Optimizing ideal ion propulsion systems depending on the nature of the propellant

Abstract

From all accounts the ion thrusters are characterized by the fact that they produce a very high exhaust velocity and specific impulse, sometimes too high for many missions. The exhaust velocity of the ionized particles is a function of the ratio between electrical charge and mass. The obvious solution is the use of ions with low electrical charge – mass ratio, but many of these substances have a corrosive effect on the acceleration grids, they are toxic and hard to store on board the spacecraft. Currently the most used propellant for the ionic propulsion systems is xenon gas having many advantages, but it is expensive when compared to other propellants. The current paper aims to make an optimization study of ideal ion thrusters depending on the nature of the propellant using for studying a significant number of substances. It will study the variation of the performances: force, specific impulse, efficiency, etc for the same power available on board, for the same accelerating voltage and the same ionic current.

Keywords

• ionization
• propellant
• exhaust velocity
• optimization