The far-field plasma characterization in a 600W Hall thruster plume by laser-induced fluorescence

Non-intrusive characterization of the singly ionized xenon velocity in Hall thruster plume using laser induced fluorescence(LIF) is critical for constructing a complete picture of plume plasma,deeply understanding the ion dynamics in the plume, and providing validation data for numerical simulation. This work presents LIF measurements of singly ionized xenon axial velocity on a grid ranging from 100 to 300 mm in axial direction and from 0 to 50 mm in radial direction for a600 W Hall thruster operating at the nominal condition of discharge voltage 300 V and discharge current 2 A, the influence of discharge voltage is investigated as well. The ion velocity distribution function(IVDF) results in the far-field plume demonstrate a profile of bimodal IVDFs, especially prominent at radial distances greater than channel inner radius of 22 mm at axial position of 100 mm, which is quite different from that of the near-field plume where bimodal IVDFs occur in the central core region for the same power Hall thruster when compared to previous LIF measurements of BHT-600 by Hargus(2010 J. Propulsion Power 26 135).Beyond 100 mm, only single-peak IVDFs are measured. The two-dimensional ion velocity vector field indicates the bimodal axial IVDF is merely a geometry effect for the annular discharge channel in the far-field plume. Results about the IVDF, the most probable velocity and the accelerating potential profile along the centerline all indicate that ions are still accelerating at axial distances greater than 100 mm, and the maximum most probable velocity measured at300 mm downstream of the exit plane is about 19 km s-1. In addition, the most probable velocity of ions along radial direction changes a little except the lower velocity ion populations in the bimodal IVDF cases. The ion temperature at axial distances of 10 and 300 mm oscillates along the radial direction, while the ion temperature first increases, and then decreases for the 200 mm case. Finally, the axial position for the ion peak axial velocity on the thruster centerline is shifted upstream for higher discharge voltages, and the velocity curve is becoming steeper with the discharge voltage before reaching the maximum. This observation can be used as a criterion to optimize the thruster performance.     

Matching characteristics of magnetic field configuration and chamfered channel wall in a magnetically shielded Hall thruster

To date,the selection of the magnetic field line used to match the chamfered inner and outer channel walls in a magnetically shielded Hall thruster has not been quantitatively studied.Hence,an experimental study was conducted on a 1.35 kW magnetically shielded Hall thruster with a xenon propellant.Different magnetic field lines were chosen,and corresponding tangentially matched channel walls were manufactured and utilized.The results demonstrate that high performance and a qualified anti-sputtering effect cannot be achieved simultaneously.When the magnetic field lines that match the chamfered wall have a strength at the channel centerline of less than 12％ of the maximum field strength,the channel wall can be adequately protected from ion sputtering.When the magnetic field lines have a strength ratio of 12％-20％,the thruster performance is high.These findings provide the first significant quantitative design reference for the match between the magnetic field line and chamfered channel wall in magnetically shielded Hall thrusters.     

Study on the influence of the discharge voltage on the ignition process of Hall thrusters

A high-speed charge-coupled device camera was used to capture images of the plume and acceleration channel of a Hall effect thruster during ignition at different discharge voltages. To better understand the influence of changes in the discharge voltage on the plasma parameters during thruster ignition, a particle-in-cell numerical model was used to calculate the distribution characteristics of the ion density and electric potential at different ignition moments under different discharge voltages. The results show that when the discharge voltage is high, the ion densities in the plume and acceleration channel are significantly higher at the initial phase of thruster ignition; with the gradual strengthening of the ignition process, the propellant avalanche ionization during thruster ignition occurs earlier and the pulse current peak increases. The main reason for these phenomena is that the change in the discharge voltage results in different energy acquisitions of the emitted electrons entering the thruster channel.     

Study on the influences of ionization region material arrangement on Hall thruster channel discharge characteristics

There exists strong interaction between the plasma and channel wall in the Hall thruster,which greatly affects the discharge performance of the thruster.In this paper,a two-dimensional physical model is established based on the actual size of an Aton P70 Hall thruster discharge channel.The particle-in-cell simulation method is applied to study the influences of segmented low emissive graphite electrode biased with anode voltage on the discharge characteristics of the Hall thruster channel.The influences of segmented electrode placed at the ionization region on electric potential,ion number density,electron temperature,ionization rate,discharge current and specific impulse are discussed.The results show that,when segmented electrode is placed at the ionization region,the axial length of the acceleration region is shortened,the equipotential lines tend to be vertical with wall at the acceleration region,thus radial velocity of ions is reduced along with the wall corrosion.The axial position of the maximal electron temperature moves towards the exit with the expansion of ionization region.Furthermore,the electron-wall collision frequency and ionization rate also increase,the discharge current decreases and the specific impulse of the Hall thruster is slightly enhanced.     

