Introduction to Electric

Rocket PROPULSION
 Limitations of Chemical Rockets
• Chemical rocket: exhaust ejection velocity
intrinsically limited by the propellant-oxidizer
reaction
• Larger velocity increment of the spacecraft could be
obtained only with a larger ejected mass flow.
• Mission practical limitation: exceedingly large
amount of propellant that needs to be stored
aboard

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 Electric propulsion
“The acceleration of gases for propulsion by electric
heating and/or by electric and magnetic body
forces.”
The general classes of systems for electric
propulsion are:
•Electrostatic propulsion devices
•Electrothermal propulsion devices
•Electromagnetic propulsion devices.

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1. Electrothermal
◦ Propellant is electrically heated through wall (resistojet) or
by electrical arc discharge (arcjet)
◦ Thermal rocket and our model for thermal thrust chamber
applicable

2. Electrostatic
◦ Charged particles (ions) accelerated by electrostatic forces
(Ion, Hall Effect and Kaufmann type thrusters)

3. Electromagnetic
◦ Electrically conducting fluid accelerated by electromagnetic
and pressure forces (Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster
(MPD, PPT))
 Advanced (Electric) Propulsion
Features:
• High exhaust speed (i.e. high specific impulse),
much greater than in conventional (chemical)
rockets
• Much less propellant consumption (much higher
efficiency in the fuel utilization)
• Continuous propulsion: apply a smaller thrust for
a longer time
• Mission flexibility (Interplanetary travel, defense)
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 Electrothermal rockets
Electrothermal rocket engines are very similar in principle to
chemical and nuclear thermal rockets, differing only in using
electrical heating to raise the temperature of the propellant prior
to accelerating it in a nozzle.
•Electric resistance heating, as in the “resistojet”
•Heating of the propellant by a high energy arc discharge
passing through it, as in the “arc jet”
•Heating by passing radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic
waves through the propellant to heat it.
Fairly high F at reasonably high Isp, but thermal limitations are
the same as in chemical and nuclear thermal rocket engines.

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 Resistojet
•Propellant: Nitrogen, Xenon,butane & most gases
•Thrust: up to 100 mN
•Feed pressure: up to 10 bar
•Operation temperature to 500°C
•Redundant heaters
•A resistojet works by super-heating a propellant fluid, such as
water or nitrous oxide, over an electrically-heated element and
allowing the resulting hot gas to escape through a converging-
diverging nozzle. Thrust and specific impulse (a measure of the
engine's efficiency) are limited by the material properties of the
resistor.

Theory of Propulsion 7
 Resistojet

Heat exchanger Nozzle

Valve

Electric power supply Theory of Propulsion 8

 Arcjet
1. A simple, reliable form of electrothermal propulsion used to
provide brief, low- power bursts of thrust, such a satellite
needs for station-keeping.
2. A nonflammable propellant is heated, typically changing state
from liquid to gas, by an electric arc in a chamber. It then goes
out the nozzle throat and is accelerated and expelled at
reasonably high speed to create thrust.
3. Arcjets can use electrical power from solar cells or batteries,
and any of a variety propellants.
4. Hydrazine is the most popular propellant, however, because it
can also be used in a chemical engine on the same spacecraft
to provide high thrust capability or to act as a backup to the
arcjet.

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 Arcjet

Theory of Propulsion 10
 Electrothermal : Arc Jet
Propellant tank Pump
Positive
Electric electrode
power ~ Arc
supply
Accelerated
plasma
Negative
electrode Circulating
nozzle wall
Propellant cooled coolant
chamber wall
Pump
Radiator
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 Arcjet
Type Propell Energy Isp,vac (s) Thrust Density
ant (N) (g/cc)
Resisto N2, Resistive 150- 0.005-0.5 0.28, 0.60,
jet NH3, heating 700 1.0, 0.019
N2O4, =0.9
H2

