In this section
@inproceedings{Rosati:2024,
author = {Rosati, Azevedo E and Berhe, M and Jones-Tett, K and Sadler, J and Potrivitu, G-C and Laterza, M and Lim, JWM and Munoz, Tejeda JM and Moloney, R and Knoll, A},
title = {Joint development of a water electrolysis propelled hall effect thruster and LaB6 hollow cathode},
year = {2024}
}
TY - CPAPER
AB - URA Thrusters Ltd., the ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Plasma Propulsion Lab, and Aliena Pte. Ltd. present a summary of the results of a collaboration for the development of a 1-2 kW level Hall effect thruster and accompanying LaB6 hollow cathode designed to operate on the products of water electrolysis, i.e. oxygen to the anode and hydrogen to the cathode. A pseudo-2D version of the ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Plasma Propulsion Lab’s fully kinetic particle-in-cell code, PlasmaSim, is used to size the discharge channel of the new thruster, termed AQUAHET. In parallel, a 0D plasma-thermal model is used by Aliena to size the emitter and orifice region of the hollow cathode, termed Hydrocat. Preliminary test campaigns are then carried out at both the ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Plasma Propulsion Lab and at Aliena’s Jet Propulsion Test Facility. The ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ preliminarycampaign made use of a retrofitted version of an existing lab model thruster, the WET-HET, to provide benchmarking data to validate the AQUAHET discharge channel sizing. The Aliena preliminary campaign consisted of the thermal and discharge characterization of a prototype Hydrocat and guided improvements to the design of the engineering model cathode. After undergoing qualification and acceptance testing at the Aliena facility, the engineering model Hydrocat was shipped to ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ for the project’s final joint validation test campaign. The validation test campaign began with operation of the Hydrocat alongside the retrofittedWET-HET. This marked the first time a HET and hollow cathode had been successfully operated with oxygen to the anode and hydrogen to the cathode, a major milestone achievement for the project. Detailed experimental characterization of the AQUAHET andHydrocat operating with oxygen and hydrogen followed. Best oxygen-hydrogen performance is obtained at 1168 ± 1 W for 1.7 mg/s of oxygen, 0.2 mg/s of hydrogen, 2.5 A of magnet current, with 20.0 ± 0.4 mN of thrust, 1216 ± 25 s of specific impulse, and 10.2 &pl
AU - Rosati,Azevedo E
AU - Berhe,M
AU - Jones-Tett,K
AU - Sadler,J
AU - Potrivitu,G-C
AU - Laterza,M
AU - Lim,JWM
AU - Munoz,Tejeda JM
AU - Moloney,R
AU - Knoll,A
PY - 2024///
TI - Joint development of a water electrolysis propelled hall effect thruster and LaB6 hollow cathode
ER -