Effect of multiple cathode neutralizers in standard ion thrust engines

Abstract

The corrosion of grids in ion thrusters due to unsymmetrical leaks and beam dissipation which tends to decrease lifetime of thruster. Usage of cathode neutralizers have shown to decrease corrosion and effect the thrust vector of main electron beam. The existing neutralizer configurations reduce backfiring rate of flow to a minimal level, which has in turn limited the usage and lifetime of thrusters. Present work addresses the issue of this cathodic flow to effectively neutralize the beam by placing multiple cathodes radially and optimize design conditions to produce maximum propulsive efficiency and control the flow of cathodic ions which shouldn't cross main beam threshold. Changes in propulsive efficiency and thrust have been calculated which show an effective increase of 20%-25% and thrust increase of 36%, depending on number of probes, along with maintenance of effective mixing and neutralizing.