BOHR Journal of Material Sciences and Engineering

2023, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 25–31

DOI: 10.54646/bjmse.2023.05
www.bohrpub.com

REVIEW

Design and optimization of ion propulsion drone

Patil Rushikesh 1* , Pulkit Jain2 and Harjot Singh Gill 3
1 Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Chandigarh University, Punjab, India
2 Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Chandigarh University, Punjab, India
3 University Institute of Engineering, Chandigarh University, Punjab, India

*Correspondence:
Patil Rushikesh,
[email protected]

Received: 10 July 2023; Accepted: 17 July 2023; Published: 25 August 2023

Electric propulsion technology is widely used in many kinds of vehicles in recent years, and aircrafts are no
exception. Technically, UAVs are electrically propelled but tend to produce a significant amount of noise and
vibrations. Ion propulsion technology for drones is a potential solution to this problem. Ion propulsion technology
is proven to be feasible in the earth’s atmosphere. The study presented in this article shows the design of EHD
thrusters and power supply for ion propulsion drones along with performance optimization of high-voltage power
supply for endurance in earth’s atmosphere.
Keywords: ion propulsion, electroaerodynamics (EAD), electrohydrodynamics (EHD), eVTOL, UAV, drone

1. Introduction 2. Literature review

Ion is proven to be the best propulsion system for spacecraft MIT engineers built the very first ion-drive aircraft in 2018,
and satellites because of its high specific impulse, high which had no moving parts and was propelled by ionic wind.
efficiency, and silent propulsion in space. Despite this, The design proposed in this study was an aerodynamic glider
researchers were finding this technology inadequate to be weighing around 2.3 kg. The ion thruster in this model was a
used in the earth’s atmosphere earlier (1). Corona discharge 5 m wing with arrays of emitters and collectors. The emitter
is an efficient way of generating a strong electromagnetic was a thin wire, and the collector was a metal foil supported
field (EMF) between a positive and a negative electrode. The by airfoils. The fuselage of the drone had provision for power
EMF generates high-velocity ions that transfer kinetic energy supply and avionics equipment (3). The proposed design of
to nitrogen atoms available in the air; these nitrogen atoms an ion-drive aircraft by MIT is depicted in Figure 2.
collide with neutral air molecules and then race toward the A product called “Silent Ventus” is being developed by a
negative electrode, which creates electrohydrodynamic flow tech company based in Texas called Undefined Technologies.
prevalently known as ionic wind (2). The proposed model has manifested optimistic performance
Figure 1 shows the ionic wind generation in earth’s with an almost five-minute flight time. Furthermore, they
atmosphere. Here, a thin wire is used as an emitter carrying have promised that they will increase flight time and reduce
more than 20 kV positive charge and an airfoil with noise levels to as low as 70 dB in the coming years (4).
20 kV negative charge. Ionization is the region where The product being developed by Undefined Technologies is
nitrogen atoms available in the air get charged and then shown in Figure 3.
it moves toward the plasma region where the collision of Design of an ion plasma jet thruster prototype that utilizes
charged nitrogen atoms and neutral air molecules takes ion plasma generated by ion microwave is presented by Dan
place resulting in momentum transfer. Essentially, these Ye et al. (5). This jet-ion thruster uses a high-voltage power
accelerated molecules race toward the negative-charged supply and air to produce high-pressure flow. The aim of the
collector, which creates thrust known as ion thrust. research is to replace the traditional fossil-fueled jet engines

25
26 Rushikesh et al.

FIGURE 1 | In-atmosphere ion propulsion (3).

with jet-ion engines with no carbon emissions for potential (EMF). An ignition system is used in ion combustion
use in the earth’s atmosphere. The design of the jet-ion chamber to generate ion plasma jet.
thruster is shown in Figure 4. An air-breathing ion plasma thruster for lower Earth
Figure 4 shows a design of magnetron, an igniter, a quartz orbit maneuverability was designed by F. Romano et al. (6).
tube, a circulator, and a compressed waveguide. Essentially, The objective of the research was to replace the onboard
the magnetron is the heat wave source; absorption of reflected propellant storage system with atmospheric nitrogen as a
heat waves is done by the circulator. The compressed propellant. The schematic setup of the air-breathing plasma
waveguide is used to increase the electromagnetic field thruster is shown in Figure 5.

FIGURE 2 | Ion-drive aircraft by MIT (3).

FIGURE 5 | Air-breathing plasma thruster (6).

FIGURE 3 | Silent ventus by undefined technologies (4).

FIGURE 4 | Ion plasma jet thruster (5). FIGURE 6 | Design of EHD thruster (7).
10.54646/bjmse.2023.05 27

3. Design of the drone

This section includes the design of essential systems required
for ion propulsion drone.
(1) Design of EHD thruster
Electrohydrodynamics thruster is the power plant of the
drone. EHD thruster is made of two major components that
are anode and cathode, commonly known as emitter and
FIGURE 8 | Cross-section layout of EHD thruster.
collector. The emitter is always charged with a high-voltage
positive 40 kV DC supply and the collector is charged with a
high-voltage negative 40 kV DC supply. Figure 6 shows the
design of EHD thruster.
The current-voltage relationship during the ion propulsion
is derived by Townsend,

I = kV(V − V0) . . . (1)

where V and I are the voltage and current, respectively,

k is the constant, and V0 is the onset voltage
during the propulsion.
The power generated during the propulsion can be
calculated as follows:
FIGURE 9 | Structural layout of EHD thruster (Isometric view).

