Electrical Model for Electrospray Thrusters

EasyChair Preprint no. 10228

Abstract

This paper presents an innovative electrical model for electrospray thrusters, which experimental data have verified. The principal objective of this study is to improve the accuracy in the representation of the thruster as a load in closed-loop simulations, due to its nonlinearity, which is fundamental in electrospray thruster systems for the design of the power stage that supplies them. For this purpose, a model based on simple electrical elements such as resistors, capacitors, and diodes, previously used in cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL), has been modified. The implementation has been carried out by using a SIMSCAPE circuit in SIMULINK/MATLAB software, where the model parameters have been verified from experimental data of the thruster.

The results obtained in this study are highly significant, demonstrating an absolute error of less than two microamperes and a relative error of less than four percent. In addition, a comparison with previous models in the literature has been carried out, which allows affirming that the model proposed in this work offers higher accuracy in the simulation, which validates the model and highlights its relevance for the progress in electrospray propulsion systems.

Keyphrases: Carga no linear, Curva I-V, Modelo equivalente, Propulsor de electrospray, Verificación experimental

@Booklet{EasyChair:10228,
  author = {Francisco José Blázquez-Plaza and Andrés Barrado and Mick Wijnen},
  title = {Electrical Model for Electrospray Thrusters},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint no. 10228},

  year = {EasyChair, 2023}}