Numerical analysis on the ionization mechanism of pulsed plasma thrusters

Tiankun Huang; Zhiwen Wu; Xiangyang Liu; Kan Xie; Ningfei Wang; Yue Cheng

doi:10.13336/j.1003-6520.hve.2015.09.019

Numerical analysis on the ionization mechanism of pulsed plasma thrusters

Tiankun Huang, Zhiwen Wu^*, Xiangyang Liu, Kan Xie, Ningfei Wang, Yue Cheng

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Aerospace Engineering

Beijing Institute of Technology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In order to gain great insight into the working process in pulsed plasma thrusters (PPT), an ionization model was developed in this paper. The ionization processes of LES-6 PPT and XPPT-1 PPT was simulated by use of the ionization model, and some parameters such as propellant utilization and electron density were obtained. The propellant utilization ratios were 16.32% (LES-6) and 81.04% (XPPT-1), and the electron densities were 6.56×10²¹ m^-3 (LES-6) and 5.83×10²¹ m^-3 (XPPT-1). The results show that the model can correctly reveal the ionization process of PPT, and the simulated values of the propellant utilization and electron density fit well with the experimental values. It is also shown that the electrode voltage can not always meet the ionization threshold value of neutral gas during the discharge process of PPT.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2958-2964
Number of pages	7
Journal	Gaodianya Jishu/High Voltage Engineering
Volume	41
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.13336/j.1003-6520.hve.2015.09.019
Publication status	Published - 30 Sept 2015

Keywords

Ionization mechanism
Mass flow rate
Neutral gas
Propellant utilization
Pulsed plasma thruster

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10.13336/j.1003-6520.hve.2015.09.019

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title = "Numerical analysis on the ionization mechanism of pulsed plasma thrusters",

abstract = "In order to gain great insight into the working process in pulsed plasma thrusters (PPT), an ionization model was developed in this paper. The ionization processes of LES-6 PPT and XPPT-1 PPT was simulated by use of the ionization model, and some parameters such as propellant utilization and electron density were obtained. The propellant utilization ratios were 16.32% (LES-6) and 81.04% (XPPT-1), and the electron densities were 6.56×1021 m-3 (LES-6) and 5.83×1021 m-3 (XPPT-1). The results show that the model can correctly reveal the ionization process of PPT, and the simulated values of the propellant utilization and electron density fit well with the experimental values. It is also shown that the electrode voltage can not always meet the ionization threshold value of neutral gas during the discharge process of PPT.",

keywords = "Ionization mechanism, Mass flow rate, Neutral gas, Propellant utilization, Pulsed plasma thruster",

author = "Tiankun Huang and Zhiwen Wu and Xiangyang Liu and Kan Xie and Ningfei Wang and Yue Cheng",

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doi = "10.13336/j.1003-6520.hve.2015.09.019",

language = "English",

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journal = "Gaodianya Jishu/High Voltage Engineering",

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T1 - Numerical analysis on the ionization mechanism of pulsed plasma thrusters

AU - Huang, Tiankun

AU - Wu, Zhiwen

AU - Liu, Xiangyang

AU - Xie, Kan

AU - Wang, Ningfei

AU - Cheng, Yue

PY - 2015/9/30

Y1 - 2015/9/30

N2 - In order to gain great insight into the working process in pulsed plasma thrusters (PPT), an ionization model was developed in this paper. The ionization processes of LES-6 PPT and XPPT-1 PPT was simulated by use of the ionization model, and some parameters such as propellant utilization and electron density were obtained. The propellant utilization ratios were 16.32% (LES-6) and 81.04% (XPPT-1), and the electron densities were 6.56×1021 m-3 (LES-6) and 5.83×1021 m-3 (XPPT-1). The results show that the model can correctly reveal the ionization process of PPT, and the simulated values of the propellant utilization and electron density fit well with the experimental values. It is also shown that the electrode voltage can not always meet the ionization threshold value of neutral gas during the discharge process of PPT.

AB - In order to gain great insight into the working process in pulsed plasma thrusters (PPT), an ionization model was developed in this paper. The ionization processes of LES-6 PPT and XPPT-1 PPT was simulated by use of the ionization model, and some parameters such as propellant utilization and electron density were obtained. The propellant utilization ratios were 16.32% (LES-6) and 81.04% (XPPT-1), and the electron densities were 6.56×1021 m-3 (LES-6) and 5.83×1021 m-3 (XPPT-1). The results show that the model can correctly reveal the ionization process of PPT, and the simulated values of the propellant utilization and electron density fit well with the experimental values. It is also shown that the electrode voltage can not always meet the ionization threshold value of neutral gas during the discharge process of PPT.

KW - Ionization mechanism

KW - Mass flow rate

KW - Neutral gas

KW - Propellant utilization

KW - Pulsed plasma thruster

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JF - Gaodianya Jishu/High Voltage Engineering

IS - 9

ER -

Numerical analysis on the ionization mechanism of pulsed plasma thrusters

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Keywords

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