A Modular Adjustable High-Voltage Isolated Pulsed Power Supply for Ionic Liquid Thruster

This article proposed a modular adjustable high-voltage pulsed power supply (MAHVPPS) with pulse frequency adjustable, pulse duty adjustable, and pulse voltage independence control for the ionic liquid thruster. Through control modulation, the MAHVPPS can work under multimode pulse output operation (positive pulse, negative pulse, and bipolar pulse) without changing its architecture. The MAHVPPS system includes two parts: the positive and negative high-voltage power supply and pulse circuit. For no load conditions, the positive and negative high-voltage power supply is disconnected from the ionic liquid thruster and operates in the burst mode. The burst mode not only reduces the loss of the high-voltage power supply but also ensures the accuracy of pulse voltage while maintaining the normal operation of the thruster; 30 W/25 kHz with output pulse voltage varying between ±2 and ±3 kV and pulse frequency varying between 0.5- and 2-Hz prototype is built to verify the effectiveness. The single high-voltage power supply maximum efficiency can reach 94.59% at normal input voltage. The ionic liquid thruster experimental test shows that the proposed MAHVPPS meets the thrust requirements with pulse output voltage and mode adjustment.