NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Conducting Wall Hall ThrustersA unique configuration of the magnetic field near the wall of Hall thrusters, called Magnetic Shielding, has recently demonstrated the ability to significantly reduce the erosion of the boron nitride (BN) walls and extend the life of Hall thrusters by orders of magnitude. The ability of magnetic shielding to minimize interactions between the plasma and the discharge chamber walls has for the first time enabled the replacement of insulating walls with conducting materials without loss in thruster performance. The boron nitride rings in the 6 kW H6 Hall thruster were replaced with graphite that self-biased to near the anode potential. The thruster efficiency remained over 60% (within two percent of the baseline BN configuration) with a small decrease in thrust and increase in Isp typical of magnetically shielded Hall thrusters. The graphite wall temperatures decreased significantly compared to both shielded and unshielded BN configurations, leading to the potential for higher power operation. Eliminating ceramic walls makes it simpler and less expensive to fabricate a thruster to survive launch loads, and the graphite discharge chamber radiates more efficiently which increases the power capability of the thruster compared to conventional Hall thruster designs.
Document ID
20150007838
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Conference Paper
External Source(s)
Authors
Goebel, Dan M.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Hofer, Richard R.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Mikellides, Ioannis G.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Katz, Ira
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Polk, James E.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Dotson, Brandon
(California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
May 11, 2015
Publication Date
July 14, 2013
Subject Category
Spacecraft Propulsion And Power
Meeting Information
Meeting: AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit
Location: San Jose, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: July 14, 2013
End Date: July 17, 2013
Sponsors: Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc., American Society for Electrical Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
electric propulsion (EP)

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available