PhD Studentship - Alternative Propellants for Gridded Ion Engines

EEE

Location:Highfield Campus

Closing Date: Monday 10 April 2017

Reference:851817FP

Alternative Propellants for Gridded Ion Engines

PhD Supervisors: Prof Stephen Gabriel, Dr Igor Golosnoy

Applications are invited for a PhD studentship sponsored by Gridded Ion Engine Standardised Electric Propulsion Platforms or GIESEPP project. GIESEPP is an EU, Horizon 2020 funded project involving a consortium of the major European Companies involved in the development of gridded ion engines and is led by Airbus-Safran Launchers.

Project Description:

The project goal is to develop, build and test the first European Plug and Play Gridded Ion Engine Standardised Electric Propulsion Platform (GIESEPP) to operate Airbus DS and QinetiQ Space ion engines. These are the only European ion engines in the 200-700W (LEO) and 5kW (GEO) domains that are space-proven, and the consortium’s intention will be to improve European competiveness in this field by significantly reducing the costs and increasing the GIE systems production capacities.

The GIESEPP systems will not be limited to xenon as the propellant because not only is it exceptionally expensive its availability is quite limited; assessments will be performed to ensure functionality with alternative propellants.

The work will perform preliminary investigations of the operation of the thrusters using alternative propellants by a combination of analytic modelling and experimental testing. Initially a comprehensive review of the published literature on the usage of alternative propellants, such as other inert gases and iodine in GIEs will be conducted. Based on the latter, a number of candidate propellants will be selected for further investigation. The primary criteria used in the down selection will be key performance parameters ( ie specific impulse, thrust to power ratio, efficiency and eV per ion in the discharge chamber), system considerations including density specific impulse, propellant storage, handling and feed system, propellant cost and potential interactions of the thruster plume with the spacecraft (e.g. back flow of charge exchange ions with subsequent coating on spacecraft surfaces). In particular, operation of hollow cathodes with alternative propellants will be investigated taking into account not only expected performance but also chemical compatibility with the low work function inserts and other cathode construction materials at the very high operational temperatures. Zero and 1-D analytical modelling of the plasma kinetics in the discharge chamber and hollow cathode will be developed.

Key facts

The studentships will be based in the Electronics and Electrical Engineering (EEE) Research Group within Electronics and Computer Science (ECS). EEE is a multidisciplinary unit within ECS whose research activities include a wide range of topics spanning engineering, physics and materials science.

Entry requirements: first or upper second-class degree or equivalent in Applied Mathematics, Physics, Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering with an emphasis on fluid mechanics and/or plasma physics

Closing date:applications should be received no later than 10 April 2017 for standard admissions, but later applications may be considered depending on the funds remaining in place.

Duration: three years (full-time)

Funding: full tuition fees, for UK/EU students, and a tax-free stipend of £14,553 per year

Assessment: Nine month and 18 month reports, viva voce and thesis examination

Start date: typically September

If you wish to discuss any details of the project informally, please contact Professor Stephen Gabriel (sbg2@soton.ac.uk, +44 2380 59 3222) or Dr Igor Golosnoy (ig@ecs.soton.ac.uk).

Applying: www.southampton.ac.uk/postgraduate/pgstudy/howdoiapplypg.html