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Propellant alternatives for ion and Hall effect thrusters

Conference Paper · January 2000

DOI: 10.2514/6.2000-602

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 AIAA-2000-0602

PROPELLANT ALTERNATIVES FOR ION AND

HALL EFFECT THRUSTERS
Rainer A. Dressler* , Yu-Hui Chiu† and Dale J. Levandier†
Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate, Hanscom AFB, MA 01731
*AIAA Member
†Boston College, Institute for Scientific Research, Newton, MA 02159

Abstract
Lower-cost alternatives for xenon-propelled ion and Hall Effect thrusters are discussed. An iodine propellant is
proposed based on the low ionization potentials of I2 and I, the high atomic mass of I, and the weight savings
associated with storing a solid fuel with low vapor pressure. The feasibility of ion and Hall-type thrusters that use a
low-cost iodine propellant is explored. Changes to the propellant handling system of an ion or Hall thruster
involving a temperature controlled frit are suggested. The power to maintain a steady gaseous flow of 10 mg I 2 s-1 is
calculated to be less than 1 W. The possibly adverse impact of the high electronegativity of iodine to attach
electrons is examined. It is concluded that iodine could provide a viable alternative if xenon costs become
prohibitive. However, more extensive investigations of the discharge properties of pure iodine including anode
erosion are necessary.

1. Introduction Other noble gases, such as krypton and argon, are

A key technology to lowering the cost of
launching and maintaining future satellites are new,
efficient propulsion systems. Electric propulsion
thrusters are of great interest because their
substantially higher exhaust velocity compared with
traditional chemical propulsion thrusters allows for
significant mass reduction of the spacecraft
propulsion system, thereby increasing the payload to
spacecraft mass ratio. Highly promising thruster
designs already finding use are ion and Hall-effect
thrusters. In these engines, a gas is efficiently
ionized and electrostatically accelerated to provide
thrust. The current gas of choice has been xenon,
given its high mass, relatively low ionization
potential, low chemical reactivity and excellent
discharge properties. Xenon, however, is very
expensive due to its low natural abundance on
Earth’s crust, and it is anticipated that with the
growing use of xenon in space, its price will steadily
increase during the coming years. There is, therefore,
considerable interest in finding cheaper alternative
propellants that still meet the required performance
criteria.
obvious alternatives. However, these gases do not
provide the performance that xenon offers given their
lower mass and higher ionization potentials. While
earlier ion and Hall-effect thruster designs included
metallic propellants, such as cesium and mercury which
met the high atomic mass, low ionization potential
requirement, these fuels have many disqualifying
drawbacks such as the necessity to heat the metal to
generate sufficient vapor pressure, the possibility of
depositing metal coatings on insulators and causing short
circuits, and environmental concerns related to ground-
level testing.
The present work reviews the desirable properties of
ion and Hall thruster propellants. It then explores viable
alternatives to the current propellant of choice, xenon. A
thruster using a solid iodine propellant is proposed. The
advantages and drawbacks of iodine are discussed. The
concept of a prospective iodine propellant handling
system is discussed. We conclude with suggestions for
laboratory studies to further explore the utility of an
iodine propelled thruster.
2. Propellant Properties and Performance

Propellant performance is traditionally measured by

This material is declared a work of the U. S. Government the thrust, T, and the specific impulse, Isp. The thrust is
and is not subject to copyright protection in the United
States.
given by:

