CN-122014549-A - Hollow cathode ignition circuit of Hall thruster and control method

CN122014549ACN 122014549 ACN122014549 ACN 122014549ACN-122014549-A

Abstract

The invention provides a hollow cathode ignition circuit of a Hall thruster and a control method, wherein the hollow cathode ignition of the Hall thruster adopts two selectable cathode ignition modes, namely a cathode power supply and an anode power supply, the cathode power supply comprises a constant current source for heating a cathode and a voltage source for igniting the cathode, and the anode power supply mainly has the function of supplying power to the anode of an electric thruster and can realize cathode ignition power supply by connecting a change-over switch with the cathode power supply in parallel. Through the time sequence design, the autonomous switching of two cathode ignition modes can be realized, and the timing output of the thrust of the Hall thruster is realized. According to the ignition circuit and the control method, the reliability of cathode ignition of the Hall thruster is improved on the premise of not increasing the power supply module.

Inventors

YU XIQIAO
CUI XIAOCHENG
ZHANG BO
LU FEI
Jia Hangyu
SHI LEILEI
ZHAO HUIGUANG

Assignees

上海空间推进研究所

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20251219

Claims (9)

1. The hollow cathode ignition circuit of the Hall thruster is characterized by comprising a cathode power supply module and an anode power supply module; the cathode power supply module comprises a cathode heating power supply and a cathode ignition power supply, wherein the cathode heating power supply is a constant current source, and the cathode ignition power supply is a voltage source; The anode power supply module is a high-voltage stabilized source and is used for supplying power to the anode of the electric thruster; the anode power supply module is connected with the cathode power supply module in parallel through a change-over switch to serve as a backup cathode ignition power supply and provide adjustable cathode ignition voltage; The ignition circuit further comprises a plurality of switches, including a thruster ignition electrode power supply switch S1, thruster cathode current change-over switches S2 and S3 and a thruster anode power supply switch S4, wherein the switches are configured to realize the switching of a cathode heating stage, a cathode ignition stage, an anode power supply ignition cathode stage and an anode starting stage under the control of the control unit.
2. The hall thruster hollow cathode ignition circuit of claim 1, wherein the cathode heating power supply outputs current to the thruster cathode heater by turning on switches S2 and S3 and turning off switch S1 at the start of ignition, and after the cathode is heated for a predetermined period of time, turning on switch S1 causes the cathode ignition power supply to supply power to the thruster ignition electrode.
3. The hall thruster hollow cathode ignition circuit of claim 2, wherein after the cathode ignition is successful, the control unit is configured to select whether to open switch S3 according to the number of remarks flag bits such that the constant current source of the cathode power supply module supplies power only to the cathode ignition electrode.
4. The hall thruster hollow cathode ignition circuit of claim 1, wherein the anode power module supplies power to the thruster ignition electrode by setting an anode power supply voltage reference UAB as a cathode ignition voltage and turning on a switch S1 when the cathode power module fails to ignite.
5. A control method based on the hall thruster hollow cathode ignition circuit of any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by comprising the steps of: Step 1, when the ignition flow of the Hall thruster is started, setting countdown and starting timing, switching on a cathode power supply module, an anode power supply module and a valve control circuit, and starting an upstream valve of a cathode to switch on a cathode gas circuit; Step 2, setting a current reference IAC of a cathode power supply module, starting a cathode power supply, heating a hollow cathode, and waiting for a preset time period; Step 3, selecting whether to start an anode power supply ignition cathode according to the betting number modification zone bit, if yes, executing step 4, if not, turning on a thruster anode power supply switch S4, setting an anode power supply voltage reference UAC, turning on a thruster ignition electrode power supply switch S1, judging whether the thruster cathode ignition current is larger than a judgment value after waiting for a preset time period, if so, selecting whether to turn off a thruster cathode current switch S3 according to the betting number modification zone bit, executing step 5, if so, turning off the thruster ignition electrode power supply switch S1, turning off the thruster anode power supply switch S4, and executing step 4; Setting an anode power supply voltage reference UAB, starting an anode power supply, switching on a thruster ignition electrode power supply switch S1, selecting whether to switch off a thruster cathode current change-over switch S3 according to a betting number modification zone bit after waiting for a preset time period, switching off the anode power supply after waiting for the preset time period, and switching on a thruster anode power supply switch S4 to set an anode power supply voltage reference UAC; And 5, switching on an anode gas circuit, starting an anode power supply after the countdown is finished, returning to the program execution state character thruster to successfully ignite if the anode current is larger than the judgment value, and executing the shutdown program of the electric propulsion system and returning to the program execution state character thruster to fail ignition if the anode current is smaller than the judgment value.
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein in the step 3, if the anode power supply is not started to ignite the cathode and the ignition current of the cathode of the thruster is greater than the determination value, the switch S3 is turned off according to the number of remarks flag bits after waiting for a preset period of time, wherein when the switch S3 is turned on, the cathode heater and the cathode ignition electrode automatically distribute the current reference IAC of the cathode power supply module according to their own resistance values, and after the switch S3 is turned off, the current reference IAC is supplied to the cathode ignition electrode.
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the current reference IAC is modified before the switch S3 is turned off, and the modified current reference IAC is supplied to the cathode ignition electrode in its entirety.
8. The method according to claim 5, wherein the determination value is a preset current threshold for determining whether the cathode is successfully ignited or the anode is successfully started.
9. The method according to claim 5, wherein in step 3 and step 4, the operations of selecting whether to enable the anode power supply to ignite the cathode and whether to turn off the thruster cathode current changeover switch S3 according to the number of remarks flag bits are performed by a control unit that judges the status of the flag bits according to a preset program and performs the steps of the method for controlling a hall thruster hollow cathode ignition circuit accordingly.

