DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF POWER PROCESSING UNITS FOR APPLICATIONS IN ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED SATELLITE SYSTEMS by KARTIKEYA JAYADURGA PRASAD VEERAMRAJU
A THESIS
Presented to the Graduate Faculty of the
MISSOURI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF SCIENCE
in
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
2020
ABSTRACT
Electrospray technology provides a way to ionize specialized liquids by applying
high voltages across a sharp porous tip and a metallic mesh. This technology is widely
used in the field of mass spectroscopy for generating ions for testing purposes. The dawn of
nano-satellites posed new challenges in the miniaturization of many conventional satellite
sub-systems. One significant challenge faced in such a process was the miniaturization
of the propulsion system. Electrosprays have started to find their application in the field
of Aerospace Engineering and now are formally known as Electrospray Thrusters. These
thrusters provide high specific impulse and are attractive substitutes to conventional gas
propelled thrusters as they can be scaled down in size and can also provide extended
mission times. Some of the new challenges faced in such applications are the generation of
high voltages from a lowvoltage onboard battery, grounding, spacecraft charging, clearance,
and reliability issues for long term usage.
In this work, a complete design process is developed for the realization of such high
voltages suitable for interfacing with an electrospray thruster. Simulation models for a new
type of converter are assessed, and its feasibility is discussed. A hardware prototype is
implemented, and the practical results are assessed.
An analysis of the converter is presented, and the semiconductor and passive components
are selected. Magnetic components are designed based on the analysis. Parallels
are drawn between the theoretical and prototype model of the concept converter.
Finally, the firmware of the converter is explained, and the communication protocol
of the PPU is delineated. As the boards designed for the converter have to sustain high voltages
and reliably operate in unfavorable environments, special PCB layout considerations
must be used, which also forces a designer to look for various other materials for the PCB
fabrication.
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