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Charge Exchange Containment Cell. Ryan Bosworth, Doug Claes , Michael Johnson, and Trey Quiller. The Exploration and Space Technology ( EaST ) Lab Dr. Andrew Ketsdever Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Introduction. Motivation Charge Exchange Process
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Charge Exchange Containment Cell Ryan Bosworth, Doug Claes, Michael Johnson, and Trey Quiller The Exploration and Space Technology (EaST) LabDr. Andrew KetsdeverDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Introduction • Motivation • Charge Exchange Process • Charge Exchange Cell • Design Stage • Overview of completed system • Results
Motivation • Electronic Propulsion has high mass due to power systems • $10,000 per pound of payload to LEO using the Atlas and Delta launch systems • New propulsion called Electrode-less Lorentz Force Thruster or ELF Thruster
Charge Exchange • Creating fast neutral particles to eject from the system • Mainly momentum transfer between particles • No kinetic energy lost • Minimal deviation from trajectory Neutral Charge Exchange Gas Fast Neutrals Ion Beam Remaining Ions Vacuum
Designing the Device • Main goals of design: • Contain a neutral gas in a vacuum environment • Vary neutral gas pressure • Constant neutral gas number density • Easy to machine device • Went through an extensive design process
Experimental Testing • Tested our best predicted configuration for best containment • 200 milli-torr MKS differential pressure transducer • Flow rates of 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 40, and 50 sccm • Record chamber pressure, differential reading, and flow rates