Single power supply operation of a Hall thruster

Abstract

Interest in operating Hall thrusters with a single power supply, facilitated by heaterless hollow cathodes, has motivated this research. Initial investigations into the Safran PPS 1350 confirmed the potential for this configuration. Building on these findings, modifications were made to a laboratory Hall thruster to enable operation with a single power supply and changes were made to the electrical configuration to promote smooth cathode ignition and decrease the influence of the inductance in the magnetic coils. In addition to operating with a laboratory power supply, CisLunar Industries supplied a prototype anode supply that demonstrated capability of running the laboratory Hall thruster under these conditions without efficiency losses, as verified by thrust stand data. A phenomenological efficiency analysis was performed using a Faraday probe and a retarding potential analyzer which supported these results, while also providing pertinent sub-efficiencies. The study concludes that a single power supply configuration is a viable approach to starting and operating a Hall thruster equipped with a heaterless hollow cathode.