To overcome the large distances, while space travel and modern rocket engines that are used during flights beyond the earth’s atmosphere does not quite fit. They are very massive and consume huge amount of fuel, therefore, the development of fundamentally different “cosmic motors” is from the middle of the last century. One of the ways development may be the construction of an ion engine. And, according to the published Physics of plasmas is, Chinese engineers managed to achieve considerable success in this industry.
As stated in the article, scientists from China have developed a new method for gas ionization and heating in the ion engine, which can increase traction by about 50% with the same original amount of fuel. According to Liqiu Wei Institute of technology Harbin,
“You have to understand that we have only shown that the gas can likewise flow through the engine. We have yet to test how the angle of inclination, diameter and other parameters of the outlet openings affect the effectiveness of the work.”
The use of ion thrusters on spacecraft has many advantages. For example, they have a high efficiency and low fuel consumption. On the other hand, they produce the thrust is very low due to design features, and because of this acceleration and deceleration is slow. Chinese specialists have perfected the work of one of the most technologically advanced to date versions of ion engine accelerator Hall. They work due to the fact that the electric field produced by this device generates and accelerates the ions, causing them to flow at a velocity of tens of kilometers per second, “push” a spacecraft in the opposite direction. Electrons inside the magnetic field causes the atoms of xenon or other noble gases to ions and then disperse and neutralize them after they left the nozzle of the engine.
“The main problem of the Hall effect engines is that not all the atoms of the gas flowing through the chamber with electrons, become ions. This significantly lowers the efficiency and reduces cravings especially if the gas is thin and moves quickly.”
To correct this deficiency, scientists have proposed a quite elegant solution: change the shape of nozzles from which the gas enters the working chamber of the engine, so that a jet of gas will not move perpendicular to the direction of thrust, as in conventional engines, and will twist into a spiral. In the course of calculations it turned out that this technique will increase the efficiency by 1.5 times. In the near future, scientists plan to create the first experimental prototypes of new type of engines and test them in orbit of our planet.
Based on materials of RIA “news”
China is working to create a powerful ion engine
Vladimir Kuznetsov