Spectroscopic plasma plume study of a non-volatile liquid-fed pulsed plasma thruster

Abstract

The development of small satellites weighing as little as 1 kg has accelerated along with the miniaturization of technology. However, there is still a lack of efficient micropropulsion systems at these scales. A possible solution is the pulsed plasma thruster, which has an inherently simple structure that is conducive towards miniaturization. As these thrusters were primarily developed in an era of larger satellites, there are systematic considerations that need to be taken into account. One of these is the propellant, where the conventional solid polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) propellant can be replaced with a non-volatile liquid perfluoropolyether (PFPE), enabling liquid-feeding approaches for propellant feeding. The physics behind the operation of a non-volatile liquid-fed pulsed plasma thruster still remains relatively unknown compared with the well-studied solid-fed archetype. We focus here on the use of emission spectroscopy to better understand the spatial distribution and temporal behavior of plasma components within a pulsed plasma thruster using non-volatile liquid PFPE. This is directly compared with solid PTFE to give us an understanding of the similarities and differences between the two propellant types. The overall results suggest that liquid PFPE may be a useful propellant in scenarios with a high thrust-to-power requirement and lower emphasis on electromagnetic acceleration. One such use-case is in coaxial or capillary discharge miniaturized pulsed plasma thrusters, where a significant portion of thrust is obtained from thermodynamic gas expansion rather than electromagnetic acceleration.