Description

Hollow cathode ignition circuit of Hall thruster and control method Technical Field The invention relates to the technical field of space electric propulsion, in particular to a hollow cathode ignition circuit of a Hall thruster and a control method. Background The Hall thruster for the space electric propulsion system provides thrust for the spacecraft, electrons generated by the hollow cathode are preconditions for generating plasma by the Hall thruster, and electrons emitted by the cathode enter a discharge chamber of the electric thruster to further collide with a propulsion working medium to generate a large amount of electrons and ions, so that the purpose of generating thrust is achieved by accelerating under the action of an electric field. The hollow cathode mainly comprises an emitter, an emitter heater, an ignition electrode and other parts. And the ignition electrode power supply is loaded between the ignition electrode of the hollow cathode and the emitter, and is used for guiding the plasma to move and maintaining the discharge of the emitter. In general, the emitter heater is heated first, and a relatively high ignition voltage is applied between the ignition electrode and the emitter, so that a gas discharge is generated between the emitter and the ignition electrode. At present, the cathode power supply at home and abroad is usually composed of a constant current power supply with higher no-load output voltage, wherein the power supply works at the maximum no-load voltage before the hollow cathode emitter emits electrons, and works at constant current output after the hollow cathode emitter emits electrons. The disadvantage of this approach is that the no-load output voltage of the power supply is not adjustable, and when the electric thruster is operated to the end of its life, the ignition resistance of the hollow cathode decreases, so that the two ends of the cathode ignition electrode cannot maintain high voltage, and the gas between the ignition electrode and the emitter cannot be broken down, thereby causing failure of ignition of the hollow cathode. Patent application document CN118548193a discloses a hall electric propulsion ignition method and system, which comprises a cathode default parameter ignition cycle control flow, judging whether the cathode ignition is successful, an anode control flow, a cathode modification heating current and ignition voltage cycle control flow, judging whether the cathode ignition is successful, an anode control flow, and a cathode anode simultaneous ignition and anode control flow. However, the present patent cannot completely solve the existing technical problems, and cannot meet the needs of the present invention. Disclosure of Invention Aiming at the defects in the prior art, the invention aims to provide a hollow cathode ignition circuit of a Hall thruster and a control method. The hollow cathode ignition circuit of the Hall thruster provided by the invention comprises a cathode power supply module and an anode power supply module; the cathode power supply module comprises a cathode heating power supply and a cathode ignition power supply, wherein the cathode heating power supply is a constant current source, and the cathode ignition power supply is a voltage source; The anode power supply module is a high-voltage stabilized source and is used for supplying power to the anode of the electric thruster; the anode power supply module is connected with the cathode power supply module in parallel through a change-over switch to serve as a backup cathode ignition power supply and provide adjustable cathode ignition voltage; The ignition circuit further comprises a plurality of switches, including a thruster ignition electrode power supply switch S1, thruster cathode current change-over switches S2 and S3 and a thruster anode power supply switch S4, wherein the switches are configured to realize the switching of a cathode heating stage, a cathode ignition stage, an anode power supply ignition cathode stage and an anode starting stage under the control of the control unit. Preferably, the cathode heating power supply outputs current to the cathode heater of the thruster by turning on the switches S2 and S3 and turning off the switch S1 at the beginning of ignition, and the cathode ignition power supply supplies power to the ignition electrode of the thruster by turning on the switch S1 after the cathode is heated for a preset time. Preferably, after the cathode ignition is successful, the control unit is configured to select whether to turn off the switch S3 according to the betting number modification flag bit, so that the constant current source of the cathode power supply module supplies power only to the cathode ignition electrode. Preferably, the anode power supply module supplies power to the thruster ignition electrode by setting an anode power supply voltage reference UAB as a cathode ignition voltage and turning on a switch S1 when the cathode p