IGF::OT::IGF IN THE PHASE I PROGRAM, BUSEK CO. INC. TESTED AN EXISTING HALL THRUSTER, THE BHT-8000, ON IODI…

Public award description

IGF::OT::IGF IN THE PHASE I PROGRAM, BUSEK CO. INC. TESTED AN EXISTING HALL THRUSTER, THE BHT-8000, ON IODINE PROPELLANT. THE THRUSTER WAS FED BY A HIGH FLOW IODINE FEED SYSTEM, AND SUPPORTED BY AN EXISTING BUSEK HOLLOW CATHODE FLOWING XENON GAS. THE PHASE I PROPELLANT FEED SYSTEM WAS EVOLVED FROM A PREVIOUSLY DEMONSTRATED LABORATORY FEED SYSTEM. THROTTLING OF THE THRUSTER BETWEEN 2 AND 11 KW AT 200-600V WAS DEMONSTRATED. TESTING HAS SHOWN THAT THE EFFICIENCY OF IODINE FUELED BHT-8000 IS THE SAME AS WITH XENON, WITH IODINE DELIVERING SLIGHTLY HIGHER THRUST TO POWER (T/P). PLUME CURRENT WAS ALSO MEASURED AT A VARIETY OF OPERATING CONDITIONS. PRELIMINARY DESIGN WORK FOR A NEW THRUSTER TO BE BUILT IN PHASE II WAS ALSO COMPLETED. IN PHASE II A COMPLETE IODINE FUELED SYSTEM WILL BE DEVELOPED INCLUDING THE THRUSTER, HOLLOW CATHODE, AND IODINE PROPELLANT FEED SYSTEM. THE NOMINAL POWER OF THE PHASE II SYSTEM IS 8 KW. HOWEVER, IT CAN BE DEEPLY THROTTLED AS WELL AS CLUSTERED TO MUCH HIGHER POWER LEVELS. THE TECHNOLOGY CAN ALSO BE SCALED TO>100 KW PER THRUSTER TO SUPPORT MW-CLASS MISSIONS. THE TARGET THRUSTER EFFICIENCY FOR THE FULL SCALE SYSTEM IS 65% AT HIGH ISP (~3000 S) AND 60% AT HIGH THRUST (ISP~2000 S). THESE PROJECTIONS ARE BASED ON PHASE I TESTING AND PRIOR TESTING OF HIGHER POWER THRUSTERS. IODINE ENABLES DRAMATIC MASS AND COST SAVINGS FOR LUNAR AND MARS CARGO MISSIONS, INCLUDING EARTH ESCAPE AND NEAR-EARTH SPACE MANEUVERS. HIGH PURITY IODINE IS AVAILABLE COMMERCIALLY IN LARGE QUANTITIES AT MUCH LOWER COST THAN XENON. IODINE STORES AT 2 TO 3 TIMES GREATER DENSITY THAN XENON AND AT APPROXIMATELY ONE THOUSANDTH OF THE PRESSURE AND MAY BE STORED IN LOW MASS, LOW COST PROPELLANT TANKS INSTEAD. PASSIVE, LONG TERM STORAGE OF A FULLY FUELED SYSTEM IS FEASIBLE INCLUDING STORAGE IN CONFORMAL TANKS WHICH MAY BE USED TO SHIELD INTERNAL COMPONENTS AGAINST SOME TYPES OF SPACE RADIATION.