Enhanced Performance of Cylindrical Hall Thrusters

Y. Raitses, A. Smirnov, and N.J. Fisch

Princeton University. Plasma Physics Laboratory.

关键词: Thrusters Hall Thrusters;    Acceleration;    Tail Ions;    Anodes;    70 Plasma Physics And Fusion Technology;   

DOI  :  10.2172/963553
RP-ID  :  PPPL-4240
RP-ID  :  DE-ACO2-76CHO3073
RP-ID  :  963553

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

The cylindrical thruster differs significantly in its underlying physical mechanisms from the conventional annular Hall thruster. It features high ionization efficiency, quiet operation, ion acceleration in a large volume-to-surface ratio channel, and performance comparable with the state-of-the-art conventional Hall thrusters. Very significant plume narrowing, accompanied by the increase of the energetic ion fraction and improvement of ion focusing, led to 50%–60% increase of the thruster anode efficiency. These improvements were achieved by overrunning the discharge current in the magnetized thruster plasma.