Showing papers on "Low-power electronics published in 1991"
TL;DR: In this paper, a 5-kW arcjet power electronics breadboard was designed and evaluated with a modified 1kW design laboratory arcjet and the converter provided up to 6.6 kW to the arcjet with simulated ammonia used as a propellant.
Abstract: Future, large Earth orbital spacecraft could benefit from arcjet systems in the 2 to 5 kW power range for a variety of applications including stationkeeping, orbit adjustments, and logistics. The arcjet power processor represents the system element with the largest mass and system interfaces with the most impact. Described in this paper is the initial design and evaluation of a 5-kW arcjet power electronics breadboard which has been integrated with a modified 1-kW design laboratory arcjet. A single stage, 5-kW full bridge, pulse width modulated (PWM), power converter was developed which was phase shift regulated. The converter used metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) power switches and incorporated current mode control and an integral arcjet pulse ignition circuit. The unoptimized power efficiency was 93.5% and 93.9% at 5 kW and 50 A output at input voltages of 130 and 150 V, respectively. Line and load current regulation at 50 A output was within 1%. The converter provided up to 6.6 kW to the arcjet with simulated ammonia used as a propellant.