Heat generation and corresponding rise in temperature due to absorption of thermal neutrons in several shielding materials

The evaluation of the heat generation and the corresponding rise in temperature of the absorption of thermal neutrons are carried out for some selected materials (water, ordinary concrete, heavy concrete, paraffin wax, graphite, lead and iron) The absorbed thermal flux is estimated by a simplified solution of the diffusion equation. The heat generation is considered to be the product of the macroscopic absorption cross-section of thermal neutrons by the corresponding thermal flux. Material thermal conductivity and the calculated heat generation then estimate the investigated rise in temperature.     

Simulation of the Radial Electric Field in the Small Size Divertor Tokamak for Discharge with Neutral Beam Injection (NBI)

The radial electric field in the edge plasma of small size divertor tokamak can be simulated by B2SOLPS0.5.2D fluid transport code. The simulation provides the follow results: (1) Switching on and off the part of the parallel plasma viscosity driven by parallel ion diamagnetic heat flux (Bekheit in J. Fusion Energ 27(4), 338–345, 2008; Schneider et al. in Nucl. Fusion 41:387, 2001) and Counter-NBI plasma heating change profile of radial electric field significantly. (2) Switching on and off the parallel plasma viscosity driven by parallel ion diamagnetic heat flux leads to the radial electric field is toroidal magnetic field dependence (3) For the case of counter-NBI plasma heating, the switching on and off the current driven by part parallel plasma viscosity depends on the ion diamagnetic heat flux leads to the ion poloidal velocity is toroidal magnetic field B_T dependence. (4) The profile of the radial electric field in edge plasma of small size divertor tokamak is consistent with poloidal rotation velocity.     

Temperature-viscosity induced laminar instabilities in a gaseous heated channel

Laminar flow instability exhibits itself as a flow rate excursion in single isolated tubes having negative pressure-drop-flow-rate derivative at constant heat addition in a gas which has a viscosity increasing with temperature in the laminar Reynolds number range. An application is in laminar flow nuclear rocket reactors. The constitutive equations for such a system were solved using seven different forms of the energy equation in a steady state isolated channel. An equation for flow rate at neutral stability is given. Parametric results are presented for a range of heat flux, flow rate and fluid state conditions. Closed form solutions and existing experimental findings were verified using numerical analysis.     

Effect of Segmented Electrode Length on the Performances of an Aton-Type Hall Thruster

The influences of the low-emissive graphite segmented electrode placed near the channel exit on the discharge characteristics of a Hall thruster are studied using the particlein-cell method.A two-dimensional physical model is established according to the Hall thruster discharge channel configuration.The effects of electrode length on the potential,ion density,electron temperature,ionization rate and discharge current are investigated.It is found that,with the increasing of the segmented electrode length,the equipotential lines bend towards the channel exit,and approximately parallel to the wall at the channel surface,the radial velocity and radial flow of ions are increased,and the electron temperature is also enhanced.Due to the conductive characteristic of electrodes,the radial electric field and the axial electron conductivity near the wall are enhanced,and the probability of the electron-atom ionization is reduced,which leads to the degradation of the ionization rate in the discharge channel.However,the interaction between electrons and the wall enhances the near wall conductivity,therefore the discharge current grows along with the segmented electrode length,and the performance of the thruster is also affected.     

Plume diagnostics of BUSTLab microwave electrothermal thruster using Langmuir and Faraday probes

This study presents the Langmuir and Faraday probe measurements conducted to determine the plume characteristics of the BUSTLab microwave electrothermal thruster (MET). The thruster, designed to operate at 2.45 GHz frequency, is run with helium, argon and nitrogen gases as the propellant. For the measurements, the propellant volume flow rate and the delivered microwave power levels are varied. Experiments with nitrogen gas revealed certain operation regimes where a very luminous plume is observed. With the use of in-house-built Langmuir probes and a Faraday probe with guard ring, thruster plume electron temperature, plasma density and ion current density values are measured, and the results are presented. The measurements show that MET thruster plume effects on spacecraft will likely be similar to those of the arcjet plume. It is observed that the measured plume ion flux levels are very low for the high volume flow rates used for the operation of this thruster.     

Hybrid–PIC simulation of sputtering product distribution in a Hall thruster

Hall thrusters have been widely used in orbit correction and the station-keeping of geostationary satellites due to their high specific impulse,long life,and high reliability.During the operating life of a Hall thruster,high-energy ions will bombard the discharge channel and cause serious erosion.As time passes,this sputtering process will change the macroscopic surface morphology of the discharge channel,especially near the exit,thus affecting the performance of the thruster.Therefore,it is necessary to carry out research on the motion of the sputtering products and erosion process of the discharge wall.To better understand the moving characteristics of sputtering products,based on the hybrid particle-in-cell (PIC) numerical method,this paper simulates the different erosion states of the thruster discharge channel in different moments and analyzes the moving process of different particles,such as B atoms and B+ ions.In this paper,the main conclusion is that B atoms are mainly produced on both sides of the channel exit,and B+ ions are mainly produced in the middle of the channel exit.The ionization rate of B atoms is approximately 1％.     

