Air Intake Performance of Air Breathing Ion Engines

Abstract

The air breathing ion engine (ABIE) is a new type of electric propulsion system which can be used to compensate the aerodynamic drag of the satellite orbiting at extremely low altitudes. In this propulsion system, the low-density atmosphere surrounding the satellite is taken in and used as the propellant of ion engines to reduce the propellant mass for a long operation lifetime. Since feasibility and performance of the ABIE are subject to the compression ratio and the air intake efficiency, a numerical analysis has been conducted by means of the direct-simulation Monte-Carlo method to clarify the characteristics of the air-intake performance in highly rarefied flows. Influences of the flight altitude, the aspect-ratio of the air intake duct, the angle of attack, and the wall conditions are investigated. 5-9f $N @b L@ C D !'1R@1$N93NO78?t eGGGGG [C] G/LLL (≡ ρ c /ρ) G 0 !'Bh 2 I=$KM?$($i$l$k4p='05=LHf hkkT [J/kg] I<<<<<<< [A] <<<L [kg] ˙ mGGGG <<<<<<<>>... [deg] ρLLLL [kg/m 3 ] ρ c !'J-EE¡¡L)EY [kg/m 3 ] 1. =o 8@ 6u5$¡h9˜¡0%$%*%s%(%s%8%s!J air-breathing ion engine!(