Alternative propellants for ridded on engines: hollow cathode operation using Kr and Xe/Kr mixture

Abstract

Xenon is the preferred propellant for electric propulsion thrusters, providing high thruster
efficiency and long life. However, xenon is very expensive and has limited availability, which
could impose serious constraints on the use of electric propulsion in some future missions.
Therefore, there has been a renewed interest in the use of alternative propellants in electric
propulsion. A critical component affected by the transition to alternative propellants is the
hollow cathode, which is used in several devices (such as Gridded Ion Engines, Hall Effect
Thrusters, etc.). This report presents the initial characterization of an LaB6 cathode operating
in diode mode using krypton and a 1:4 Xe/Kr mixture instead of xenon. The emphasis is on
the comparative performance over a wide range of currents and flow rates along with
establishing spot to plume mode transition. The results of this comparison indicate that
operations with the three gases were similar but, in general, higher mass flow rates were
necessary to maintain the cathode in spot mode with krypton and the mixture.

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ORCID for Nazareno Fazio: orcid.org/0000-0003-0968-304X

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