The microwave electro-thermal (MET) thruster using water vapor propellant

    Authors

    J. E. Brandenburg; J. Kline;D. Sullivan

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.

    Keywords

    Physics, Fluids & Plasmas

    Abstract

    The research to develop the microwave electrothermal (MET) thruster at Research Support Instruments, Inc. (RSI) using a variety of gases as fuel is described. The MET has undergone dramatic evolution since its first inception, and it is now moving toward flight development. The MET uses an electrodeless, vortex-stabilized microwave discharge to superheat gas for propulsion. In its simplest design, the MET uses a directly driven resonant cavity empty of anything except gaseous propellant and the microwave fields that heat it. It is a robust, simple, inexpensive thruster with high efficiency, and has been scaled successfully to operate at 100 W, 1 kW, and 50 kW using 7.5-,2.45-, and 0.915-GHz microwaves respectively. The 50-KW, 0.915-GHz test was perhaps the highest power demonstration of any steady-state Electric thruster. The MET can use a variety of gases for fuel but the use of water vapor has been shown to give superior performance, with a measured specific impulse (I-sp) of greater than 800 s. When this added to the safety, ease of storage and transfer, and wide availability of water in space, the potential exists for using a water-fueled MET as the core propulsion system for refuelable space platforms.

    Journal Title

    Ieee Transactions on Plasma Science

    Volume

    33

    Issue/Number

    2

    Publication Date

    1-1-2005

    Document Type

    Article; Proceedings Paper

    Language

    English

    First Page

    776

    Last Page

    782

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000228407500025

    ISSN

    0093-3813

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