1
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

2 Ei
T  m i ui  m i , (1)
mi
where mi is the mass, ui the velocity, and Ei the
kinetic energy of the ionized species. From Eq. (1) it
is seen that the thrust should increase with the square
root of the mass of the ionized species. The specific
impulse is given by:
m i ui T u
I sp    m i (2)
m g m g g
where m is the total propellant mass flow, m is the
propellant utilization efficiency, and g = 9.81 m s-2.
From Equations (1) and (2) it can be concluded that a
desirable propellant must have a high mass as well as
gaseous electronic properties that allow for efficient
ionization. The latter signifies that the thruster input
power, P = VI, where V and I are the discharge
voltages and currents, respectively, are efficiently
converted into propellant power:
2
m i u i
m  . (3)
2P
m is governed by a number of gaseous electronic
parameters, the most obvious of which is the
ionization potential, IP, that signifies the energy
required to produce an ion–electron pair. Propellants
with low ionization potentials are thus preferred.
Atomic gases are preferred over molecular species
for two reasons: i) molecular species can
accommodate significant internal energy, resulting in
frozen flow power losses; ii) molecular ions are
subject to rapid dissociative electron recombination
reactions, a major sink for low energy electrons.
Consequently, an optimal propellant is an atomic gas
with a high atomic mass and a low ionization
potential, provided the species has sufficient vapor
pressure at maintainable temperatures.
The preferred propellant of Hall and ion thrusters
is xenon. Xe has an atomic mass of 131.3 amu and
an ionization potential of 12.13 eV. In a typical Hall
thruster,1 a maximum thrust is obtained at specific
impulses of ~1200 s. At a discharge voltage of 300
V, a typical 70 eV energy loss of the accelerated ions
amounts to a propellent efficiency (Eq. 2) of 60%.
Similar efficiencies are obtained in ion thrusters.2
As mentioned in the introduction, the main
disadvantage of xenon is the very low natural
abundance. Currently, 1 kg of Xe (99.995%) costs
$4,000. That cost could rise dramatically if xenon
2
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
becomes the main fuel of future satellites. This has
prompted the search for alternatives. Krypton (Kr), with
an atomic mass of 83.8 amu and an ionization potential of
14.0 eV, is approximately a factor of 5 cheaper. The
performance, however, may be considerably
compromised by the lower efficiency attributable to the
ionization potential and the reduced thrust. Meanwhile,
argon (Ar) represents the lowest-cost noble gas alternative
given its 1 % abundance in tropospheric air, however, the
atomic mass (40 amu) and the high ionization potential
(15.8 eV) of Ar limit its performance.
Obvious candidates are heavy metals with sufficient
vapor pressures at reasonable temperatures, such as
cesium. Metals, however, have important disadvantages,
such as the short-circuiting of electrical insulators, in
particular those of the thruster. As mentioned earlier,
molecular propellants are not considered because of
efficiency losses due to vibrational and rotational degrees
of freedom. However, there are substances that are stored
in molecular form but have low dissociation energies, i.e.,
are readily and efficiently converted into atomic form.
The best know compounds of this kind are the halogens
(F2, Cl2, Br2, I2). Iodine (I) is situated adjacent to xenon
in the periodic system of elements, thus has an atomic
mass similar to that of xenon. Meanwhile, iodine has an
abundance in Earth’s crust that is 25,000 times higher
than xenon. The current cost of 1 kg of high-purity iodine
(99.999 %) is $400, a factor of 10 lower than the
corresponding cost of xenon. It is thus worth examining
iodine more closely as a potential propellant for future ion
and Hall thrusters.
3. Iodine Properties
Iodine is a solid of high density (4.94 g cm-3) with a
room temperature vapor pressure of 0.3 Torr and a boiling
point of 558 K. Moderate heating can thus raise the vapor
pressure considerably, if required. The solid form of
iodine can present considerable advantages, especially
with respect to savings in propellant tank mass. However,
changes in the fuel handling system need to be considered
Table 1. Physical properties of I2, I and Xe. IP: Ionization
potential; EA: Electron affinity; D0: Dissociation Energy
I2 I Xe
Mass (amu) 253.8 126.9 131.3
IP(eV) 9.4 10.45 12.13
EA(eV) 2.5 3.06 -
D0(eV) 1.54 - -
which are discussed below.
The pertinent molecular and atomic properties of
iodine are compared to those of xenon in Table 1.
From the point of view of mass and ionization
potential, iodine compares well to xenon. While the
ionization potentials of I2 and I are significantly lower
than that of Xe, it is intersting to note that the process
I 2 + e-  I + + I + 2 e -
has an appearance energy of 12.0 eV, which is
essentially identical to the Xe ionization energy. The
minimal work required to produce a plasma of
predominantly atomic positive ions in an iodine
vapor, corresponding to D0 + IP(I) per ion electron–
pair, is consequently equal to that of xenon if the
degree of ionization is small. At high thruster powers
and efficiencies, however, the minimal work should
be less for iodine, because the representative process
then becomes:
I 2 + e -  I + + I + + 3 e -.
Process (5) has an appearance energy of 22.5 eV,
which is less than the work required to produce two
Xe ions. For the effective ionization to be described
by process (5), it must be assumed that the neutral
densities are such that three-body iodine atom
recombination collisions are infrequent. The latter is
confirmed by a recent study of low-pressure
radiofrequency discharges involving Xe/I2 mixtures
(0.5 Torr Xe, 0.3 Torr I2),3 where it was determined
that more than 90% of molecular iodine was
dissociated.
While these thoughts suggest that iodine can be
efficiently ionized, it is not clear whether the
electrical efficiency, e, of an iodine thruster is
practical. The electrical efficiency can be desribed
by:
I i Ei
e 
P  P
where Ii is the ion beam current, and P are electrical
power losses. The efficiency is governed by the
discharge properties and are strongly affected by the
nature of the gas. Dissociative recombination of
molecular iodine:
-
e + I2+ I+I
and dissociative attachment:
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
I 2 + e-  I - + I (8)
could be important contributors in reducing e. Both I2
and I have large electron affinities (see Table 1) while Xe
