CN115163439A - Low-power hollow cathode propulsion system - Google Patents
Low-power hollow cathode propulsion system Download PDFInfo
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- CN115163439A CN115163439A CN202210868059.7A CN202210868059A CN115163439A CN 115163439 A CN115163439 A CN 115163439A CN 202210868059 A CN202210868059 A CN 202210868059A CN 115163439 A CN115163439 A CN 115163439A
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- cathode
- power supply
- hollow cathode
- discharge channel
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F03—MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS; WIND, SPRING, OR WEIGHT MOTORS; PRODUCING MECHANICAL POWER OR A REACTIVE PROPULSIVE THRUST, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- F03H—PRODUCING A REACTIVE PROPULSIVE THRUST, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- F03H1/00—Using plasma to produce a reactive propulsive thrust
- F03H1/0081—Electromagnetic plasma thrusters
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F03—MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS; WIND, SPRING, OR WEIGHT MOTORS; PRODUCING MECHANICAL POWER OR A REACTIVE PROPULSIVE THRUST, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- F03H—PRODUCING A REACTIVE PROPULSIVE THRUST, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- F03H1/00—Using plasma to produce a reactive propulsive thrust
- F03H1/0006—Details applicable to different types of plasma thrusters
- F03H1/0012—Means for supplying the propellant
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F03—MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS; WIND, SPRING, OR WEIGHT MOTORS; PRODUCING MECHANICAL POWER OR A REACTIVE PROPULSIVE THRUST, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- F03H—PRODUCING A REACTIVE PROPULSIVE THRUST, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- F03H1/00—Using plasma to produce a reactive propulsive thrust
- F03H1/0006—Details applicable to different types of plasma thrusters
- F03H1/0031—Thermal management, heating or cooling parts of the thruster
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- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
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- Plasma & Fusion (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Electromagnetism (AREA)
- Plasma Technology (AREA)
Abstract
A low-power hollow cathode propulsion system solves the problem that an existing propulsion system is difficult to miniaturize, and belongs to the field of aerospace propulsion systems. The invention comprises a hollow cathode, an anode, a magnetic field and a discharge channel; the hollow cathode comprises a contact electrode, a cathode tube, an emitter and a tungsten top; the touch electrode is provided with an exit hole, the emitter is nested in the cathode tube, the tungsten top is welded at the top of the cathode tube, and the center of the tungsten top is provided with a throttling hole which is opposite to the exit hole; the discharge channel is straight cylindrical and is arranged on one side of the hollow cathode, a gas working medium is supplied from one end of the cathode tube, sequentially passes through the emitter, the throttle hole of the tungsten top and the emergent hole of the touch electrode and then enters the discharge channel from the end part of the discharge channel, the anode is positioned at the end part of the discharge channel, the magnetic field is excited by the permanent magnet, electrons in the discharge channel generate Hall drift under the action of the magnetic field and the electric field, and axial electric field accelerated ions are generated; the cathode tube is used as a cathode of the touch pole and the anode.
Description
Technical Field
The invention relates to an electric propulsion system, and belongs to the field of aerospace propulsion systems.
Background
With the rapid development of micro-nano stars, the requirements for micro thrusters are increasingly outstanding. The micro-thruster is limited by the size of the micro-satellite and the power of a power supply, and is required to have the characteristics of small size and low power consumption. Cold gas propulsion and chemical propulsion have relatively low specific impulses, limiting the payload and on-orbit life of the microsatellite and are therefore unsuitable for use on microsatellite platforms. The electric propulsion system has higher propulsion efficiency and specific impulse, and the specific impulse is close to 3000-4000s by taking a Hall thruster and an ion thruster which are developed more mature in the prior art as an example. However, in the miniaturization process of the ion thruster and the Hall thruster, the propulsion efficiency is reduced to a certain extent due to size reduction, the wall surface corrosion caused by particle bombardment is serious, the service life and the reliability are seriously influenced, meanwhile, the ion thruster and the Hall thruster need to be matched with a neutralizer for working, a storage tank and an air supply pipeline need to be equipped for the neutralizer and the thruster at the same time, the system is difficult to miniaturize, and the miniaturization technology of the neutralizer has certain difficulty, so that the low-power Hall thruster and the ion thruster are applied to a micro-nano satellite platform and further need to be optimized.
