Permanent Magnet Hall Thruster Research Articles

Effects of the magnetic field intensity on pole erosion of low-power Hall thrusters

Magnetic pole erosion is a key life-limiting factor of low-power Hall thrusters. In this study, the effects of the magnetic field intensity near the inner magnetic pole on the pole erosion of a 100 W permanent-magnet Hall thruster at rated operating point were investigated using magnetic field intensity adjustment technology. The experimental results indicate that the erosion rate of the inner magnetic pole decreased considerably with a decrease in the magnetic field intensity near the inner magnetic pole, and the erosion rate can be decreased by over 37.5% when the magnetic field intensity decreased by 20%. Further analysis indicates that the decrease of magnetic field intensity reduces the number of electrons moving along the magnetic field lines to the magnetic pole, and increases the surface potential of the magnetic pole. The reduction of the potential difference between the channel outlet and the magnetic pole leads to a decrease in the current density and energy of the ions sputtered to the magnetic pole, which contributes greatly to the decrease in pole erosion rate. This study provides a reference for the protection of magnetic pole erosion.

Hall plasma thruster development for micro and nano satellites

Hall thrusters are one of the most successful electric thrusters for space application that has been developed until now. The Plasma Physics Laboratory of the University of Brasília (UnB) has been developing a Permanent Magnet Hall Thruster (PHALL) for the Brazilian Space Program since 2004. Recently we have achieved important experimental results satisfying our initial goals of generating a force above 40 mN with powers around 620 W. We will discuss in this article possible applications of this thruster to nano and microsatellites with powers above 50 W. Meanwhile, a complete description is given of our present and future installations where the new thruster will be tested; taking advantage of our new 1.5 m diameter vacuum chamber (the old chamber had 0.5 m in diameter), which intends to test our thruster in the most realistic conditions, including mounting and testing on a 3U CubeSat structure, which is where we intend to start testing our thruster in a real mission in space.

A 200-W permanent magnet Hall thruster discharge with graphite channel wall

A 200-W Hall thruster was designed using permanent magnets placing the axial maximum magnetic field outside of the channel, and the anode/gas distributor as an integrated U-shaped structure. A split structure is adopted for the discharge channel to conveniently change the wall material. With the initial conditions that the anode mass flow is maintained at 0.8 mg/s, 1.0 mg/s and 1.2 mg/s over a voltage range of 150–400 V (at 50 V intervals), the discharge properties were determined for the two thruster models with the channel walls composed of graphite and boron nitride (BN). The results demonstrate that under identical operating parameters, the properties of the thruster with the graphite channel walls are similar to the properties of the thruster with the BN channel walls. The maximum difference of the discharge current between the two wall materials is 6.2%; the maximum difference of the thrust and the specific impulse is 3.3%, and that of the anode efficiency is 1.7% (absolute value). These differences are smaller than the corresponding parameter differences observed from changing wall materials in other common Hall thrusters.

Electron energy distribution function in a low-power Hall thruster discharge and near-field plume

Electron temperature and plasma density, as well as the electron energy distribution function (EEDF), have been obtained inside and outside the dielectric channel of a 200 W permanent magnet Hall thruster. Measurements were carried out by means of a cylindrical Langmuir probe mounted onto a compact fast moving translation stage. The 3D particle-in cell numerical simulations complement experiments. The model accounts for the crossed electric and magnetic field configuration in a weakly collisional regime where only electrons are magnetized. Since only the electron dynamics is of interest in this study, an artificial mass of ions corresponding to mi = 30 000me was used to ensure ions could be assumed at rest. The simulation domain is located at the thruster exit plane and does not include the cathode. The measured EEDF evidences a high-energy electron population that is superimposed onto the low energy bulk population outside the channel. Inside the channel, the EEDF is close to Maxwellian. Both the experimental and numerical EEDF depart from an equilibrium distribution at the channel exit plane, a region of high magnetic field. We therefore conclude that the fast electron group found in the experiment corresponds to the electrons emitted by the external cathode that reach the thruster discharge without experiencing collision events.

Characteristics and Performances of a 100-W Hall Thruster for Microspacecraft

In this paper, we examine the characteristics of the ISCT100 thruster, a miniature xenon-fueled 100-W permanent magnet Hall thruster (HT) suited for microspacecraft propulsion. The impact of the thruster design upon discharge behavior, ion beam properties, and performances is examined as for two discharge channel geometries as well as two values of the magnetic field strength. Thrust, specific impulse, and efficiency obtained between 50 and 200 W are compared with the ones of other low-power HTs.

Magnetic Field Design for a Strongly Improved PHALL Thruster

In this article, we are going to go through some steps that we took in the refining of engineering work related to the development of a permanent magnet Hall thruster. The use of permanent magnets in these thrusters is mainly related to the decrease of used power for propulsion, especially important for low power thrusters as for micro-satellites. The advantage of our chosen configuration is that the magnetic field can be used either perpendicular or parallel to the thruster channel walls, whereas in the last case the generated erosion forces are strongly reduced by at least three orders of magnitude. We are going to show how each magnetic field configuration affects the generated plasma and consequently the generated propulsion force and efficiency.