Investigation into the thermal effect of the LIPS-200 ion thruster plume

The distribution of the thermal effects of the ion thruster plume are essential for estimating the influence of the thruster plume, improving the layout of the spacecraft, and for the thermal shielding of critical sensitive components. In order to obtain the heat flow distribution in the plume of the LIPS-200 xenon ion thruster, an experimental study of the thermal effects of the plume has been conducted in this work, with a total heat flow sensor and a radiant heat flow sensor over an axial distance of 0.5–0.9 m and a thruster angle of 0°–60°. Combined with a Faraday probe and a retarding potential analyzer, the thermal accommodation coefficient of the sensor surface in the plume is available. The results of the experiment show that the xenon ion thruster plume heat flow is mainly concentrated within a range of 15°. The total and radial heat flow of the plume downstream of the thruster gradually decreases along the axial and radial directions, with the corresponding values of 11.78 kW m⁻² and 0.3 kW m⁻² for the axial 0.5 m position, respectively. At the same position, the radiation heat flow accounts for a very small part of the total heat flow, approximately 3%–5%. The thermal accommodation factor is 0.72–0.99 over the measured region. Furthermore, the PIC and DSMC methods based on the Maxwell thermal accommodation coefficient model (EX-PWS) show a maximum error of 28.6% between simulation and experiment for LIPS-200 ion thruster plume heat flow, which, on the one hand, provides an experimental basis for studying the interaction between the ion thruster and the spacecraft, and on the other hand provides optimization of the ion thruster plume simulation model.     

A plasma equilibrium model for rapid estimation of SF-MPDT performance

In this work,a zero-dimensional plasma model for self-field magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters(SF-MPDTs) is proposed,which is based on the ion-number balance equation and energy balance equation,and can calculate the average electron temperature and the average ion temperature inside the discharge chamber conveniently.At the same time,the model can also predict the thruster performance,and the thruster performance predicted by the model is compared with experimental results,which proved the reliability of the model.     

Vapor heat transfer in post-CHF region including the effect of thermodynamic non-equilibrium

Vapor phase heat transfer in the post-CHF region is modelled using momentum-transfer analogy and allowing for thermodynamic non-equilibrium. The vapor heat transfer coefficient is determined by momentum-transfer analogy, using an appropriate two-phase friction factor. The degree of thermodynamic non-equilibrium, denoted by the ratio of actual quality to equilibrium quality, is correlated in terms of a dimensionless temperature difference which includes the superheated vapor temperature. This correlation is solved simultaneously with a heat balance equation to determine the actual quality and the vapor temperature. Post-CHF vapor heat flux, calculated by this method, is compared to experimental tube data from eight different sources at pressures up to 2830 psia and over a wide range of mass fluxes. Results indicate an average deviation of 14.9% between measured and predicted heat fluxes for 2854 data points.     

Simulation study on the influence of magnetic field in the near-anode region on anode power deposition of ATON-type Hall thruster

The highest deposition of power and temperature is always near the cusp of the ATON-type Hall thruster. This shows that when there are electrons gathering at the cusp, the distribution of heat load will be uniform, which will potentially damage the reliability. Therefore, we optimize the magnetic field near the anode. We changed the magnetic field characteristics in the near-anode region with an additional magnetic screen, and performed numerical simulation with particle-incell simulation. The simulation results show that the magnetic field of the thruster with the additional magnetic screen can alleviate the over-concentration of power deposition on the anode and reduce the power deposition in the anode by 20%, while ensuring that the overall magnetic field characteristics do not change significantly.     

熔融池氧化物层自然对流的数值模拟

本文以BALI试验段为对象建模,对其中有内热源的湍流自然对流流体进行了二维数值模拟。模拟工况的瑞利数Ra高达10¹²～10¹⁵。流体的湍流运动用大涡模拟模型来捕捉。通过对下边界局部热流密度的面积加权积分,计算了三维下边界换热量。结果表明,Ra对流场、温度场与下边界局部热流密度分布均有显著影响。计算所得上下边界的Ra-Nu关系与试验结果符合较好。对不同物理机理导致的下边界热流密度分布规律进行了分析。     

基于四方程模型的LBE环管湍流换热数值研究

为计算液态铅铋（LBE）在环管内不同加热环境下的湍流换热,基于开源计算流体力学程序OpenFOAM开发了四方程模型求解器4eqnFoam。将LBE在平板和圆管内的预测结果与直接数值模拟结果和实验结果进行对比,验证了求解器的有效性。基于该求解器,分别计算了LBE在外壁绝热内壁加热以及内外壁面等热流加热环管内不同雷诺数下的湍流换热量。结果表明：随着雷诺数的增加,两种加热条件下的无量纲温度脉动、雷诺热流、湍流热扩散作用增大,而平均湍流普朗特数减小;当雷诺数增加到一定程度时,平均湍流普朗特数变化不明显。基于4eqnFoam求解器,可为计算LBE热工水力现象提供更多参考。     

