The investigation of alternative solid propellants in hall effect thrusters

霍尔效应推进器（HET）通常是高性能电力推进的最佳选择。在推进器内，推进剂，通常是氙，被电离，并加速到高速度。氙气提供合理的推力水平，是稳定和非反应。然而，它是昂贵的，其存储密度低，并且替代品具有相当低的电离电位。人们对开发利用替代推进剂的HET有着浓厚的兴趣，特别是对于成本和体积特别有限的微型卫星（< 100公斤）。目前，研究界正在进行大量工作，以研究使用碘、铋和其他元素。它已被证明，这些提供性能与氙气，但在一个较小的系统体积和成本较低。该博士奖学金将包括开发霍尔效应推进器，以替代推进剂运行，重点是锌，镁和碘。在南安普顿已经完成了开发这种系统的良好的初步工作，包括原型推进器和推进剂输送系统。这个博士奖学金将扩展到推进器的操作窗口，推力测量，并通过各种探头的推进器操作的理解的调查工作。这项工作将与瑞典领先的空间卫星公司OHB Sweden合作。他们将提供第一阶段的指导，HET结果的专业知识和对未来架构的看法。该奖学金将包括为学生提供几个月的工业实习的可能性，可能是在他们学习的第二年。

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.