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Hall Effect Thruster

A Hall effect thruster is a form of ion thruster that uses magnetic fields to accelerate xenon propellant and produce thrust. It works by generating electrons from a cathode, trapping them in a magnetic field to form a ring, and ionizing propellant atoms which are then accelerated by the electric field to generate thrust. Hall thrusters provide much higher specific impulse than chemical rockets but lower thrust, making them useful for long-duration spacecraft maneuvers and station keeping.

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61 views

Hall Effect Thruster

A Hall effect thruster is a form of ion thruster that uses magnetic fields to accelerate xenon propellant and produce thrust. It works by generating electrons from a cathode, trapping them in a magnetic field to form a ring, and ionizing propellant atoms which are then accelerated by the electric field to generate thrust. Hall thrusters provide much higher specific impulse than chemical rockets but lower thrust, making them useful for long-duration spacecraft maneuvers and station keeping.

Uploaded by

Dhana Jayan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Hall Effect thruster

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. 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).
Like gridded ion engines, such as XIPS, Hall thrusters are classified as
electrostatic thrusters. Both utilize an inert gas, commonly xenon, as a
propellant.

History of the device


Initial work on Hall Effect thrusters was carried out independently
in the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and '60s.
Because of inefficiency in the early designs, development of this
type of thruster came to a halt in the US in about 1970.
However, continuing research in the Soviet Union into the ion
acceleration mechanism led to the Hall thruster becoming an
efficient propulsion device.
Two types of Hall thrusters were developed: the stationary plasma
thruster (SPT) at the Kurchatov Institute and the anode layer
thruster (ALT) at the Central Research Institute for Machine
Building (TsNIIMASH).
SPT units have been flown more than 200 Soviet/Russian
satellites for the purpose station-keeping, beginning
with Meteor satellites in 1972.
With the end of the Cold War, this technology became available in
the West. Work in the United States to further quantify SPT
performance and flight qualify SPTs for western spacecraft has
been done primarily at NASA's Glenn Research Center (formerly
Lewis Research Center) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
A Hall effect thruster was also used by the European SMART-
1probe.

How it works
Electrons are generated by a hollow cathode (negative electrode) at
the downstream
end of the
thruster.
The anode (positi
ve electrode) or
"channel" is
charged to a high
potential by the
thruster's power
supply.
The electrons are
attracted to the
channel walls and
accelerate in the
upstream
direction.

As the electrons move toward the channel, they encounter a


magnetic field produced by the thruster's powerful electromagnets.
This high-strength magnetic field traps the electrons, causing them
to form into a circling ring at the downstream end of the thruster
channel.
The Hall thruster gets its name from this flow of electrons, called
the Hall current.
The propellant, which consists of a inert gas such
as xenon or krypton at low pressure, is injected into the thruster's
channel.
Since Hall thrusters use inert gas for propellant, there is no risk of
explosion as there is with chemical rockets.
Some of the trapped electrons in the channel collide with the
propellant atoms, creating ions.
When the propellant ions are generated, they experience the
electric field produced between the channel (positive) and the ring
of electrons (negative) and accelerate out of the thruster, creating
an ion beam.
The thrust is generated from the force that the ions impart to the
electron cloud.
This force is transferred to the magnetic field, which, in turn, is
transmitted to the magnetic circuit of the thruster.
The electrons are highly mobile and attracted to the ions in the
beam, causing an equal amount of electrons and ions to leave the
thruster at the same time.
This enables the thruster to remain overall electrically neutral.

Stationary plasma thrusters (SPTs) and anode layer thrusters


(ALTs) differ in two main respects:
The acceleration region of the SPT is within the thruster itself
while in the case of the ALT it is in front of the thruster.
The channel wall in the SPT is coated with an insulator
(a ceramic material) while the ALT's channel wall is metallic.
Electric propulsion system
As well as the Hall Effect thruster itself, four other components are
needed to make a complete electric propulsion system: a power
source, a power processing unit (PPU), a propellant management
system (PMS), and a control computer.
The power source can be any source of electrical power, but solar
and nuclear are the primary options.
A solar electric propulsion system (SEP) uses sunlight and solar
cells for power generation.
A nuclear electric propulsion system (NEP) uses a nuclear heat
source coupled to an electric generator.
The PPU converts the electrical power generated by the power
source into the power required by each component of the Hall
thruster.
It generates the high voltages required by the Hall thruster channel
and the high currents required for the hollow cathode.
The PMS controls the propellant flow from the propellant tank to
the thruster and hollow cathode.
Modern PMS units have evolved to a level of sophisticated design
that no longer requires moving parts.
The control computer controls and monitors system performance.
The Hall thruster then processes the propellant and power to
perform work.
Performance
Hall thrusters have a specific impulse typically in the range 1,200
to 1,800 seconds much higher than the 300 to 400 seconds of
chemical rockets.
However, they provide a much lower thrust. A modern Hall
thruster can deliver up to 3 Newtons (0.7 pounds) of thrust, which
is equivalent to the force you would feel by holding 54 US quarters
in your hand.
The high specific impulse enables a spacecraft powered by a Hall
thruster to reach a top speed of about 50,000 meters per second
(112,000 mph).
The low thrust, on the other hand, means that weeks or months are
needed to attain this speed.

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