At present, the electric thruster with the power range suitable for the micro-nano satellite further comprises a pulse plasma electric thruster (PPT), a micro-cathode arc thruster (μ CAT), a field emission thruster (FEEP) and a colloid thruster. PPT and μ CAT both utilize ablation solid propellant, have small volume and high specific impulse, and can meet the volume requirement of a micro-nano satellite on a propulsion system, however, the two thrusters adopt a pulse discharge form, have higher voltage and higher requirements on the service life and reliability of a power supply, and electromagnetic radiation interference generated by the thrusters can cause electromagnetic radiation damage to satellite-borne components. The field emission thruster and the colloid thruster respectively ionize and accelerate liquid metal and charged liquid by high voltage which can reach 3kV to 15kV, the requirements on a power supply system are high, and meanwhile plume can cause pollution to a spacecraft. Therefore, the existing micro thruster applied to the micro-nano satellite platform has defects.
Disclosure of Invention
Aiming at the problem that the existing gas tank and gas supply pipeline are needed to be equipped for the neutralizer and the thruster at the same time, and the propulsion system is difficult to miniaturize, the invention provides the low-power hollow cathode propulsion system which only needs to provide one path of gas working medium.
The invention discloses a low-power hollow cathode propulsion system, which comprises a hollow cathode, an anode, a magnetic field and a discharge channel, wherein the hollow cathode is connected with the anode;
the hollow cathode comprises a contact electrode, a cathode tube, an emitter and a tungsten top;
the touch electrode is provided with an emergent hole, the cathode tube, the emitter and the tungsten top are arranged inside the touch electrode, the cathode tube is a tantalum tube, the emitter is embedded in the cathode tube, the tungsten top is welded to the top of the cathode tube, the tungsten top and the emitter are sequentially arranged along the axis of the emergent hole, the center of the tungsten top is provided with a throttling hole, and the throttling hole is opposite to the emergent hole;
the discharge channel is in a straight cylinder shape and is arranged on one side of the hollow cathode, a gas working medium is supplied from one end of the cathode tube, sequentially passes through the emitter, the throttle hole of the tungsten top and the emergent hole of the touch pole and then enters the discharge channel from the end part of the discharge channel, the anode is positioned at the end part of the discharge channel, the magnetic field is excited by the permanent magnet, electrons in the discharge channel generate Hall drift under the action of the magnetic field and the electric field, and axial electric field accelerated ions are generated;
the cathode tube is used as a cathode of the touch pole and the anode.
Preferably, the hollow cathode further comprises a heating wire; the heating wire is arranged outside the tantalum tube and positioned between the cathode tube and the touch electrode, and the cathode tube is used as the cathode of the heating wire.
The propulsion system further comprises a control module, a power supply module and a storage and supply system; the storage and supply system is used for inputting gas working media to the cathode tube;
preferably, the power supply module provides working power supply for the heating wire, the anode, the touch electrode and the storage and supply system;
the control module is used for controlling the power supply module to supply power or cut off power to the heating wire, the anode, the touch pole and the storage and supply system and the output current and voltage.
The invention has the advantages that the gas working medium discharged by the hollow cathode can be effectively reused in the discharge channel, and is continuously ionized and accelerated in the discharge channel, so that the anode and the cathode of the propulsion system can be integrated, an additional neutralizer is not needed, the size of the propulsion system can be effectively reduced, and the structure of the storage and supply system is simplified. The invention has magnetic fields with positive gradient and negative gradient, effectively ensures the ionization efficiency of the propulsion system, and has larger radial component in the magnetic field, so that the radial component of the electric field is higher, thereby effectively accelerating ions. In addition to this, the present invention is,
drawings
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the principles of the present invention;
fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the reservoir system.
Detailed Description
The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.
It should be noted that the embodiments and features of the embodiments may be combined with each other without conflict.
The invention is further described with reference to the following drawings and specific examples, which are not intended to be limiting.
