Propellant Losses Because of Particulate Emission in a Pulsed Plasma Thruster

Abstract

Propellant inefficiency material in particulate form is characterized in a laboratory pulsed plasma thruster (PPT) operating at 1 Hz with a 204 discharge energy (20 W). Exhaust deposits are collected and analyzed using a combination of a scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive x-ray analysis and microscopic imaging. Teflon(trademark) particulates are observed with characteristic dianietens ranging from over 100 micrometers down to less than 1 micrometer.