Performance comparison between a magnesiumand xenon-fueled 2 kilowatt hall thruster

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2016

Abstract

© Copyright 2015 by Mark A. Hopkins. 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 7Adischarge current, the thruster had thrust ranging from 34 ± 0.8 mNat 200Vusing 1.8 mg/s of propellant to 39 ± 1.5 mN at 300 V using 1.8 mg/s of propellant. The thrust-to-power ratio ranged from 24 ± 0.5 mN/kW at 200V to 18 ± 0.7 mN/kW at 300 V. At a 200Vdischarge voltage, the specific impulse was 1930 ± 49 s at 23 ± 5.0% efficiency (at 7 A using 1.8 mg/s). At a 300 V discharge voltage, the specific impulse was 2420 ± 130 s at 21 ± 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 ± 1.5 mN of thrust, with a specific impulse of 1550 ± 70 s, at an efficiency of 40 ± 2.0% compared to the magnesium-fueled thruster, which produced 27 ± 1.2 mN of thrust, with a specific impulse of 2420 ± 130 s, at an efficiency of 21 ± 6.4%.

Publication Title

Journal of Propulsion and Power

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