Development of the NEXT Power Processing Unit

Abstract

Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices, Inc. (EDD) has designed and fabricated a breadboard version of a 6-kW power processing unit (PPU) for gridded ion thrusters. This breadboard PPU will be integrated with an engineering model 40-cm ion engine designed and tested at GRC. The results of our tests using resistive loads are reported in this paper. The PPU demonstrated efficiencies to date are higher than 95% for the beam supply and higher than 92% for the discharge supply at full power. Overall PPU efficiency is greater than 94% at full throttle settings.

Neptune Orbiters Utilizing Solar and Radioisotope Electric Propulsion

“…The thruster is a 40 cm beam diameter ion thruster that operates at up to 7 kWe of input power 15 . The NEXT program is also developing the PPU 16 and xenon propellant management system 17 designs. The tank is assumed to be a single ultralight composite tank kept cold by layers of thermal multi-layer insulation.…”

Status of a Power Processor for the Prometheus-1 Electric Propulsion System

“…DC PPUs are highly complex and contain thousands of parts that result in decreased reliability. [1][2] As part of NASA's Exploration Initiative, Project Prometheus is developing technologies for nuclear electric propulsion (NEP) for proposed deep space mission. 3 The proposed NEP system consists of a fission-based power source, a Brayton-based power conversion and distribution system (PCAD) and an ion propulsion system.…”