The investigation of alternative solid propellants in hall effect thrusters

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Hall Effect Thrusters (HET's) are often the best option for high performance electric propulsion. Within the thruster the propellant, typically xenon, is ionized, and accelerated to high velocities. Xenon offers reasonable levels of thrust, is stable and non-reactive. However it is expensive, its storage density is low, and alternatives have considerably lower ionization potentials. There is a strong interest in developing HET's that utilize alternative propellants, especially so for micro-satellites(< 100 Kg) where cost and volume are particularly constrained. Considerable work is now on-going in the research community to investigate using iodine, bismuth, and other elements. It has been demonstrated that these offer performance comparable to xenon, but in a smaller system volume and at less cost. This PhD scholarship will consist of developing a Hall Effect Thruster to operate on alternative propellants, focusing on zinc, magnesium and iodine. Good initial work has been completed on developing such a system at Southampton, including a prototype thruster and propellant delivery system. This PhD scholarship will extend the work towards an investigation of the thruster's operational window, thrust measurements, and an understanding of the thruster operation through various probes. The work will be in collaboration with OHB Sweden, Sweden's leading space satellite company. They will provide first phase guidance, expertise on the HET results and views on future architecture. The studentship will include the possibility of an industrial placement for several months for the student, likely in their second year of studies.