Performance investigation of a low-power Hall thruster fed on iodine propellant

Abstract

The common propellants used for electric thrusters, such as xenon and krypton, are rare, expensive, and difficult to acquire. Solid iodine attracts much attention with the advantages of low cost, extensive availability, low vapor pressure, and ionization potential. The performance of a low-power iodine-fed Hall thruster matched with a xenon-fed cathode is investigated across a broad range of operation conditions. Regulation of the iodine vapor’s mass flow rates is stably achieved by using a temperature control method of the iodine reservoir. The thrust measurements are finished utilizing a thrust target during the tests. Results show that thrust and anode-specific impulse increase approximately linearly with the increasing iodine mass flow rate. At the nominal power of 200 W class, iodine mass flow rates are 0.62 and 0.93 mg/s, thrusts are 7.19 and 7.58 mN, anode specific impulses are 1184 and 826 s, anode efficiencies are 20.8% and 14.5%, and thrust to power ratios are 35.9 and 37.9 mN/kW under the conditions of 250 V, 0.8 A and 200 V, 1.0 A, respectively. The operating characteristics of iodine-fed Hall thruster are analyzed in different states. Further work on the measurements of plasma characteristics and experimental optimization will be carried out.