Plume Performance of Electrodeless Plasmoid Electromagnetic Propulsion

Abstract

Electrodeless plasmoid electromagnetic propulsion was recently proposed for robotic and crewed space missions. This electrodeless construction has the potential to solve the existing limitations, such as duration and low efficiency. The rotating magnetic field (RMF) excitation and Lorentz Force acceleration mechanism of the plasmoid has the advantage of producing a highly variable thrust and a discrete impulse. In this article, the plume performance of the proposed propulsion primer was presented for the first time and evaluated by varying the RMF input power, bias magnetic field, and flow rate, while the power of the preionization source and discharge propellant are held constant. The RMF excitation and Lorentz Force acceleration mechanism of the plasmoid were confirmed by the plume performance and discharge characteristics. The stable discharge in Ar, N <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> , and Xe demonstrated the potential application of this electrodeless technology in future multipropellant high-power propulsion applications. The phase angle of 90° in the RMF coil was essential for the higher performance of the plasma plume. The propulsion thrust and specific impulse were estimated to be 16.1 mN and 1600 N <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\cdot $ </tex-math></inline-formula> s, respectively, at 1.2 kW from the initial test conducted using the Langmuir probe, assuming a complete penetration of RMF in the plasma.