Progress in modeling of pre-ionization and geometric effects on a field-reversed configuration plasma thruster

In recent years, compact toroid (CT) plasma (e.g., field-reversed configurations, plasmoids, or spheromaks) has been considered for propulsion applications. A limited number of studies have been conducted thus far with each investigating different aspects of CT plasma. The current investigation into CT plasma documented here focuses on developing a thruster concept to assess the efficiencies of CT plasma formation and acceleration. The assessment consists of developing MHD simulations that model a typical CT test article. The pre-ionization geometry and device geometry parameters are varied in these simulations to determine the efficiencies.