Arcjet NH3, Arc heating 450- 0.05-5 0.60, 0.019

H2, =0.3 1500 1.0
N2H4

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 Electrostatic rockets
The temperature limitations of electrothermal rockets may
be avoided if the acceleration of the propellant is achieved
by electric body forces. The ion rocket accomplishes this by
using -

• An ion source to produce a stream of positively charged

particles
• A negatively charged grid electrode to electrostatically
accelerate the ions
• An electron source to neutralize the accelerated ions

Thus there is no physical nozzle or pressure chamber and

the only temperature limitations are on the ion source
device.
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 Types Of Electostatic Propulsion
Thrusters::

To cause ionization there are mainly 5 different procedures, they

are :
• electron bombardment
• radio frequency
• field emission
• microwave ion contact

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 Ion rocket propulsion
• A form of electric space propulsion in which ions are accelerated
by an electrostatic field to produce a high-speed (typically about
30 km/s) exhaust.
• An ion engine has a high specific impulse (making it very fuel-
efficient) but a very low thrust.
• Therefore, it is useless in the atmosphere or as a launch vehicle,
but extremely useful in space where a small amount of thrust over
a long period can result in a big difference in velocity.
This makes an ion engine particularly useful for two applications:
(1) as a final thruster to nudge a satellite into a higher orbit and or for
orbital maneuvering or station-keeping, and
(2) as a means of propelling deep-space probes by thrusting over a
period of months to provide a high final velocity. The source of
electrical energy for an ion engine can be either solar (see solar-
electric propulsion) or nuclear
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Electrostatic: Ion Rocket in space
Propellant line

Ion source

Accelerating
electrode
Neutralizer:
Electron emitter

Battery

Ions

Electrons
Theory of Propulsion 16
 Ion Engine

• Scheme of a gridded ion engine with neutralization

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 Electron Bombardment
In an electron bombardment thruster, a
gas propellant enters a discharge
chamber at a controlled rate. A hot,
hollow cathode (negative electrode) at
the center of the chamber emits
electrons, which are attracted to a
cylindrical anode (positive electrode)
around the walls of the chamber. Some
of the electrons collide with and ionize
atoms of the propellant, creating
positively-charged ions.

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 Hall Thruster
• Electrons are generated by a hollow cathode (negative
electrode) at the downstream end of the thruster.
• The anode (positive 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

21
 Hall Thruster (II)

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The Hall thruster scheme
 Hall Thruster

The Hall effect

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 ELECTROMAGNETIC:PPT
• PPTs use solid Teflon propellant to deliver specific impulses in the
900 - 1,200 s range and very low, precise impulse "bits" (10-1,000
μNs) at low average power (< 1 to 100 W)
• PPTs inherently inefficient (η ~5%)
–Simplicity and low impulse bits provide highly useful
–Precision-flying of a spacecraft constellation
• PPT consists of a coiled spring that feeds Teflon propellant bar, an
igniter plug to initiate a small-trigger electrical discharge, a capacitor,
and electrodes through which current flows
• Plasma is created by ablating Teflon from discharge of capacitor
across electrodes
• Plasma is then accelerated to generate thrust by Lorenz force that is
established by current and its induced magnetic field

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 Pulsed plasma thruster

Courtesy NASA GRC Theory of Propulsion 23

MagnetoPlasma Acceleration

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MagnetoPlasma Dynamic Thruster

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 ELECTROMAGNETIC: MPD
• Electromagnetic devices pass a large current through a small amount of gas
to ionize propellant
• Once ionized, plasma is accelerated by electromagnetic body force called
Lorentz force which is created by interaction of a current (j) with magnetic
field (B):

F=j x B

• Current provided between energized positive and negative electrodes, while

magnetic field is either induced by (created from) current itself, applied
externally via an electromagnet or both
• Strength of Lorentz force for an MPD thruster with a self-induced magnetic
field is roughly proportional to ratio J2 / mdot, where J is total thruster current
• While gas-phase propellants like hydrogen and lithium (after vaporization)
can be used, solid propellants can also be used in pulsed electromagnetic
accelerators called pulsed plasma thrusters (PPTs).