The low-power hollow cathode propulsion system of the present embodiment comprises a hollow cathode, an anode 6, a magnetic field, and a discharge channel;
the hollow cathode comprises a contact electrode 1, a cathode tube 2, an emitter 3 and a tungsten top 4;
the touch electrode 1 is provided with an emergent hole, the cathode tube 2, the emitter 3 and the tungsten top 4 are arranged inside the touch electrode 1, the cathode tube 2 is a tantalum tube, the emitter 3 is nested inside the cathode tube 2, the emitter 3 is made of barium-tungsten cathode materials or lanthanum hexaboride materials, and the touch electrode has the characteristics of low electron emission work function and large current emission coefficient; the tungsten top 4 is welded at the top of the cathode tube 2, the tungsten top 4 and the emitter 3 are sequentially arranged along the axis of the exit hole, the center of the tungsten top 4 is provided with a throttling hole, and the throttling hole is opposite to the exit hole; the throttling hole has the function of throttling the gas working medium, and the gas is diffused in the discharge channel after passing through the throttling hole;
the discharge channel 5 is in a straight cylinder shape, adopts ceramic insulating materials and selects a desalted boron or alumina ceramic material; the gas working medium is fed from one end of the cathode tube 2, sequentially passes through the emitter 3, the throttling hole of the tungsten top 4 and the emergent hole of the touch electrode 1, enters the discharge channel 5 from the end part of the discharge channel 5, and the anode 6 is positioned at the end part of the discharge channel 5, is made of stainless steel materials, provides voltage for plasma discharge and forms a higher electric field;
the magnetic field is excited by the permanent magnet, and electrons in the discharge channel 5 generate Hall drift under the action of the magnetic field and the electric field, so that the high ionization efficiency of the thruster is ensured, and axial electric field accelerated ions are generated; the discharge channel 5 is made of a ceramic insulating material. The cathode tube 2 serves as a cathode for the anode 1 and the cathode 6.
The hollow cathode of the present embodiment is a key component in the electric propulsion system, and provides the electric propulsion system with the functions of maintaining plasma discharge and neutralizing plume by electrons. The hollow cathode has the characteristics of simple structure, small volume, reliable work and long service life. Meanwhile, the hollow cathode is used as a micro thruster, the anode 6 and the cathode can be integrated, an additional neutralizer is not needed, a propulsion system can be greatly simplified, the effective load of the micro-nano satellite is increased, and the in-orbit service life of the micro-nano satellite is prolonged. Meanwhile, the hollow cathode can discharge by utilizing krypton and argon, and compared with xenon, the hollow cathode can greatly reduce the use cost of a propulsion system.
The hollow cathode of the present embodiment further comprises a heater wire 7; the heating wire 7 is arranged outside the tantalum tube and positioned between the cathode tube 2 and the touch electrode 1, and the cathode tube 2 is used as the cathode of the heating wire 7.
The heater wire 7 raises the temperature of the emitter 3 to a certain temperature, which can generate a certain amount of heat to emit electrons, thereby causing breakdown ionization of the gas inside the hollow cathode.
The propulsion system of the present embodiment further comprises a control module, a power module, and a storage and supply system; the storage and supply system is used for inputting gas working media to the cathode tube 2;
the power supply module provides working power supply for the heating wire 7, the anode 6, the touch electrode 1 and the storage and supply system;
the control module is used for controlling the power supply module to supply power or cut off power to the heating wire 7, the anode 6, the touch pole 1 and the storage and supply system and the output current and voltage, so that the discharge control of the thruster and the supply of gas working media are realized.
The storage and supply system of the embodiment comprises a gas tank and an electromagnetic pressure reducing valve; the air outlet pipeline of the air tank is communicated with the inside of the cathode tube 2 of the hollow cathode, the electromagnetic pressure reducing valve is arranged on the air outlet pipeline, and the power supply module is connected with the electromagnetic pressure reducing valve.
