The hall effect thruster het shown in figure 1, is a relatively simple type of ep device. This is a very similar concept in many ways to the ion drive, in that it uses the electrostatic effect to accelerate propellant, but the mechanism is very different. Hall effect thrusters based on the discovery by edwin hall are sometimes referred to as hall thrusters or hall current thrusters. In the recently published improvements in miniaturized hall thrusters by use of hightemperature smco magnets and additive manufacturing techniques, authors a. An alternate form of electric propulsion, the hall effect thruster, was studied independently in the u. It creates thrust by accelerating ions using electricity an ion thruster ionizes a neutral gas by extracting some electrons out of atoms, creating a cloud of positive ions.
The north pole has no effect on it, unless it approaches from the back side of the hall ic. High performance power module for hall effect thrusters luis r. Busek electric thrusters complete inspace commissioning aboard lisa pathfinder. The newly built hall effect thruster is a prototype device ready to be tested in vacuum conditions. His product, the uah78am, is the first hall effect thruster to be built at uah. An ion thruster or ion drive is a form of electric propulsion used for spacecraft propulsion. How much would it cost to purchase my own hall effect.
Plasma oscillations and operational modes in hall effect thrusters by michael j. Us6834492b2 air breathing electrically powered hall. For clarity, the original effect is sometimes called the ordinary hall effect to. Plasmainduced erosion on ceramic wall structures in hall. University of alabama, tuscaloosa, alabama 35487 aaron m. To expand on the discussion in this question, there are at least two circumstances where a hall thruster is a much better choice than a chemical rocket. His product, the uah78am, is the first halleffect thruster to be built at uah. The single hollow cathode in hall thrusters serves the same function as the two cathodes in direct current dcelectron discharge ion thrusters that produce the plasma and neutralize the beam. One of the most common het designs is the stationary plasma thruster, in which an annular channel acts as an ionization zone where a radial magnetic field and axial electric. Id like to know how to make a plasma thruster like the one on that one youtube video. For the record, this was recorded long before the mit first ion powered airplane, but that was the impetus to edit the footage and get the video uploaded. Ht100 is a permanentmagnets thruster operating in the 100 250 w range5, generating a thrust between 4 and mn, and a specific impulse between 900 and 1400 s. A hall effect thruster is a type of ion propulsion engine in which an electric field accelerates the propellant. Busek wins nasa cubesat contract for electrospray propulsion.
Pinero glenn research center, cleveland, ohio peter y. New thruster design increases efficiency for future. The hall effect thruster is classed as a moderate specific impulse 1,600s space propulsion technology and has benefited from considerable theoretical and experimental research since the 1960s. Harnessing this effect could generate a reactionless thrust, which woodward and others claim to measure in. Jan 07, 2009 some of you probably have plans to build your own spaceships, we know we do. The woodward effect, also referred to as a mach effect, is part of a hypothesis proposed by james f. The hall effect thruster, also called a plasma thruster, is a form of electrostatic propulsion, which in turn is a form ion propulsion a category of electric space propulsion.
Hall thruster operation hall thrusters use a hollow cathode located on the downstream perimeter of the thruster to generate electrons. In spacecraft propulsion, a hall effect thruster het is a type of ion thruster in which the propellant is accelerated by an electric field. Hall effect thrusters operated on soviet satellites from 1972 until the late 1990s, mainly used for satellite stabilization in northsouth and in eastwest directions. Krypton hall effect thruster for spacecraft propulsion. Ssl announces busek collaboration on nasa and government programs. Hall thruster a serious contender to get humans to mars. High performance power module for hall effect thrusters. Hollow cathodes for low power hall effect thrusters.
For clarity, the original effect is sometimes called the ordinary hall effect to distinguish it from other hall effects. If you know how, or you were the one who put up that video, please put up an instructable on it and send me the link. The major difference between them is that the tal has a metallic channel wall, while the spts channel wall is coated with a ceramic material. Busek is a leader in hall thruster development, culminating in the flight of the first usbased hall thruster on tacsat2 and recent launch of falconsat5. Oct 02, 2007 hall thrusters are generally classified in two groups. These ion thrusters rely mainly on electrostatics as ions are accelerated by the coulomb force along an electric field. It consists of a fine wire, suspended above a sheet of aluminium foil, by a lightweight insulating support such as balsa wood. This video will show you how to build simple hall effect circuits using linear hall effect switches. This paper provides the description of the development approach and the status of the project.
Scientists just completed a recordbreaking test of the. Hopping, who already had experience with 3d printing, was tasked with designing and building a fully functioning miniature halleffect thruster from scratch. Diy homemade electrohydrodynamic thruster ehdt rmcybernetics. The anode or channel of the hall thruster shown in the diagram at the bottom of the last page is charged to a high positive potential by the thrusters power supply. Ionic thrusters sound like something straight out of science fiction, like the engines used to pow. Well, the propulsion system can be a bit tricky, especially if you plan on using plasma drives. Busek has developed numerous hall thrusters, each of. A hall thruster relies on the hall effect to accelerate ions and produce thrust.
Hall effect thrusters use a magnetic field to limit the electrons axial motion and then use them to ionize propellant, efficiently accelerate the ions to produce thrust, and neutralize the ions in the plume. Harnessing this effect could generate a reactionless thrust, which woodward and. Aug 27, 2015 an ion thruster produces a flow of air even though it has no moving parts. Oct 24, 2017 a hall thruster relies on the hall effect to accelerate ions and produce thrust. How much would it cost to purchase my own hall effect thruster. This project involves super high voltage and shorting the ion thruster literally creates a taser. The advantage to this system over others is that you need only an electrical source to power the device and it has no moving parts so it is almost unbreakable.
