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On Calculation of the Ignition Voltage for a Back-Arc Discharge in a High-Voltage Thermionic Diode

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Abstract

Development of large spacecraft propulsion units involves the creation of high-temperature radiation-resistant systems for current conversion based on thermionic devices of plasma electric power engineering, such as grid-controlled switches and high-voltage plasma thermionic diodes (HVPTD). The current conversion system (CCS) is required to match the electrical parameters of a thermionic conversion power reactor (with an output voltage of 120–150 V) with the parameters of the electric jet engine (having a working voltage of hundreds or thousands of volts). This brings about an urgent issue of calculating the ignition voltage for the back-arc discharge in the interelectrode gap (IEG) of HVPTDs. A semiempirical correlation is proposed for predicting the back-arc discharge ignition voltage as a function of the cesium vapor pressure in IEG and the anode temperature. It can be used by designers of thermionic plasma power engineering devices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (RSC Energia), Korolev, 141070, Russia

    V. V. Sinyavsky

  2. Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Moscow, 105005, Russia

    E. V. Onufrieva, V. V. Onufriev, Yu. M. Grishin, N. I. Sidnyaev & A. B. Ivashkin

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  1. E. V. Onufrieva
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  2. V. V. Onufriev
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  3. Yu. M. Grishin
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  4. N. I. Sidnyaev
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  5. V. V. Sinyavsky
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  6. A. B. Ivashkin
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Correspondence to V. V. Onufriev.

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Original Russian Text © E.V. Onufrieva, V.V. Onufriev, Yu.M. Grishin, N.I. Sidnyaev, V.V. Sinyavsky, A.B. Ivashkin, 2018, published in Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Energetika.

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Onufrieva, E.V., Onufriev, V.V., Grishin, Y.M. et al. On Calculation of the Ignition Voltage for a Back-Arc Discharge in a High-Voltage Thermionic Diode. Therm. Eng. 65, 1019–1023 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0040601518130098

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0040601518130098

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