The gas tank is made of titanium alloy, has light weight and high strength, the pressure in the tank can reach 7 atmospheric pressures, the gas storage amount is 0.5-1 kg, and the gas storage amount can be regulated and controlled according to the requirement of the space mission. The gas tank is connected to an electromagnetic pressure reducing valve through a gas pipeline, the electromagnetic pressure reducing valve is used as a switch of a gas circuit, and meanwhile, the gas pressure in the gas tank is reduced in the pipeline to be reduced to thousands of Pa. The electromagnetic pressure reducing valve controls the switch of the power supply module through the control module, so that the on-off of the gas circuit is realized.
The storage and supply system of the embodiment further comprises a throttle valve, and the throttle valve is arranged on the air outlet pipeline. The throttle valve is used for controlling the flow in the air path, the flow can be controlled by adjusting the size of the throttle hole of the throttle valve, the flow range is 1-3sccm, and the air is supplied to the cathode tube 2 after passing through the throttle valve. And a ceramic insulator is used between the air passage of the storage and supply system and the cathode tube 2 to prevent breakdown and electric leakage.
The power module of this embodiment includes a heating power supply, an anode 6 power supply, a touch electrode 1 power supply, and a solenoid valve power supply.
The power supply of the touch electrode 1 provides 0-50V voltage and 0-0.5A current for the touch electrode 1;
the power supply of the anode 6 provides 0-200V voltage and 0-0.5A current for the anode 6;
the heating power supply provides 0-20V voltage and 0-3.5A current for the heating wire 7;
the electromagnetic valve power supply provides 24V voltage and 0.2A current for the electromagnetic reducing valve.
The propulsion system of the embodiment further comprises a satellite control and power supply module, the satellite control and power supply module is electrified by adopting a CAN/485 protocol and the control module, a control analog signal of the satellite control and power supply module is converted into an electric signal of the control switch, the electric signal is sent to the control module, the heating power supply, the anode 6 power supply, the touch electrode 1 power supply and the electromagnetic valve power supply are controlled to be switched on and off, and the satellite control and power supply module supplies power to the power supply module.
Although the invention herein has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and applications of the present invention. It is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. It should be understood that features described in different dependent claims and herein may be combined in ways different from those described in the original claims. It is also to be understood that features described in connection with individual embodiments may be used in other described embodiments.
Claims (9)
1. A low power hollow cathode propulsion system comprising a hollow cathode, an anode, a magnetic field and a discharge channel;
the hollow cathode comprises a contact electrode, a cathode tube, an emitter and a tungsten top;
the touch electrode is provided with an emergent hole, the cathode tube, the emitter and the tungsten top are arranged inside the touch electrode, the cathode tube is a tantalum tube, the emitter is embedded in the cathode tube, the tungsten top is welded to the top of the cathode tube, the tungsten top and the emitter are sequentially arranged along the axis of the emergent hole, the center of the tungsten top is provided with a throttling hole, and the throttling hole is opposite to the emergent hole;
the discharge channel is straight cylindrical and is arranged on one side of the hollow cathode, a gas working medium is supplied from one end of the cathode tube, sequentially passes through the emitter, the throttle hole of the tungsten top and the emergent hole of the touch electrode and then enters the discharge channel from the end part of the discharge channel, the anode is positioned at the end part of the discharge channel, the magnetic field is excited by the permanent magnet, electrons in the discharge channel generate Hall drift under the action of the magnetic field and the electric field, and axial electric field accelerated ions are generated;
the cathode tube is used as a cathode of the touch pole and the anode.
2. The low power hollow cathode propulsion system according to claim 1, characterized in that the hollow cathode further comprises a heating wire; the heating wire is arranged outside the tantalum tube and positioned between the cathode tube and the touch electrode, and the cathode tube is used as the cathode of the heating wire.
3. A low power hollow cathode propulsion system according to claim 1, wherein the emitters are made of barium tungsten cathode material or lanthanum hexaboride material.
4. The low power hollow cathode propulsion system according to claim 1, characterized in that the discharge channel is made of ceramic insulating material.
5. The low power hollow cathode propulsion system of claim 2, further comprising a control module, a power module, and a storage and supply system; the storage and supply system is used for inputting gas working media to the cathode tube;
the power supply module provides a working power supply for the heating wire, the anode, the touch electrode and the storage and supply system;
the control module is used for controlling the power supply module to supply power or cut off power to the heating wire, the anode, the touch pole and the storage and supply system and the output current and voltage.