Permanent magnet Hall thruster development for future Brazilian space missions

Electric propulsion is now a successful method for primary and secondary propulsion of deep space long-duration missions and for geosynchronous satellite attitude control. The Plasma Physics Laboratory of UnB has been developing a permanent magnet Hall thruster (PHALL) for the UNIESPACO program, part of the Brazilian space activities program (PNAE) since 2004. The idea of using an array of permanent magnets, instead of an electromagnet, to produce a radial magnetic field inside the plasma channel of the thruster is very significant. It allows the development of a Hall thruster with power consumption low enough to be used in small- and medium-size satellites. The PHALL project consists on plasma source design, construction and characterization of the Hall-type propulsion engine using several plasma diagnostics sensors. PHALL is based on a plasma source in which a Hall current is generated inside a cylindrical channel with an axial electric field produced by a ring anode and a radial magnetic field produced by permanent magnets. In this work, a brief description of the plasma propulsion engine, its diagnostics instrumentation and measured plasma parameters with a focus for possible applications of PHALL on orbit transfer maneuvering for future Brazilian geostationary satellite space missions is shown. More specifically, we will show plasma density and temperature space profiles inside and outside the thruster channel, ion temperature measurements based on Doppler broadening of spectral lines and ion energy measurements. Based on the measured plasma parameters we construct an aptitude figure of the PHALL. It contains the specific impulse, total thrust, propellant flow rate and power consumption necessary for orbit raising of satellites. Based on previous studies of geosynchronous satellite orbit positioning we perform numerical simulations of satellite orbit raising from an altitude of 700–36,000 km using a PHALL operating in the 100–500 mN thrust range. To perform these calculations integration techniques were used. The main simulation parameters were orbit raising time, fuel mass, total satellite mass, thrust and exhaust velocity. We conclude by comparing our results with results obtained with known space missions performed with Hall thrusters.

Permanent magnet Hall Thrusters development and applications on future brazilian space missions

The Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPLUnB) has been developing a Permanent Magnet Hall Thruster (PHALL) for the Space Research Program for Universities (UNIESPAÇO), part of the Brazilian Space Activities Program (PNAE) since 2004. The PHALL project consists on a plasma source design, construction and characterization of the Hall type that will function as a plasma propulsion engine and characterized by several plasma diagnostics sensors. PHALL is based on a plasma source in which a Hall current is generated inside a cylindrical annular channel with an axial electric field produced by a ring anode and a radial magnetic field produced by permanent magnets. In this work it is shown a brief description of the plasma propulsion engine, its diagnostics instrumentation and possible applications of PHALL on orbit transfer maneuvering for future Brazilian geostationary satellite space missions.

Development of a High-Frequency Emissive Probe System for Plasma Potential Measurements in a Hall Thruster

A heated emissive probe is a smart diagnostic tool for acquisition of the plasma potential in the discharge and in the plume of a Hall thruster. However, measurements of high-frequency oscillations of the potential require a specific electrical circuit with a low <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$RC$ </tex-math></inline-formula> time constant. We developed and tested an emissive probe system with a cutoff frequency of 1 MHz. Details about the low-pass filter design as well as first experimental outcomes obtained in the plume of a 200 W permanent magnet Hall thruster are given in this paper.

Time evolution of the electric field in a Hall thruster

In order to characterize the natural oscillations of the electric field, the time-dependent Xe+ ion velocity distribution function is measured in the near-field plume of a low power permanent magnet Hall thruster. The distribution functions are obtained by means of a time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence technique based on a photon-counting method, while time coherence is ensured by applying a sinusoidal potential modulation on a floating electrode. The temporal resolution is 100 ns. The electric field profile is composed of two peaks. This peculiar shape is not yet understood. The electric field is shown to oscillate outside the thruster discharge channel. The results do not reveal the propagation of an ionization front.

Minimum Fuel Low-Thrust Transfers for Satellites Using a Permanent Magnet Hall Thruster

Most of the satellite missions require orbital maneuvers to accomplish its goals. An orbital maneuver is an operation where the orbit of a satellite is changed, usually applying a type of propulsion. The maneuvers may have several purposes, such as the transfer of a satellite to its final orbit, the interception of another spacecraft, or the adjustment of the orbit to compensate the shifts caused by external forces. In this situation it is essential to minimize the fuel consumption to allow a greater number of maneuvers to be performed, and thus the lifetime of the satellite can be extended. There are several papers and studies which aim at the fuel minimization in maneuvers performed by space vehicles. In this context, this paper has two goals: (i) to develop an algorithm capable of finding optimal trajectories with continuous thrust that can fit different types of missions and constraints at the same time and (ii) to study the performance of two propulsion devices for orbital maneuvers under development at the Universidade de Brasilia, including a study of the effects of the errors in magnitude of these new devices.