Applicability of Iodine as a propellant for hall Effect thrusters: Performance parameters prediction

Abstract

In deep space missions with smaller payloads, electric propulsion is one of the most preferred propulsion techniques. Electric propulsion possesses the advantages of prolonged mission span and a very high specific impulse (Isp). However, the complexity lies in determining the suitable propellant for the electric propulsion-based systems viz., Hall effect thrusters (HET). The present paper reports the approach suitable for 6U CubeSat to utilize Iodine as a potential alternate fuel. The study focuses on computational simulation using the commercial package ANSYS FLUENT 18. A Hall effect thruster simulation is carried out using MHD module in fluent, wherein effect of power supplies were studied by varying the voltage supply of 200 V and 300 V. It is observed that Iodine propellant with the HET configuration delivers Isp of 2650 s and thrust ∼ 37.5 (mN) in the STP at 600 W, and Isp of 4565 s followed by thrust ∼ 27.5 (mN) in STP at 400 W. The simulation is carried out by assuming the plasma fluid model and serves as the base for the earlier stage development of experimental techniques.