Proceedings of International Forum for Green Asia 2017
Special issue of Evergreen - Joint Journal of Novel Carbon Resource Sciences & Green Asia Strategy

P-24

Development of 5kW Class Anode Layer Type Hall Thruster
Yusuke Egawa,1 Naoji Yamamoto1
1Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University
Kasuga-koen, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan,

Abstract
To develop 5 kW class anode layer type Hall thruster, the effect of magnetic field configurationon thruster performance were investigated.
Kyushu University and its uncertainty was2.6%. Thrust efficiency and oscillation
amplitude were calculated with the following
equations. The test was conducted in spacescience chamber in ISAS/JAXA.
Magnetic field configuration can bechange by changing the ratio of inner coilcurrent to outer coil current. In this test, two
type anodes were used; nominal type andboss type shown in Fig.2.

1. Introduction
For space missions, the reduction of craft
size and cost are required. Electric
propulsion systems, Ion thrusters and Hall
thrusters, enable above requirements andhave been demand as a main propulsion
system such as 457M[1], HERMeS[2] and D160[3] for the missions such as Manned MarsMission, Asteroid Redirect Mission andconstruction of the Space Solar Power
System. The features of Hall thruster are highthrust density and wide power operational
range[4]. In addition, Hall thruster has thelong life, more than 5000 hours, andefficiency of more than 50% with specificimpulse of 1500-2000 s. Therefore, Hall
thruster is suited to orbit transfer of thespacecraft and North-South Station Keeping(NSSK) of geosynchronous satellites.
SMART-1, a spaceship to survey the moon,
was adopted Hall thruster as a main
propulsion system[5].
In this paper, in order to improve thethrust efficiency, the effects of magnetic field
configuration on thrust performance, that is,thrust and thrust efficiency were investigatedand discussed.
2. Experimental
In this study, we used 5 kW class anodelayer type Hall thruster, named RAIJIN94,
which is designed at Kyushu University. The
sectional view is shown in Fig. 1. The outer
diameter and inner diameter are 94 mm and60 mm. 1 inner coil is set at center of thethruster and 4 outer coils are set at eachcorner. Thrust was measured by pendulum
type thrust stand which was fabricated atFigure 1 sectional view of Hall thruster

𝜂𝑡 =67𝐹22(𝑚̇𝑎 + 𝑚̇𝑐 )𝑉𝑑 𝐼𝑑(1)Proceedings of International Forum for Green Asia 2017
Special issue of Evergreen - Joint Journal of Novel Carbon Resource Sciences & Green Asia Strategy

P-24

3. Result
3.1 Magnetic field configuration effectFig. 2 shows the coil effect on the thrust
efficiency at discharge voltage of 300 V andmass flow rate of 4.9 mg/s. In this condition,
the ratio of inner coil current to outer coilcurrent was changed. When the ratio of innercoil current to outer coil current is 6:4, thethrust and the thrust efficiency weremaximum. Then, thrust was 95 mN at innercoil current of 0.45 A and outer coil currentof 0.3 A. Thrust efficiency was 52% at innercoil current of 0.5 A and outer coil current of
0.33 A. This would be because the line offorce was improved to straight at the plasma
generation area, when the ratio of inner coilcurrent to outer coil current is 6:4. This
would tend to improve the thrust
performance because magnetic force line
corresponds to equipotential line.

Figure 2 Coil effect on efficiency

4. Conclusions
Investigation of thrust dependency onmagnetic field configuration was performed.
The optimum ratio of inner coil current toouter coil current was 6:4 at discharge
voltage of 300 V
5. Future work
To achieve long life of Hall thruster,
optimization of life time which means
erosion measurement is required. However,endurance test needs so much cost in expenseand human resources. Therefore, as a realtime measurement, cavity ring down
spectroscopy (CRDS) which shown in Fig. 3will be used.

Figure 3 Mechanism of CRDSAcknowledgment
This study was supported by
ISAS/JAXA as a collaborative program with
the Space Science Chamber Laboratory andJSPSKAKENHI Grants Number 23686123
and 26289324.
Reference[1] J. A. Linnell, A.D. Gallimore, “Efficiency
Analysis of a Hall thruster Operating withKrypton and Xenon,” Journal of Propulsion andPower, Vol.22, pp. 1402-1418, 2006.
[2] Peter Y. Peterson, Hani Kamhawi, Wensheng
Huang, George Williams, James H. Gilland,
John Yim, Richard R. Hofer, and Daniel A.
Herman. "NASA's HERMeS Hall Thruster
Electrical Configuration Characterization",
52nd AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion
Conference, Propulsion and Energy Forum,(AIAA 2016-5027)[3] S.Tverdokhlebov, A. Semenkin, and J. Polk,“Bismuth Propellant Option for Very HighPower TAL Thruster,” AIAA Paper 20020348,Jan. 2002.
[4] V. V. Zhurin, H. R. Kaufman, R. S. Robinson,“Physics of Closed Drift Thrusters,”Plasma
Sources Sci. Technol. 8, 1999, R1-R20.
[7] C. R. Koppel and D. Estublier, “The SMART-1
Electric Propulsion Subsystem,”AIAA-20034545, 39th Joint Propulsion Conference,
Huntsville, Alabama, July 20–23, 2003.

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