Electrothermal Pulsed Plasma Thrusters Research Articles

Research of Electrothermal Pulsed Plasma Thruster Onboard Osaka Institute of Technology 2nd PROITERES Nano-Satellite by Using Numerical Simulation

Research of Electrothermal Pulsed Plasma Thruster Onboard Osaka Institute of Technology 2nd PROITERES Nano-Satellite by Using Numerical Simulation

Research and Development of Electrothermal Pulsed Plasma Thruster Systems Onboard the Osaka Institute of Technology 2nd PROITERES Nano-Satellite

The Project of Osaka Institute of Technology Electric-Rocket-Engine onboard Small Space Ship (PROITERES) was started at Osaka Institute of Technology in 2007. After successfully launching the 1st PROITERES nano-satellite, the 2nd PROITERES nano-satellite with electrothermal Pulsed Plasma Thrusters (PPTs) has been developed since 2010. The main mission is powered flight with very long distance, i.e. changing more than 10km in altitude on near-earth orbits by high-power PPTs. In this research, a 30W-class PPT system was developed. The PPT achieved the maximum impulse bit of 2.47mNs, specific impulse of 342s and total impulse of 90.1Ns with repetitive 72,000 shots. Repetitive 100,000 shots could be also carried out using a newly developed Power Processing Unit (PPU). Furthermore, a long-time operation system with a Multi-Discharge-Room type PPT (MDR-PPT) head was developed. In the present paper, we explain development status of EM-PPT system including MDR-PPT, PPU, and capacitor.

Deposition of Fluorinated Diamond-Like-Carbon Films by Exposure of Electrothermal Pulsed Plasmas

Thin amorphous carbon films are deposited on silicon substrates by exposure to pulsed plasmas where the feed gas is mainly generated from the ablation of an insulator. An electrothermal pulsed plasma thruster with a discharge room in an insulator rod is used as the pulsed plasma for the ablation of the insulator, and the material of the insulator rod is poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE). The pulsed plasma, in which the estimated electron density is on the order of 1022–1023 m-3, is generated by the stored energy in the capacitor. The deposition rate, which depends on the stored energy, is lower than 1 nm per pulse in our experiment. The maximum hardness measured using a nanoindenter is about 7 GPa at a stored energy of about 2.7 J, beyond which the hardness of the films decreases with the increase in stored energy. Raman spectroscopy is also carried out to examine the formation of fluorinated diamond-like carbon films. In addition, the influence of dilution gas on the properties of the deposited films is also investigated.

S192023 大阪工業大学・超小型人工衛星プロイテレスのシステム設計と構造系開発([S19202]小型宇宙システム(2))

The 15kg-class nano-satellite "PROITERES" (The Project of Osaka Institute of Technology Electric-Rocket-Engine onboard Small Space Ship) with electrothermal pulsed plasma thrusters (PPTs) and high resolution camera is being developed in Osaka Institute of Technology. The mission of this satellite is powered flight of nano-satellite by PPTs in orbital and observation of Kansai district in Japan with a high-resolution camera. PROITERES will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (India) to the sun-synchronous orbit of 670 km in 2011.We developed Flight Model (FM) of the satellite, including electrothermal PPT system, high-resolution camera system, onboard computer system, communication system and grand station, electric power system, attitude control system etc, in 2010-2011. In this paper, we report all systems of PROITERES and its structure.

Flowfield Calculation and Performance Measurement of Electrothermal Pulsed Plasma Thrusters for Nano-Satellites

Flowfield Calculation and Performance Measurement of Electrothermal Pulsed Plasma Thrusters for Nano-Satellites

Research and Development of the Pulsed Plasma Rocket Engine System onboard Osaka Institute of Technology Micro Artificial Satellite

The Project of Osaka Institute of Technology Electric-Rocket-Engine onboard Small Space Ship (PROITERES) was started at Osaka Institute of Technology in 2007. In PROITERES, a micro satellite with electrothermal pulsed plasma thrusters (PPTs) will be launched in 2010. The main mission is the first powered flight of micro satellite by electric thruster all over the world. This study aims at improvement in performance by changing configuration of PPTs. The total impulse of about 5 Ns was achieved with a teflon cylindrical discharge chamber 9.0 mm in length and 1.0 mm in diameter in 53,000-shot operation with 2.43 J/shot. Finally, the engineering model of PPT system was developed, and it is under operation as final test.

S1901-1-6 大阪工業大学・電気推進ロケットエンジン搭載超小型人工衛星プロイテレスの開発(小型宇宙システム(1),社会変革を技術で廻す機械工学)

The Project of Osaka Institute of Technology Electric-Rocket-Engine onboard Small Space Ship (PROITERES) was started at Osaka Institute of Technology in 2007. In PROITERES, a nano-satellite with electrothermal pulsed plasma thrusters (PPTs) will be launched in 2010. The main mission is to achieve powered flight of nano-satellite by an electric thruster and to observe Kansai district in Japan with a high-resolution camera. The flight model of the satellite was successfully developed, and the satellite FM was under final test.

Experimental and numerical study of an electrothermal pulsed plasma thruster for small satellites

A pulsed plasma thruster (PPT) with a propellant feeding mechanism was designed using two poly tetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) bars as propellants. The PPT was mounted on a thrust stand with a 1-m-long perpendicular pendulum which was developed for precise measurements of impulse bits. Initial thrust performance showed thrust-to-power ratio of 43–48 μN/W, specific impulse of 470–500 s and thrust efficiency of 10–12% with energy of 4.5–14.6 J. Ten thousand shots achieved a total impulse of approximately 3.6 Ns, and the PTFE bars were consumed approximately 2 mm in length. However, uneven receding of the PTFE surface was observed. In order to investigate physical phenomena in a whole system, an unsteady numerical simulation of initial discharge, generation of plasma, heat transfer to the PTFE, heat conduction inside the PTFE, ablation from the PTFE surface and acceleration of plasma was performed. The calculated results were used to explain the physical phenomena in the cavity, especially ablated mass of the PTFE.

高インパルス発生用電熱加速型パルスプラズマスラスタの性能特性と連続作動試験

高インパルス発生用電熱加速型パルスプラズマスラスタの性能特性と連続作動試験

Model of an Electrothermal Pulsed Plasma Thruster

The physical processes of a pulsed discharge in a dielectric (Teflon®) cavity of a coaxial electrothermal pulsed plasma thruster (PPT) are analyzed. The considered PPT has this central Teflon cavity to produce a high-pressure cloud of ablation products during the discharge pulse. The mathematical model includes the Teflon thermal conduction, the plasma energy balance, the mass and momentum conservation in a quasi-neutral plasma region, and the relation between the plasma parameters in a nonequilibrium layer near the ablated Teflon surface. It is found that the plasma parameter variation along the cavity length is an important feature of the ablation-controlled discharge in the cavity that affects the plasma energy balance, mass and momentum conservation, and thermal conductivity. Performance characteristics of the PPT such as mass ablation and impulse thrust bit are calculated. Predicted plasma temperature, ablation rate, and gasdynamic thrust are found to be in agreement with experimental data.