current measurement accuracy and the effect of secondary species emissions from high-energy particles collidingon the surface. The spatial distribution of the thruster plume current was profiled using a 2-axis rotary stage. Both FAM-110A and EMI-BF4 showed asymmetrical plume profiles, with FAM-110A having a smaller overall plume angle. The energy distribution of the plume particles was measured using a retarding potential analyzer, and the results showed that the FAM-110A had a highly mono-energetic plume with little evidence of fragmentation in the field-free region. Light emission in electrospray thruster operation was observed using long-exposure photography. This plume characterization study suggests that FAM-110A can be run in porous electrospray thrusters with promising performance, and further development of this technology is recommended.
Ma, Chengyu
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Messina, Vincenzo
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Ryan, Charles
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Rovey, Joshua L.
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Putnam, Zachary R.
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Lembeck, Michael F.
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Berg, Steven P.
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Ma, Chengyu
c88fc9a9-0691-48fd-97a5-65cd5bd84127
Messina, Vincenzo
8004f01e-97ef-46f0-a04a-ee40ef263097
Ryan, Charles
3627e47b-01b8-4ddb-b248-4243aad1f872
Rovey, Joshua L.
c65ab87d-0f5f-49fc-9c5d-3e268f5679d6
Putnam, Zachary R.
0cc9e120-8006-45ee-b436-52c35bf50518
Lembeck, Michael F.
179dc47a-994d-45fd-9ec2-670d68dc4567
Berg, Steven P.
4705d4ae-0905-4016-83f4-414a62328d51
Ma, Chengyu, Messina, Vincenzo, Ryan, Charles, Rovey, Joshua L., Putnam, Zachary R., Lembeck, Michael F. and Berg, Steven P.
(2022)
Plume study of an electrospray thruster using a HAN-based dual-mode ionic liquid propellant.
37th International Electric Propulsion Conference, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, June 19-23, 2022, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts, United States.
19 - 23 Jun 2022.
15 pp
.
(In Press)
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
This paper investigates the electrospray performance of FAM-110A, a novel hydroxylammonium nitrate (HAN) based ionic liquid propellant developed for a chemical-electric dual-mode space propulsion system. FAM-110A was tested using a PET-100 electrospray thruster with a porous emitter, and its electrospray performance was compared with the widely used 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (EMI-BF4) propellant. The FAM-110A thrusters demonstrated a lower onset voltage and comparably high emission current. An external electric field was applied in front of the plume collecting plate to study the current measurement accuracy and the effect of secondary species emissions from high-energy particles collidingon the surface. The spatial distribution of the thruster plume current was profiled using a 2-axis rotary stage. Both FAM-110A and EMI-BF4 showed asymmetrical plume profiles, with FAM-110A having a smaller overall plume angle. The energy distribution of the plume particles was measured using a retarding potential analyzer, and the results showed that the FAM-110A had a highly mono-energetic plume with little evidence of fragmentation in the field-free region. Light emission in electrospray thruster operation was observed using long-exposure photography. This plume characterization study suggests that FAM-110A can be run in porous electrospray thrusters with promising performance, and further development of this technology is recommended.
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IEPC-2022-190_FAM
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Accepted/In Press date: May 2022
Venue - Dates:
37th International Electric Propulsion Conference, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, June 19-23, 2022, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts, United States, 2022-06-19 - 2022-06-23
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Local EPrints ID: 474325
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/474325
PURE UUID: e4b4a0be-da53-4ecb-bdfc-df91faa771fe
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Date deposited: 20 Feb 2023 17:39
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 00:58
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Contributors
Author:
Chengyu Ma
Author:
Vincenzo Messina
Author:
Joshua L. Rovey
Author:
Zachary R. Putnam
Author:
Michael F. Lembeck
Author:
Steven P. Berg
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