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Performance Comparison Between a Magnesium- and Xenon-Fueled 2 Kilowatt Hall Thruster

Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan 49931

*Ph.D. Candidate, Mechanical Engineering–Engineering Mechanics, 815 R. L. Smith Building; currently Research Engineer, Electromagnetics Laboratory, Riverside Research, 2640 Hibiscus Way, Beavercreek, OH 45431. Member AIAA.

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Lyon B. King

Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan 49931

†Ron and Elaine Starr Professor in Space Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering–Engineering Mechanics, 815 R. L. Smith Building. Member AIAA.

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Published Online:15 Apr 2016https://doi.org/10.2514/1.B35731

Abstract

The performance metrics of a 2-kW-class thruster operated using magnesium propellant were measured and compared to the performance of the same thruster operated using xenon propellant. When operated with magnesium at a 7 A discharge current, the thruster had thrust ranging from $34 \pm 0.8 mN$ at 200 V using $1.8 mg / s$ of propellant to $39 \pm 1.5 mN$ at 300 V using $1.8 mg / s$ of propellant. The thrust-to-power ratio ranged from $24 \pm 0.5 mN / kW$ at 200 V to $18 \pm 0.7 mN / kW$ at 300 V. At a 200 V discharge voltage, the specific impulse was $1930 \pm 49 s$ at $23 \pm 5.0 %$ efficiency (at 7 A using $1.8 mg / s$ ). At a 300 V discharge voltage, the specific impulse was $2420 \pm 130 s$ at $21 \pm 6.4 %$ efficiency (at 5 A using $1.1 mg / s$ ). The performance of the thruster using magnesium propellant was compared to xenon performance at matched molar propellant flow rates: $5 mg / s$ for xenon and $1.1 mg / s$ for magnesium. The xenon-fueled thruster produced $76 \pm 1.5 mN$ of thrust, with a specific impulse of $1550 \pm 70 s$ , at an efficiency of $40 \pm 2.0 %$ compared to the magnesium-fueled thruster, which produced $27 \pm 1.2 mN$ of thrust, with a specific impulse of $2420 \pm 130 s$ , at an efficiency of $21 \pm 6.4 %$ .

References

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Journal of Propulsion and Power, volume 32 issue 4 cover

Volume 32, Number 4July 2016

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Copyright © 2015 by Mark A. Hopkins. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., with permission. Copies of this paper may be made for personal and internal use, on condition that the copier pay the per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC). All requests for copying and permission to reprint should be submitted to CCC at www.copyright.com; employ the ISSN 0748-4658 (print) or 1533-3876 (online) to initiate your request.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under grant number DGE-1051031. Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. The authors would like to thank Jason Sommerville, Edmond Meyer, and Kurt Terhune for discussions pertaining to this research. The work of machinist Marty Toth in fabricating thruster components is also gratefully acknowledged.

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Received21 January 2015
Accepted8 December 2015
Published online15 April 2016

Performance Comparison Between a Magnesium- and Xenon-Fueled 2 Kilowatt Hall Thruster

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