Passive Two-Phase Thermal Management System for Hall Thruster

As NASA envisions to develop higher power Hall effect thrusters for large payload (or even crew member) transportation, thermal management becomes a bottleneck. In response to NASA technology roadmap “heat rejection system for in-space propulsion” (TA 2.4.4). Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT) in collaboration with the University of Michigan proposes to develop an innovative thermal management system for hall thrusters utilizing two-phase and passive cooling techniques. Multiple heat pipes constructed with advanced geometry and wick will be integrated strategically in the hall thruster to manage both plasma heating and ohmic heating from magnetic coils. Working fluid and envelope material will be selected based on thermal, electrical and magnetic properties. A proof-of-concept prototype will be fabricated and its thermal performance under the influence of magnetic and electrical fields will be experimentally characterized. A full-scale hall thruster with two-phase cooling system will be designed and its SWaP benefits will be analyzed jointly by ACT and the collaborator.

The proposed hall thruster cooling system is fully-passive, lightweight and highly reliable. This will allow NASA to develop more capable and longer life electric propulsion technologies for future deep space robotic and human exploration missions beyond LEO. Example missions are Psyche, Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), CAESAR, and Lunar Orbital Platform Gateway (LOP-G).

The proposed two-phase hall thruster cooling system will enable smaller, lighter and higher specific impulse hall thruster designs, which will benefit many commercial and military satellites, including CubeSats and SmallSats.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 5) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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