Title :
Construction and initial characterization of the Coaxial Plasma Source Facility for high specific impulse electric propulsion
Author :
Glover, M.E. ; Mayo, R.M. ; Bourham, M.A.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Nucl. Eng., North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC, USA
Firstpage :
0.666666666666667
Abstract :
The Coaxial Plasma Source facility (CPS-1) is being developed at the North Carolina State University to investigate the suitability of magnetized coaxial plasma gun sources for use as high-specific-impulse thrusters in advanced nuclear electric propulsion. CPS-1 can produce dense, high-grade neutral magnetized plasmas. The CPS-1 facility comprises a pair of (inner and outer) tungsten-coated stainless-steel coaxial electrodes with outer diameters of 20.32 and 13.97 cm, respectively. The plasma generating system includes a fast puff valve feed gas injection system with hydrogen or helium feed gas supply, and a high pulse power (10 kV, 60 kJ) supply. The primary focus of experimental efforts will be to directly measure the magnetic nozzle field topology and dynamics, and plasma magnetofluid parameters including mass flow, density, exit velocity, and plasma detachment from the magnetic nozzle
Keywords :
electric propulsion; electrodes; nozzles; plasma guns; plasma production; power supplies to apparatus; pulsed power technology; railguns; 10 kV; 13.97 cm; 20.32 cm; 60 kJ; Coaxial Plasma Source Facility; North Carolina State University; density; exit velocity; fast puff valve feed gas injection; helium feed gas supply; high specific impulse electric propulsion; high-specific-impulse thrusters; hydrogen feed gas supply; magnetic nozzle field topology; magnetized coaxial plasma gun sources; mass flow; neutral magnetized plasmas; nuclear electric propulsion; plasma detachment; plasma magnetofluid parameters; tungsten-coated stainless-steel coaxial electrodes; Coaxial components; Electrodes; Feeds; Nuclear power generation; Plasma density; Plasma measurements; Plasma sources; Power generation; Propulsion; Pulse generation;
Conference_Titel :
Southeastcon '93, Proceedings., IEEE
Conference_Location :
Charlotte, NC
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-1257-0
DOI :
10.1109/SECON.1993.465716