Improved ion containment using a ring-cusp ion thruster

Sovey, James S.

doi:10.2514/3.25684

Cited by 70 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 10 publications

(3 reference statements)

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“…Ingested mass flow due to the facility background gas pressure was included in the total mass flow rate to the engine for determining specific impulse and thrust efficiency. 13 The average calculated thrust, input power, specific impulse, and thrust efficiency at full power were 237 mN, 6.88 kW, 4110 s, and 0.694, respectively. Variations in all of these parameters were predominantly due to changes in beam current, which is maintained by adjusting the discharge current.…”

Section: Engine Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

NEXT Ion Engine 2000 Hour Wear Test Results

Soulas

Kamhawi

Patterson

et al. 2004

40th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit

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The results of the NEXT 2000 h wear test are presented. This test was conducted with a 40 cm engineering model ion engine, designated EM1, at a 3.52 A beam current and 1800 V beam power supply voltage. Performance tests, which were conducted over a throttling range of 1.1 to 6.9 kW throughout the wear test, demonstrated that EM1 satisfied all thruster performance requirements. The ion engine accumulated 2038 h of operation at a thruster input power of 6.9 kW, processing 43 kg of xenon. Overall ion engine performance, which includes thrust, thruster input power, specific impulse, and thrust efficiency, was steady with no indications of performance degradation. The ion engine was also inspected following the test. This paper presents these findings. I. IntroductionThe success of the NASA Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Applications Readiness (NSTAR) program's ion propulsion system on the Deep-Space 1 spacecraft has secured the future for ion propulsion technology for other NASA missions.1 While the 2.3 kW NSTAR ion engine input power and service life capabilities are appropriate for low power missions, in-space propulsion technology analyses conducted by NASA identified the need for a higher power, higher throughput capability 25 kW ion propulsion system targeted for robotic exploration of the outer planets. As a result, NASA's Office of Space Science awarded a research project to a NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC)-led team to develop the next generation ion propulsion system. 2,3 The propulsion system, called NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT), consists of a 40 cm diameter ion engine, a lightweight, modular power processing unit with an efficiency and a specific power equal-to or better-than the NSTAR power processor, and a xenon feed system which uses proportional valves and thermal throttles to significantly reduce mass and volume relative to the NSTAR feed system.Ion engine performance requirements include a specific impulse and thruster efficiency of at least 4050 and 0.67, respectively, at full power. Based on NEXT Phase 1 design reference missions, the ion engine must provide a 270 kg propellant throughput capability at full power, which ultimately results in a 405 kg qualification throughput requirement.The service life capability of the NEXT ion engine is being assessed by engine wear tests and modeling of critical engine components, such as the ion optics and cathodes. The first wear test of a NEXT ion engine was planned for a 2000 hour duration at a 6.9 kW input power. The highest thruster input power level was chosen because modeling has predicted that this power level will cause the severest engine erosion. The objectives of this early wear test included: characterizing thruster operation and performance over the duration of the test; identifying thruster life-limiting phenomena; and measuring critical thruster component wear rates.This paper presents the results of the first NEXT wear test. A description of the test article is discussed in the next section. This is followed by a descripti...

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Section: Engine Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

NEXT Ion Engine 2000 Hour Wear Test Results

Soulas

Kamhawi

Patterson

et al. 2004

40th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit

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“…Ring cusp magnetic circuit electron containment schemes have been shown to be very efficient. 24 In the case of the HiPEP thruster, the shape of the magnetic rings range from circular to hybrid circular-rectangular to rectangular. Such ring geometries are necessary to accommodate the discharge chamber shape.…”

Section: A Plasma Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The High Power Electric Propulsion (HiPEP) Ion Thruster

Foster

Haag

Patterson

et al. 2004

40th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit

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“…Ingested mass flow due to the facility background gas pressure was included in the total mass flow rate to the engine for determining thrust efficiency and specific impulse. 11 The demonstrated throttling range of all engines was 1.1-6.9 kW. All three engines performed similarly, with thrust efficiencies, thrusts, and specific impulses within about 2% of each other.…”

Section: Overall Engine Performancementioning

confidence: 82%

Performance Evaluation of the Next Ion Engine

Soulas

Domonkos

Patterson

2003

39th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit

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The performance test results of three NEXT ion engines are presented. These ion engines exhibited peak specific impulse and thrust efficiency ranges of 4060-4090 s and 0.68-0.69, respectively, at the full power point of the NEXT throttle table. The performance of the ion engines satisfied all project requirements. Beam flatness parameters were significantly improved over the NSTAR ion engine, which is expected to improve accelerator grid service life. The results of engine inlet pressure and temperature measurements are also presented. Maximum main plenum, cathode, and neutralizer pressures were 12,000 Pa, 3110 Pa, and 8540 Pa, respectively, at the full power point of the NEXT throttle table. Main plenum and cathode inlet pressures required about 6 hours to increase to steady-state, while the neutralizer required only about 0.5 hour. Steady-state engine operating temperature ranges throughout the power throttling range examined were 179-303 °C for the discharge chamber magnet rings and 132-213 °C for the ion optics mounting ring. IntroductionThe success of the NASA Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Applications Readiness (NSTAR) program's ion propulsion system on the Deep-Space 1 spacecraft has secured the future for ion propulsion technology for other NASA missions. 1 While the 2.3 kW NSTAR ion engine input power and service life capabilities are appropriate for Discovery Class as well as other, smaller NASA missions, the application of NSTAR hardware to large flagship-type missions such as outer planet explorers and sample return missions is limited due its lack of power and total impulse capabilities.As a result, NASA's Office of Space Science awarded a research project to a NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC)-led team to develop the next generation ion propulsion system. 2,3 The propulsion system, called NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT), is being developed by a team composed of GRC, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Aerojet, Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Michigan, and Colorado State University.The NEXT propulsion system will consist of a 40 cm diameter ion engine, a lightweight, modular power processing unit with an efficiency and a specific power equal-to or better-than the NSTAR power processor, and a xenon feed system which uses proportional valves and thermal throttles to significantly reduce mass and volume relative to the NSTAR feed system. Each component of the propulsion system is required to achieve certain minimum performance, service life, and specific mass requirements. Performance requirements for the NEXT ion engine include a specific impulse of at least 4050 s at full power, and thruster efficiencies of greater than 0.63 and 0.42 at full and low power, respectively. The NEXT ion engine must further provide a 270 kg propellant throughput capability, which ultimately results in a 405 kg qualification throughput requirement.The NEXT propellant management system is required to deliver xenon flows to the ion engine with an uncertainty of ± 3%. Prov...

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Improved ion containment using a ring-cusp ion thruster

Cited by 70 publications

References 10 publications

NEXT Ion Engine 2000 Hour Wear Test Results

NEXT Ion Engine 2000 Hour Wear Test Results

The High Power Electric Propulsion (HiPEP) Ion Thruster

Performance Evaluation of the Next Ion Engine

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