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 Electromagnetic: MHD engine
Propellant tank Pump Positive electrode

Electric Magnetic field coils

power ~ Cathode
supply
Electric current
Accelerating
Negative plasma
Arc
electrode
Anode
J

Electromagnetic force (J X B) JXB

B
Theory of Propulsion 27
ELECTROMAGNETIC: MPD

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 Electric Propulsion Applications

1. ISS

2. Interplanetary Missions

heory of Propulsion

3. Commercial/Defense

T 29
Solar thermal rocket
 Solar thermal Rocket
Using the concentrated sunlight as energy source of the propellant,
STP becomes an attractive propulsion system, especially for small
satellites. The reason for that is;
STP requires no combustion or electrical power.
Any propellant can be used.
High specific impulse comparing with chemical propulsion.

The general solution to obtain the high specific impulse is to make in

the plenum to a high temperature. High plenum temperature requires
a heat resistant material such as rhenium or tungsten-CVD coating.
But, the use of these materials increases the cost of SOTV.

We focus on the heat transfer at nozzle. In the nozzle, the propellant

expands and its temperature decreases. Therefore, even if solar
thermal thrustar was made of low cost materials, it is possible to
Solar sail
 Solar sail
• Solar sails are giant, flat sheets of very thin, reflective material --
40-to-100 times thinner than a piece of writing paper -- supported
by an arrangement of lightweight booms or masts.
• The sails reflect sunlight, which provide the force needed to push a
spacecraft through space, without using any fuel. This sunlight
pressure also provides enough thrust to allow such maneuvers as
hovering at a fixed point in space and rotating the vehicle's
position in orbit -- moves that would require a significant amount
of fuel for conventional rocket systems.
• Propellant would be sun light and engine would be sun.
 Radio isotope Propulsion
The radioisotope rocket is a type of thermal rocket engine that
uses the heat generated by the decay of radioactive elements
to heat a working fluid, which is then exhausted through a
rocket nozzle to produce thrust. They are similar in nature
to nuclear thermal rockets such as NERVA, but are
considerably simpler and often have no moving parts.
Types
 Basic thruster configuration

It is 17 inches long and 4 inches in diameter. With re-entry fins

(not shown) it weighs 40 pounds. A total of 5 thermal kilowatts
is generated by Po-210 distributed in three sealed capsules
placed end-to-end within a cylindrical module. This power is
transferred at high efficiency to about 1 lb/hr. of hydrogen
flowing spirally through an annular passage surrounding the
heat source module. The entire thruster is externally insulated
to obtain high thermal efficiency.
DART thruster
 This thruster, a prototype version of which has recently
successfully completed testing, is designed for use in
spacecraft auxiliary propulsion systems which operate
intermittently over extended time durations (e.g.,1-5 years).
 Because of the operative duration, a long-lived isotope and
a storable working fluid are required for this type of thruster.
Therefore, NH3was selected as the propellant for DART and
Pu-238 was selected as the isotope because of its long half-
life, its reasonable availability in sufficient quantity to support
near term applications, and the advanced state of its fuel
form technology.
Thruster technology
 the principle criteria governing the design and development of a Poodle
type thruster are: material compatibility for periods of months with H at
temperatures in the 2000° C range, minimum nozzle viscous losses,
minimum capsule size, compatibility with air for durations of a few hours
at temperature in the 1500-1600° C range, compatibility with air for a
period of years at temperatures in the vicinity of 1200" C, and ability to
survive impact at velocities in the 200 ft/sec. range.
 Basically, the same criteria govern the design and development of a
DART-type thruster except for the operating temperature (2000° F
instead of 2000° C) and for compatibility under operating conditions
(several years with NH3 instead of several months with H2). The
remainder of this section is devoted to a discussion of the progress
which has been made toward achieving these design goals.
 Heat source development
 Radio isotope fuel
 Capsule technology
Nozzle performance
 REFERENCES ::

• http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia.hmtl
• http://www.mypptsearch.com/index.php
• http://www.2dix.com
• http://www.jetaerospace.org/

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THANK YOU……..

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