On magnetic reconnection as promising driver for future plasma propulsion systems

TL;DR

This paper investigates magnetic reconnection as a potential plasma propulsion mechanism, analyzing its physical and engineering aspects, and proposing an asymmetric density profile to generate net thrust.

Contribution

It advances previous studies by including engineering metrics and exploring asymmetric density configurations to enhance thrust in magnetic reconnection-based propulsion.

Findings

Asymmetric density profiles can produce net thrust in reconnection-driven plasma propulsion.

Simulations show increased thrust with specific density gradient setups.

The study extends analysis to realistic plasma conditions beyond hydrogen and 2.5D models.

Abstract

This work presents a more detailed analysis of the process of magnetic reconnection as promising ion beam accelerator mechanism with possible applications in laboratory plasmas and, more importantly, in the plasma propulsion field. In a previous work, an introductory study on this subject was already carried out, yet under the adoption of relevant approximations, such as the limitation to 2.5D simulations and the especially use of Hydrogen plasma as a propellant, whose element is rarely considered in the real scenario. Also, the analysis mainly focussed on studying the physical content of the outcomes, by leaving out the analysis of more important engineering quantities, such as the mass flow and thrust effectively reached out of such systems. With this work, we intend to fill these gaps in order to provide further insights into the great potentiality of a future technology based on magnetic reconnection. Additionally, one of the possibly limiting features was the inevitable symmetric outflow produced by the reconnection process. Among all the possible solutions adoptable, we propose here a solution based on the particle behavior undertaken in entering the reconnection region according to the initial density profile. We demonstrate that a noticeable net thrust value can be achieved by setting up a longitudinal asymmetric density profile with a relevant drop gradient.