A brief review of alternative propellants and requirements for pulsed plasma thrusters in micropropulsion applications

• 作者: William Yeong Liang LING Song ZHANG Hao FU Mengcheng HUANG Justin QUANSAH Xiangyang LIU Ningfei WANG
• 来源期刊: 中国航空学报（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2020,（12）
• 所属期刊栏目: Special Topic: Space Micro-Propulsion Technology
• 页码范围: 2999-3010,前插1
• 页数: 13页
• 语种: 英文

摘要

Technological miniaturization has enabled the development of small satellites weighing as little as 1 kg. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of suitable efficient micropropulsion systems at these scales. The pulsed plasma thruster is a structurally simple form of electric propulsion. This simplicity also makes it ideally suited for miniaturization. Its history can be traced back to applications in satel-lites that are much larger than micro/nano-satellites. The vast majority of modern pulsed plasma thrusters use solid polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) as a propellant. Unfortunately, at lower dis-charge energy levels such as those necessitated by the power limitations of micro/nano-satellites, PTFE has a tendency to exhibit carbon deposition, which can ultimately lead to thruster failure. In this new era of small satellites, it is important to consider alternative propellants in the miniatur-ization of pulsed plasma thrusters. This brief review discusses the needs and limitations of small satel-lites and alternative propellants that may be able to meet these needs. Such propellants may be able to offer advantages such as a longer thruster lifetime, a higher specific impulse, or a higher thrust-to-power ratio. This would enable the development of different types of pulsed plasma thrusters that can be tailored towards specific mission requirements.