does not form a stable negative ion. There are varying
accounts on the energy dependence of I2 dissociative
attachment cross sections. While Biondi and Fox4 have
calculated that the cross section is only large at electron
energies < 1 eV, the relative cross sections of Tam and
(4) Wong indicate important resonances at 0.9 and 2.5 eV as
well.5 Unfortunately, no work on the discharge properties
of iodine at thruster E/N values are known to us. Given
the high electronegativity of chlorine, studies of chlorine
discharges, of importance in the semi-conductor industry,
may provide clues on the behavior of iodine. Economou
and coworkers6 have studied an inductively coupled 20
mTorr chlorine plasma. Dissociation is found to be
efficient, however, Cl- densities are found to be
substantial and comparable to electron densities. Chlorine
also has hyperthermal dissociative attachment resonances
at slightly higher energies than iodine.5,7 Clearly, the
quantification of the consequences of negative ion
(5) formation with respect to e and m in suitable discharges
is necessary.
Aside from efficiency and thrust, properties of
interest include the propensity of producing low-energy
ions through charge-transfer collisions in the plume. We
have recently measured the symmetric charge-transfer
cross sections of Xe+ and determined that the cross
sections are considerably higher than the previously
assumed values given by the model of Rapp and
Francis.8,9 This model has been shown10 to have
(6)
Fig. 1. Ion energy dependence of the symmetric charge-
transfer cross section calculated for Xe+ + Xe and I+ + I
(7)
collisions. The calculations are based on a 1-electron,
LCAO model.
3
important errors. We find that the correct one-
electron treatment based on a linear combination of
atomic orbitals (LCAO) model provides an improved
agreement with our measurements (~within 10%).
Fig. 1 compares the symmetric charge-transfer cross
sections of I+ and Xe+ at pertinent thruster ion
energies calculated using the corrected LCAO
treatment. It is seen that the iodine cross sections are
considerably larger. Thus, spacecraft missions
particularly sensitive to symmetric charge-transfer
return flux ions may be adversely affected by an
iodine propellant.
Finally, an important disadvantage of iodine is
its corrosivity. Given the use of substantially more
corrosive chemical thruster fuels as well as arcjet
propellants (e.g. hydrazine and ammonia), it is not
anticipated that this characteristic would prevent the
use of iodine in the case of a drastic shortage of
xenon. The long-term effects of iodine on the anode
surfaces, particularly if negative ion currents are
important, may pose a serious problem, however, and
may limit the use of an iodine propellant to rf
systems.
4. Iodine Thruster
The use of a solid I2 propellant calls for minor
changes to the propellant handling system. A
schematic design of a potential I2 propellant handling
system is shown in Figure 2. Iodine crystals are
stored in a temperature controlled, vacuum tight tank
(1). The tank material could be aluminum coated
with teflon. Because of the low vapor pressure of
iodine and its high density, the tank can be
substantially smaller and of significantly lower mass
than that of a high pressure gas cylinder required for
a gaseous propellant such as Xe. Following
Fig. 2. Schematic depiction of an iodine propellant
handling system. (1) Tank; (2) Porous frit; (3) Thruster
discharge chamber; (4) Heated propellant feed tube; (5)
Temperature controlled mass flow controller.
4
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
significant propellant consumption, the lack of a
gravitational force in orbit will cause the remnant crystals
to migrate (float) within the tank volume. A frit (2), is,
therefore, needed to prevent larger crystals (>100 m)
from migrating into the discharge chamber (3). The frit
can be either manufactured from glass or a microporous
ceramic material, and should be heated to temperatures
higher than that of the tank. The iodine vapor that passes
the frit enters a feed tube (4) that is also heated to
temperatures higher than the tank temperature to prevent
iodine condensation. The feed-tube preferably consists of
a ceramic material or an inconel stainless steel that is
resistant to corrosion. Some stainless steels could be
subject to corrosive action by iodine at elevated
temperatures. A temperature-controlled mass-flow
controller combined with a shutoff valve (5) maintains a
constant propellant flow rate. Given the critical
importance of this device, it is kept at the highest
temperature of the propellant handling system.
In comparison with a gaseous sample, considerable
temperature control is required when operating with the
vapor of a solid propellant. Temperature related vapor
pressure reductions could prevent proper propellant flows.
Typical thruster firing flow rates for smaller Xe Hall
thrusters are less than 10 mg s-1. In order to sustain such a
flow rate over longer periods of time, cooling of the tank
(1) and iodine propellant due to expenditure of the
vaporization free energy must be prevented. Cooling
would lower the vapor pressure and eventually shut down
the propellant flow. The Gibbs free energy of sublimation
of iodine is 19.3 kJ/mol. 10 mg of I 2 correspond to
3.94•10-5 mol. Consequently, the tank needs to be heated
only with 0.76 W of electrical power to maintain a
constant temperature during a thruster firing. This is
negligible with respect to the power requirements of the
thruster discharge.
5. Conclusions
The present study suggests that iodine could
potentially be a substitute for xenon in ion and Hall
thrusters. One potential drawback of iodine, its molecular
form, does not appear to be a reason for important
reductions in performance. The effect of negative ion
formation, however, needs closer examination. The
corrosivity of iodine may be of concern in particular
space applications. This, however, would not prevent
using iodine to lower ground-based test costs, provided
the differences in performance between iodine and xenon
are scalable to space. We thus conclude that a thorough
study of the discharge properties of pure iodine at ion and
Hall thruster conditions is warranted.
 Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Prof. M. J. Kushner

for his helpful comments with respect to halogen
discharges. The authors are also indebted to Iain
Boyd and Ingrid Wysong for valuable comments.
This work is supported by AFOSR under task
2303EP02.

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