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Both these types of ion immediately attract a variety of air molecules to create molecular cluster-ions [14] of either sign, which act as charge carriers. Current EHD thrusters are far less efficient than conventional engines. [15] An MIT researcher noted that ion thrusters have the potential to be far more efficient than conventional jet ...
An ion thruster, ion drive, or ion engine is a form of electric propulsion used for spacecraft propulsion. An ion thruster creates a cloud of positive ions from a neutral gas by ionizing it to extract some electrons from its atoms. The ions are then accelerated using electricity to create thrust.
B. Wilson in 1750 [2] demonstrated the recoil force associated to the same corona discharge and precursor to the ion thruster was the corona discharge pinwheel. [3] The corona discharge from the freely rotating pinwheel arm with ends bent to sharp points [4] [5] gives the air a space charge, which repels the point because the polarity is the same for the point and the air.
The aircraft is an example of an ionocraft, which is powered by an ionic wind generated through controlled electrical discharge. The fuselage contains a stack of 54 lithium-polymer batteries. [ 2 ] [ 8 ] With the aid of a power supply unit these deliver a minimum of 20,000 volts of electrical potential, producing enough corona discharge (EMF ...
The gridded ion thruster is a common design for ion thrusters, a highly efficient low-thrust spacecraft propulsion method running on electrical power by using high-voltage grid electrodes to accelerate ions with electrostatic forces.
Hall-effect thrusters (based on the discovery by Edwin Hall) are sometimes referred to as Hall thrusters or Hall-current thrusters. Hall-effect thrusters use a magnetic field to limit the electrons' axial motion and then use them to ionize propellant, efficiently accelerate the ions to produce thrust , and neutralize the ions in the plume.
This is possibly an effect of the differences between the ionization energy and electron affinity energy of the constituent parts of air; thus the ease of which ions are created at the 'sharp' electrode. As air pressure is removed from the system, several effects combine to reduce the force and momentum available to the system.
This is the same reason for which people trying to measure ionic wind (using ion counters) underneath an ionocraft get much lower values than those measuring the actual air pressure. Only the actual air pressure reading will equate to the observed EHD thrust. - Blaze Labs Research 07:33, 24 August 2006 (UTC) Ion wind EHD thruster