6. The low power hollow cathode propulsion system according to claim 5, characterized in that the storage and supply system comprises a gas tank, a solenoid pressure relief valve; the gas outlet pipeline of the gas tank is communicated with the inside of the cathode tube of the hollow cathode, the electromagnetic pressure reducing valve is arranged on the gas outlet pipeline, and the power supply module is connected with the electromagnetic pressure reducing valve.
7. The low power hollow cathode propulsion system of claim 6, wherein the reservoir system further comprises a throttle valve disposed on the air outlet line.
8. The low power hollow cathode propulsion system according to claim 6, wherein the power module comprises a heating power supply, an anode power supply, a touch pole power supply and a solenoid valve power supply.
The touch electrode power supply provides 0-50V voltage and 0-0.5A current for the touch electrode;
the anode power supply provides 0-200V voltage and 0-0.5A current for the anode;
the heating power supply provides 0-20V voltage and 0-3.5A current for the heating wire;
the electromagnetic valve power supply provides 24V voltage and 0.2A current for the electromagnetic reducing valve.
9. The low-power hollow cathode propulsion system according to claim 5, further comprising a satellite control and power supply module, wherein the satellite control and power supply module is powered on by the CAN/485 protocol and the control module, the satellite control and power supply module converts a control analog signal of the satellite control and power supply module into an electric signal of the control switch and sends the electric signal to the control module, and the satellite control and power supply module supplies power to the power supply module.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CN202210868059.7A CN115163439A (en) | 2022-07-22 | 2022-07-22 | Low-power hollow cathode propulsion system |
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| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CN202210868059.7A CN115163439A (en) | 2022-07-22 | 2022-07-22 | Low-power hollow cathode propulsion system |
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| CN115163439A true CN115163439A (en) | 2022-10-11 |
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| CN202210868059.7A Pending CN115163439A (en) | 2022-07-22 | 2022-07-22 | Low-power hollow cathode propulsion system |
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Cited By (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN116066319A (en) * | 2023-03-14 | 2023-05-05 | 哈尔滨工业大学 | Cathode external electron compensation method for inhibiting discharge oscillation of electric propulsion hollow cathode |
| CN116588355A (en) * | 2023-06-12 | 2023-08-15 | 上海易推动力科技有限公司 | Cathode propulsion system for micro-nano satellite |
| CN117233079A (en) * | 2023-11-10 | 2023-12-15 | 北京东方计量测试研究所 | Online calibration device and calibration method for corrosion rate of propeller channel |
| CN117420102A (en) * | 2023-12-19 | 2024-01-19 | 哈尔滨工业大学 | Optical on-line monitoring device and emitter life rapid assessment method |
-
2022
- 2022-07-22 CN CN202210868059.7A patent/CN115163439A/en active Pending
Cited By (7)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN116066319A (en) * | 2023-03-14 | 2023-05-05 | 哈尔滨工业大学 | Cathode external electron compensation method for inhibiting discharge oscillation of electric propulsion hollow cathode |
| CN116588355A (en) * | 2023-06-12 | 2023-08-15 | 上海易推动力科技有限公司 | Cathode propulsion system for micro-nano satellite |
| CN116588355B (en) * | 2023-06-12 | 2024-03-12 | 上海易推动力科技有限公司 | Cathode propulsion system for micro-nano satellite |
| CN117233079A (en) * | 2023-11-10 | 2023-12-15 | 北京东方计量测试研究所 | Online calibration device and calibration method for corrosion rate of propeller channel |
| CN117233079B (en) * | 2023-11-10 | 2024-02-06 | 北京东方计量测试研究所 | Online calibration device and calibration method for corrosion rate of propeller channel |
| CN117420102A (en) * | 2023-12-19 | 2024-01-19 | 哈尔滨工业大学 | Optical on-line monitoring device and emitter life rapid assessment method |
| CN117420102B (en) * | 2023-12-19 | 2024-04-09 | 哈尔滨工业大学 | Optical on-line monitoring device and emitter life rapid assessment method |
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