Transport phenomena in plasma expansions containing hydrogen : a laser spectroscopic study

IV+165hlm.;24c

Operation of a low-power Hall thruster: comparison between magnetically unshielded and shielded configuration

International audienc

Characterization of a 100 A-class LaB 6 hollow cathode for high-power Hall thrusters

International audienceThis works deals with a laboratory model 100 A-class hollow cathode with a sintered lanthanum hexaboride (LaB6) emitter for high-power Hall thrusters. The cathode has been fired up to 70 A with xenon as working gas. The cathode architecture, test setup , ignition procedure and power consumption are described first. The second part of this contribution comments on the emitter temperature, the current-voltage characteristics and the discharge modes obtained for discharge currents in the 30-70 A range and mass flow rates in the 15-30 sccm range. Finally we present electron temperatures and densities measured in the cathode plasma plume by means of incoherent Thomson scattering

Non-Maxwellian Electron Energy Probability Functions in the plume of a SPT-100 Hall thruster

We present measurements of the electron density, the effective electron temperature, the plasma potential, and the electron energy probability function (EEPF) in the plume of a 1.5 kW-class SPT-100 Hall thruster, derived from cylindrical Langmuir probe measurements. The measurements were taken on the plume axis at distances between 550 and 1550 mm from the thruster exit plane, and at different angles from the plume axis at 550 mm for three operating points of the thruster, characterized by different discharge voltages and mass flow rates. The bulk of the electron population can be approximated as a Maxwellian distribution, but the measured distributions were seen to decline faster at higher energy. The measured EEPFs were best modelled with a general EEPF with an exponent alfa between 1.2 and 1.5, and their axial and angular characteristics were studied for the different operating points of the thruster. As a result, the exponent alfa from the fitted distribution was seen to be almost constant as a function of the axial distance along the plume, as well as across the angles. However, the exponent alfa was seen to be affected by the mass flow rate, suggesting a possible relationship with the collision rate, especially close to the thruster exit. The ratio of the specific heats, the gamma factor, between the measured plasma parameters was found to be lower than the adiabatic value of 5/3 for each of the thruster settings, indicating the existence of non-trivial kinetic heat fluxes in the near collisionless plume. These results are intended to be used as input and/or testing properties for plume expansion models in further work.This work was performed in the framework of the 'Model and Experimental validation of spacecraft-thruster Interactions (erosion) for electric propulsion thrusters plumes' (MODEX) project. MODEX is a collaboration between Airbus-DS, ESA, UC3M, ONERA, CNRS-ICARE and KTH aiming to provide a better understanding of the plasma properties in the far-plume of a Hall thruster. The project aimed at providing experimental measurements to better constrain the modelling, and therefore includes both the theoretical/modelling aspect (UC3M and ONERA) and the experimental aspect (KTH, CNRS, ESA and Airbus-DS). The test campaign was conducted at ESA/ESTEC in April-May 2017, using a SPT-100 Hall thruster provided by Airbus-DS. G Giono and J T Gudmundsson were partially supported by the Swedish Government Agency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA) contracts no. 2016-04094 and 2014-0478, respectively

ID-HALL, a new double stage Hall thruster design. I. Principle and hybrid model of ID-HALL

International audienceIn Hall thrusters, ions are extracted from a quasineutral plasma by the electric field induced by the local drop of electron conductivity associated with the presence of a magnetic barrier. Since the electric field is used both to extract and accelerate ions and to generate the plasma, thrust and specific impulse are not independent in a Hall thruster. There is a need for versatile thrusters that can be used for a variety of maneuvers, i.e., that can operate either at high thrust or at high specific impulse for a given power. The double stage Hall thruster (DSHT) design could allow a separate control of ionization and acceleration, and hence separate control of thrust and specific impulse. In the DSHT configuration, a supplementary plasma source (ionization stage), independent of the applied voltage, is added and placed upstream of the magnetic barrier (acceleration stage). The DSHT concept is also well adapted to the use of alternative propellants, lighter and with a less efficient ionization than xenon. Several designs of double stage Hall thrusters have been proposed in the past, but these attempts were not really successful. In this paper, we present a brief review of the main DSHT designs described in the literature, we discuss the relevance of the DSHT concept, and, on the basis of simple physics arguments and simulation results, we propose a new design, called ID-HALL (Inductive Double stage HALL thruster). In this design, the ionization stage is a magnetized inductively coupled RF plasma. The inductive coil is inside the central cylinder of the thruster and located nearby the acceleration stage. Preliminary modeling results of this DSHT are described. Published by AIP Publishing. https://doi

Continuous gas temperature measurement of cold plasma jets containing microdroplets, using a focussed spot IR sensor

Controlling gas temperature via continuous monitoring is essential in various plasma applications especially for biomedical treatments and nanomaterial synthesis but traditional techniques have limitations due to low accuracy, high cost or experimental complexity. We demonstrate continuous high-accuracy gas temperature measurements of low-temperature atmospheric pressure plasma jets using a small focal spot infrared sensor directed at the outer quartz wall of the plasma. The impact of heat transfer across the capillary tube was determined using calibration measurements of the inner wall temperature. Measured gas temperatures varied from 25 °C–50 °C, increasing with absorbed power and decreased gas flow. The introduction into the plasma of a stream (∼105 s−1) of microdroplets, in the size range 12 μm–15 μm, led to a reduction in gas temperature of up to 10 °C, for the same absorbed power. This is an important parameter in determining droplet evaporation and its impact on plasma chemistry