High Performance Arcjet Engines

IT IS PROPOSED THAT ADVANCED ARCJET ENGINES CAN BE DEVELOPED USING KNOWN PRINCIPLES FOR ADVANCED NOZZLE DESIGN, ARC ATTACHMENT, INCREASED CHAMBER EFFECTIVE TEMPERATURE AND SO FORTH. SUCH STUDIES ARE PARTIALLY SUPPORTED BY EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS BY RESEARCHERS IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION. YET THESE PRINCIPLES RESULT IN INCREASED HEATING OF THE ANODE, AS THE ARC MORE EFFECTIVELY HEATS THE ANODE. THIS CAN BE ACCOMMODATED THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SPECIAL COMPOSITE ELECTRODE WITH HIGH THERMAL AND ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY. A BORON-DOPED CARBON COMPOSITE IS PROPOSED, WHICH WOUDL OFFER AN ORDER-OF-MAGNITUDE IMPROVEMENT IN THERMAL DIFFUSIVITY COMPARED TO COPPER OR TUNGSTEN, AND YET WHICH OFFERS REASONABLE ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY AND EXTREMELY HIGH TEMPERATURE CAPABILITY AS WELL. I(sp) AS HIGH AS 1900 sec IS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION WITH SUCH TECHNOLOGY.