Performance of a 50 W porous electrospray thruster in preparation for flight
Performance of a 50 W porous electrospray thruster in preparation for flight
The thruster head of a 50 W porous electrospray thruster called the PET-50 was characterised in order to verify its performance. Four experiments were conducted which were current voltage tests, plume angle analysis, time-of-flight mass spectrometry and direct thrust measurement. The thruster was able to emit a current of 1438 µA at a voltage of3300 V and -1394 µA at a voltage of -3400 V. The maximum plume angle was found to be 38o at a voltage of 2800 V. The time-of-flight experiments showed the thruster emitted only ions, with the plume primarily comprised of monomers and dimers. Direct thrust measurements were also conducted using a mass balance, showing the thruster could produce up to 167 µN which was in good agreement with the expected thrust based on the time-of-flight measurements, with a thrust to power at maximum power of 32.5 µN/W. Finally, the power processing unit of the thruster was verified in operation with the thruster head, showing suitably for use with a high power electrospray thruster.
Dworski, Szymon
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Quraishi, Arsad
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Batchelor, Emmanual
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Machado, Alejandro G.
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Ryan, Charlie N.
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Ferreri, Alessandro
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Vincent, Guillame
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Croos, Albun
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Shcherbak, Danylo
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Sadler, James
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Garbayo, Alberto
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Vozarova, Maria
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Neubauer, Erich
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23 June 2025
Dworski, Szymon
433c1ca7-098e-4d48-89b2-0c46d18cc635
Quraishi, Arsad
89198ae5-abfe-46fa-866b-7010d8dc051a
Batchelor, Emmanual
9c8b585b-82eb-4955-956c-847e0c18873c
Machado, Alejandro G.
8bd49cac-df53-4129-a069-30583c64da7f
Ryan, Charlie N.
3627e47b-01b8-4ddb-b248-4243aad1f872
Ferreri, Alessandro
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Vincent, Guillame
de84c88b-90f1-4014-9332-1f7d5e622fac
Croos, Albun
e50cc68a-250e-4f5a-8b66-35b4f9b7255e
Shcherbak, Danylo
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Sadler, James
953efb69-cfff-41a5-ac8c-879c0244b8cb
Garbayo, Alberto
4619c16b-da25-406d-a68e-5cf70257279e
Vozarova, Maria
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Neubauer, Erich
ec1b8752-fb2e-4059-9224-da4f54ba66dd
Dworski, Szymon, Quraishi, Arsad, Batchelor, Emmanual, Machado, Alejandro G., Ryan, Charlie N., Ferreri, Alessandro, Vincent, Guillame, Croos, Albun, Shcherbak, Danylo, Sadler, James, Garbayo, Alberto, Vozarova, Maria and Neubauer, Erich
(2025)
Performance of a 50 W porous electrospray thruster in preparation for flight.
38th International Electric Propulsion Conference (IEPC 2024), , Toulouse, France.
23 - 28 Jun 2025.
12 pp
.
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
The thruster head of a 50 W porous electrospray thruster called the PET-50 was characterised in order to verify its performance. Four experiments were conducted which were current voltage tests, plume angle analysis, time-of-flight mass spectrometry and direct thrust measurement. The thruster was able to emit a current of 1438 µA at a voltage of3300 V and -1394 µA at a voltage of -3400 V. The maximum plume angle was found to be 38o at a voltage of 2800 V. The time-of-flight experiments showed the thruster emitted only ions, with the plume primarily comprised of monomers and dimers. Direct thrust measurements were also conducted using a mass balance, showing the thruster could produce up to 167 µN which was in good agreement with the expected thrust based on the time-of-flight measurements, with a thrust to power at maximum power of 32.5 µN/W. Finally, the power processing unit of the thruster was verified in operation with the thruster head, showing suitably for use with a high power electrospray thruster.
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Published date: 23 June 2025
Venue - Dates:
38th International Electric Propulsion Conference (IEPC 2024), , Toulouse, France, 2025-06-23 - 2025-06-28
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Local EPrints ID: 503524
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/503524
PURE UUID: 8bf30ed6-d1ab-4334-98a1-f3a5913da150
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Date deposited: 04 Aug 2025 16:54
Last modified: 04 Aug 2025 16:54
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Contributors
Author:
Szymon Dworski
Author:
Arsad Quraishi
Author:
Emmanual Batchelor
Author:
Alejandro G. Machado
Author:
Alessandro Ferreri
Author:
Guillame Vincent
Author:
Albun Croos
Author:
Danylo Shcherbak
Author:
James Sadler
Author:
Alberto Garbayo
Author:
Maria Vozarova
Author:
Erich Neubauer
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