Motor on a hall effect switch simple electric motors. The hall effect causes a measurable voltage differential across the conductor such that one side is positively charged and the other negatively. Plasmainduced erosion on ceramic wall structures in halleffect thrusters thomas burton. Defense advanced research projects agency defense sciences office darpadso, the 18month project seeks to demonstrate the use of propellantless cathodes. Busek is a leader in hall thruster development, culminating in the flight of the first usbased hall thruster on. A second type of electrostatic propulsion system is the hall effect thruster. Based on permanent magnets, the ht 100 het is designed to perform orbit control tasks on microsatellites and aocs tasks on minisatellites. Ion and hall thrusters march 2008 the research described in this publication was carried out at the jet propulsion laboratory, california institute of technology, under a contract with the national aeronautics and space administration. When the us was beginning to investigate the gridded ion drive, the soviet union was investigating the hall effect thruster het.
Techniques on how to increase the trigger sensitivity will be covered. The effects of cathode configuration on hall thruster. The solution turned out to be the low cost and fast turnaround of 3d printing. The nasa overview is short and easy to read, so theres no need to reexplain how the thruster works. In spacecraft propulsion, a halleffect thruster het is a type of ion thruster in which the propellant is accelerated by an electric field. Halleffect thrusters use a magnetic field to limit the electrons axial motion and then use them to ionize propellant, efficiently accelerate the ions to produce thrust, and neutralize the ions in the plume. It turns on and off when the south pole of the magnet passes by its branded side. Electrostatic propulsion systems an analysis of current. See more ideas about ion thruster, diy rocket and nuclear technology.
Investigation of the hall effect thruster breathing mode. Het hall effect thruster space electric propulsion. Bowers akima corporation, fairview park, ohio prepared for the 38th joint propulsion conference and exhibit cosponsored by aiaa, asme, sae, and asee. A version of this seemingly impossible device is used on a larger scale to propel deep space probes for nasa. Metal and polymer 3d printing improves hall effect thruster.
Comparisons in performance of electromagnet and permanent. The process starts with a current of electrons spiraling through a circular channel. A hall effect thruster is a small rocket engine that uses a powerful magnetic field to accelerate a low density plasma and so produce thrust. An alternative approach is to employ a cylindrical hall thruster cht geometry. The device is a hall thruster, but an electrostatic accelerator, a duality which has led to some confusion. Diy lifter an electrohydrodynamic thruster ehdt the diagram below shows a ehdt in its most basic form. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service. Plasma ejected from the exhaust end of the thruster can deliver great speeds, typically around 70,000 mph. Clustering of hall effect thrusters for highpower electric propulsion applications by brian eric beal a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy aerospace engineering at the university of michigan 2004 doctoral committee. Using a small number of components to produce an exb field, an het can accelerate ions to extremely high velocities to provide thrust. Hall effect thrusters hall thrusters generate thrust by creating and accelerating ionized gas via magnetic and electrostatic fields. If the outcome of the tests is positive, optimization of the device and a round of assessment. One of the most practical forms of electric propulsion is the hall effect thruster het, which makes use of electric and magnetic fields to create and eject a plasma. The resistive divider may be appropriately dimensioned for enabling an over current protection and control over the connected bldc motor.
Msht100, a magnetically shielded version of ht100, was also designed and performed a. The description of hall thruster physics cannot be complete without some discussion of the. Can someone explain the hall effect thruster to me. The tal thruster with metallic walls, illustrated in fig. The second circuit which forms the main driver configuration for the proposed 3 phase brushless bldc motor driver circuit, could be also seen having a current sensing stage across its lower left section.
New thruster design increases efficiency for future spaceflight. The effect is manipulated and measured in the functioning of many electronic devices including joysticklike controls, compasses in smartphones, magnetometers, sensors and currentmeasuring devices. An airatmosphere breathing electrically powered hall effect thruster including a thruster duct having an inlet, an exit, and a discharge zone between the inlet and the exit for receiving air from the inlet into the discharge zone, an electrical circuit having a cathode for emitting electrons and an anode in the discharge zone for attracting the electrons from the cathode through the exit. Hopping, who already had experience with 3d printing, was tasked with designing and building a fully functioning miniature hall effect thruster from scratch. Some of you probably have plans to build your own spaceships, we know we do.
Plasma oscillations and operational modes in hall effect. A hall thruster works by accelerating the plasma exhaust to extremely high speeds. This thruster, which is being developed by nasas glenn research center in conjunction with the us air force and the university of michigan, is a scaledup model. The vortex exhaust mode on lowpower cylindrical hall thruster. The effect is a potential difference across an electric current. Very highpower halleffect thruster for exploration, sitael is developing, designing, manufacturing and testing a new 20kw class hall effect thruster, the ht20k, together with the associated high current hollow cathode, the hc60. This is where engines like the x3 halleffect thruster comes into play. Ion thruster prototype breaks records in tests, could send humans to mars hall effect thrusters produce exhausts with speeds of 10 kmsec to 80 kmsec. Topology optimization in electromagnetism design of a.
967 452 689 1309 477 516 1288 36 1444 1450 1395 325 894 1129 205 441 1241 160 1158 85 1139 1377 1409 1485 729 70 1355 955 1157 31