Discharge performance analysis of different types of gridded ion engines using alternative propellants: English

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. This report investigates the impact of using krypton and a 1:4 Xe/Kr mixture
instead of xenon on the discharge chamber performance. Calculations have been carried out
for three different plasma generators using 0-D models available in literature. The results of
this comparison indicate that the relative increase in total power (which is given by the
increase in the discharge power and in the beam power) is around 23.5-25.5% for krypton
and around 17-19% for the mixture at the selected similar operating points based on keeping
similar discharge loss for the two propellants; if the operating points are chosen based on
maintaining the same propellant utilisation efficiency, the increase in total power goes up to
around 28-30% for krypton and around 21-22% for the mixture for the three plasma
generators. Therefore, the result of the comparison shows that the three thruster
configurations provide a similar behaviour and similar loss in performance when alternative
propellants are used, and no plasma generators offer a clear advantage over the competing
technologies

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