An Electro-Jet Rocket Engine with Big Thrust at Helical Corrugated Magnetic Field

A fundamentally new electro-jet rocket engine having a big thrust with a high specific impulse is described in this paper. The acceleration mechanism of magnetized plasma along the axis of a cylindrical chamber with a helical corrugated magnetic field is put in the basis of such engine. The plasma acceleration is achieved during its drift motion by applying a radial electric field. The analytical description of the plasma motion process gives a visual representation of how the diamagnetic forces provide the process of the continuous acceleration of plasma ions along the axis of the helical corrugated magnetic field. As the result of this process, the accelerated plasma stream flows through the expanding cross section of a magnetic nozzle and the thrust of the rocket engine is created. Estimated calculations showed the ability of the new electro-jet rocket engine to achieve the big trust (in the range 10² –10⁴ Newton) with the high specific impulse (from the level 3*10⁴ to 10³ seconds, respectively) at a reasonable efficiency. This set of parameters is fundamentally unattainable for another jet engines operating on the basis of other physical mechanisms.

Keywords:
electric rocket engine, magnetized plasma, helical corrugated magnetic field. 
УДК 533.9.07, 629.7.036

An Electro-Jet Rocket Engine with Big Thrust at Helical Corrugated Magnetic Field