Simulations of a Miniaturized Cylindrical Hall Thruster

Abstract—A miniaturized cylindrical Hall thruster (CHT) is studied using a 2-D hybrid model. The simulation results are compared with experimental results for 100-W laboratory CHT. The channel of this thruster has a short coaxial part and a longer cylindrical region with a larger volume-to-surface ratio to reduce erosion. The 2-D model combines a fluid description of the electrons (continuity and momentum equations) and a particle description of the ions and the neutral atoms. The simulations confirm that the ionization takes place in the annular part of the channel, while the unusually high propellant utilization efficiency is found to be due to doubly charged ions. Index Terms—Cylindrical Hall thruster (CHT), simulations. NOMENCLATURE B Magnetic field magnitude. e Electron charge constant. Iback and Ifront Back and front coil currents, respectively. Id and Ii Discharge and ion currents, respectively. kB Bohm fitting parameter. ma Xenon anode mass flow. me and M Electron and neutral atom masses, respectively. n, n0, ne, and ni Plasma, reference, electron, and ion densities, respectively. N Neutral gas density. S Ionization source term. T Thrust. Te Electron temperature. U Fitting parameter (sheath potential)