This paper presents the results of an experimental campaign to measure thruster-relevant parameters for a high-power (180kW) inductive propulsion system utilising Ar, $ {\textrm{O}}_{2}$ , $ \textrm{N}_{2}$ , and $ \textrm{CO}_{2}$ as propellants. Results from the investigation show that inductive thrusters can make use of these propellants without the severe degradation seen in other electric propulsion systems. Furthermore, the collection of experimental data at powers greater than 100kW provides a reference of performance for the high-power electric propulsion devices intended for missions in the near future. Thrust and specific impulse in inductive systems can be improved by preferentially combining the chemical properties of atomic and molecular propellants. The maximum thrust recorded during these experiments was 7.9N, obtained using a combination of argon and oxygen (0.68 Ar + 0.32 $\textrm{O}_{2}$ ). The combination of argon and molecular propellants also decreased thermal losses within the discharge volume. Specific impulse can be doubled for the same input electric power by combining propellants, and future modifications to the thruster geometry and acceleration mechanism can be used to further improve the performance of such systems.

中文翻译：

---

使用替代推进剂的大功率感应电力推进操作

本文介绍了利用 Ar 测量大功率 (180kW) 感应推进系统的推进器相关参数的实验活动的结果，$ {\textrm{O}}_{2}$,$ \textrm{N}_{2}$， 和$ \textrm{CO}_{2}$作为推进剂。调查结果表明，感应推进器可以利用这些推进剂，而不会出现其他电力推进系统中出现的严重退化。此外，收集到的100kW以上功率的实验数据，为近期用于任务的大功率电力推进装置提供了性能参考。通过优先结合原子和分子推进剂的化学性质，可以提高感应系统中的推力和比冲。在这些实验中记录的最大推力为 7.9N，使用氩气和氧气（0.68 Ar + 0.32$\textrm{O}_{2}$）。氩气和分子推进剂的组合也减少了排放体积内的热损失。通过组合推进剂，相同输入电力的比冲可以加倍，未来对推进器几何形状和加速机制的修改可用于进一步提高此类系统的性能。