Numerical investigation of the plasma processes in a cylindrical chamber with small dimensions of a novel microwave electrothermal plasma thruster for nanosatellites has been conducted. The absorbed microwave power from the electrons in the plasma column of the surface wave discharge is included in the computational model as a heat source with Gaussian distribution. The computational model takes into account the elastic and inelastic collisions of the electrons with the atoms in the ground state and two excited states (−s, −p) and the processes of recombination and deactivation of the plasma species in the volume and on the walls of the chamber. The computational model includes the flow of neutral gas and the processes in the plasma for effective heating of neutral particles by collisions not only with electrons but also with ions. Selected combinations of input power and propellant mass flow rates are used as initial parameters for the numerical investigation. The results show that at higher mass flow rates the heating of the neutral gas is more effective and at power levels of 4 W and propellant mass flow rate of 3 mg/s the electrothermal plasma thruster demonstrates effective performance and thrust levels in the order of 1 mN.

中文翻译：

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纳米卫星电热等离子体推进器中推进剂加热等离子体过程的数值研究

对用于纳米卫星的新型微波电热等离子体推进器的小尺寸圆柱形腔室中的等离子体过程进行了数值研究。表面波放电的等离子体柱中电子吸收的微波功率作为高斯分布的热源包含在计算模型中。计算模型考虑了电子与基态和两个激发态（-s，-p）原子的弹性和非弹性碰撞，以及体积和壁上等离子体物质的复合和失活过程的房间。计算模型包括中性气体的流动和等离子体中通过与电子和离子碰撞有效加热中性粒子的过程。输入功率和推进剂质量流量的选定组合用作数值研究的初始参数。结果表明，在更高的质量流量下，中性气体的加热更有效，在 4 W 的功率水平和 3 mg/s 的推进剂质量流量下，电热等离子体推进器表现出有效的性能和推力水平约为 1毫牛