Numerical investigation of acceleration effect on heat transfer deterioration phenomenon in supercritical water

It is important to understand the heat transfer deterioration (HTD) phenomenon for specifying cladding temperature limits in the fuel assembly design of supercritical water-cooled reactor (SCWR). In this study, a numerical investigation of heat transfer in supercritical water flowing through vertical tube with high mass flux and high heat flux is performed by using six low-Reynolds number turbulence models. The capabilities of the addressed models in predicting the observed phenomena of experimental study are shortly analyzed. Mechanisms of the effect of flow structures and fluid properties on heat transfer deterioration phenomenon are also discussed. Numerical results have shown that the turbulence is significantly suppressed when the large-property-variation region spreads to the buffer layer near the wall region, resulting in heat transfer deterioration phenomenon. The property variations of dynamic viscosity and specific heat capacity in supercritical water can impair the deterioration in heat transfer, while the decrease of thermal conductivity contributes to the deterioration.     

Numerical research on natural convection in molten salt reactor with non-uniformly distributed volumetric heat generation

Molten salt reactor is one of the six Generation IV systems capable of breeding and transmutation of actinides and long-lived fission products, which uses the liquid molten salt as the fuel solvent, coolant and heat generation simultaneously. The present work presents a numerical investigation on natural convection with non-uniform heat generation through which the heat generated by the fluid fuel is removed out of the core region when the reactor is under post-accident condition or zero-power condition. The two-group neutron diffusion equation is applied to calculated neutron flux distribution, which leads to non-uniform heat generation. The SIMPLER algorithm is used to calculate natural convective heat transfer rate with isothermal or adiabatic rigid walls. These two models are coupled through the temperature field and heat sources. The peculiarities of natural convection with non-uniform heat generation are investigated in a range of Ra numbers (10³ ∼ 10⁷) for the laminar regime of fluid motion. In addition, the numerical results are also compared with those containing uniform heat generation.     

Study on the characteristics of non-Maxwellian magnetized sheath in Hall thruster acceleration region

The secondary electron emission (SEE) and inclined magnetic field are typical features at the channel wall of the Hall thruster acceleration region (AR), and the characteristics of the magnetized sheath have a significant effect on the radial potential distribution, ion radial acceleration and wall erosion. In this work, the magnetohydrodynamics model is used to study the characteristics of the magnetized sheath with SEE in the AR of Hall thruster. The electrons are assumed to obey non-extensive distribution, the ions and secondary electrons are magnetized. Based on the Sagdeev potential, the modified Bohm criterion is derived, and the influences of the non-extensive parameter and magnetic field on the AR sheath structure and parameters are discussed. Results show that, with the decrease of the parameter q, the high-energy electron leads to an increase of the potential drop in the sheath, and the sheath thickness expands accordingly, the kinetic energy rises when ions reach the wall, which can aggravate the wall erosion. Increasing the magnetic field inclination angle in the AR of the Hall thruster, the Lorenz force along the $x$ direction acting as a resistance decelerating ions becomes larger which can reduce the wall erosion, while the strength of magnetic field in the AR has little effect on Bohm criterion and wall potential. The propellant type also has a certain effect on the values of wall potential, secondary electron number density and sheath thickness.     

Simulation of Toroidal Rotation Effect on Heat Flux Transport in the Edge Plasma of Small Size Divertor Tokamak

The effect of toroidal rotation on heat flux transport in the edge plasma of small size divertor was simulated by B2SOLP0.5.2D transport code. The main results of simulation shows that, the following: (1) the radial heat flux is strongly influenced by toroidal rotation. (2) The amplification of conduction part of radial heat flux imposes nonresilient profile of ion temperature, under which the effect of toroidal rotation on ion temperature profile is strong. (3) The ion distribution and its gradients are lower for counter-injection neutral beam than for co-injection neutral beam. (4) Reversal of toroidal rotation during using neutral beam injection result in reverses of radial electric field and E × B drift velocity. (5) The toroidal rotation strong influence on the ion temperature scale length of the ion temperature gradient (ITG). (6) Switch on and off all drifts leads to higher change in the ion density distribution in edge plasma of small size divertor tokamak when the unbalance neutral beam injection are considered (7) the comparison between radial heat flux at different momentum input shows that, the radial ion heat flux with larger ion temperature scale length in the case of co-injection neutral beam is larger than the ion heat flux with smaller ion temperature scale length in the case of counter-injection neutral beam.