P = VI . . . (2)

FIGURE 10 | Power supply and avionics equipment storage system.

FIGURE 7 | Configuration of HV power supply (7).

TABLE 1 | Material properties.

Property Copper Aluminum Glass epoxy

Thermal conductivity (Wm−1 K−1 ) 400 235

FIGURE 11 | Finite element model of EHD thruster.
Young’s modulus (GPa) 115 70 3.5
Poisson’s ratio 0.34 0.35 0.4
Tensile strength (MPa) 210 80 275 The thrust generated during ion propulsion is derived using
Specific heat (kJ/kg K) 0.39 0.0009 equation 3.1 and Mott-Gurney’s law.
Thickness (mm) 1 0.016 1
JAdx Id
Z Z Z
Melting point (◦ C) 1085 660 T = ρEdV = ρEAdx = = (3)
Boiling point (◦ C) 2562 2467
µ µ
Density (g/cm3 )
kV (V − V0)
8.96 2.7 1.7 = ...
µ
28 Rushikesh et al.

where thrust is T, and charge density is ρ, E is electric (a) Battery

field, and µ and d denote ion mobility and distance between While selecting the battery, the power-to-weight ratio is
emitter and collector, respectively. really important. Li-Po batteries are considered ideal for
Hence, the thrust efficiency can be calculated as follows: drones because of their high power-to-weight ratio (8).
(b) Piezo-electric transformer
T Id d Transformers are well known for their high
= = ... (4)
P µVI µV electromagnetic fields (EMF) that tend to create disturbance.
where P is the consumption of power due to ionization (7). Hence, it is essential to use a transformer that induces
(2) Design of power supply negligible EMF. Piezo-electric transformers get precedence
To power the EHD thruster and make it fly, it is essential over other transformers (9).
to design a miniaturized high-voltage power supply, which is (c) Voltage multiplier
sustainable and capable of delivering 40 kV DC supply. The To deliver high voltage, a voltage multiplier is essential
configuration of the high-voltage power supply is shown in that bears minimum weight. Dickson charge pumps typically
Figure 7. deliver high-power from low-power sources of up to a few
The power supply consists of a Li-Po battery, control kilovolts (10).
circuit, piezo-electric transformer, and a voltage multiplier. (3) Structural design of airframe
The structure should be able to bear the weight of
thrusters and power supply; hence, rigidity is one of the
TABLE 2 | Electrohydrodynamics thruster static analysis results. main parameters.
The main constraint for the design is the overall weight
Load condition Max. von Max. strain Max.
Mises stress displacement of the system. To make the lightweight structure (11), the
(MPa) (mm) structure of an EHD thruster can be made with lightweight
composites. The materials that could be used for product
Gravity load 1.684e–01 6.038e–05 5.161e–02 development are given in Table 1. The provision for
avionics and battery equipment can be made with lightweight
and rigid plastic.
(a) EHD thruster
The structure of the EHD system is shown in Figure 8. The
structure of the EHD thruster is designed to generate enough
thrust to lift the drone.
As shown in Figure 8, the EHD thruster is made of epoxy,
aluminum, and copper. The support and strips in between
the supports are made of glass epoxy, and aluminum foil is
placed on those strips, with a 1-mm diameter copper wire
FIGURE 12 | (a) Stress, (b) strain, and (c) displacement indices for placed 1 cm above the aluminum foil. The 3D depiction of
EHD thruster. the EHD structure is shown in Figure 9.

TABLE 3 | Static analysis results for PSAE storage system.

Load condition Max. von Max. strain Max.

Mises stress Displacement
(MPa) (mm)

Gravity Load 5.888e–03 2.263e–06 5.109e–04

TABLE 4 | Experimental thrust.

Voltage (kV) Current (amp) Thrust (N)

10 0.5 0.015
20 0.5 0.023
25 0.5 0.031
30 1 0.047
FIGURE 13 | Finite element model of power supply and avionics 40 1 0.087
equipment storage system.
10.54646/bjmse.2023.05 29

(b) Design of power supply and avionic equipment storage (b) Variation in duty cycle
system The output voltage is dependent on the driving signal
The storage system for power supply and avionics and its duty cycle (14). When the duty cycle is 50%, the
equipment is designed in such a way that it could also be used power supply delivers the highest output voltage. The output
as landing gear because of the wide base of the storage system. voltage can be regulated by successfully tuning the duty cycle.
The component would entirely be made of ABC plastic in The voltage determines the thrust to be generated by the
order to increase the strength and reduce the weight. The EHD system. Hence, throttle and yaw can be controlled by
design of the storage system for power supply and avionics successful tuning of the duty cycle signal.
equipment is shown in Figure 10. (c) PID tuning of HV power supply
When the aircraft is landing, a significant amount of To enable navigation and reliable performance of the
impact must be absorbed by the base as well as the landing drone, it is essential to tune the autopilot with the power
gear. Hence, a base should have characteristics like a high supply. The most essential configuration is pitch and roll
capacity for elastic strain energy, high strength, medium because it contributes to effective navigation and stable
stiffness, and lightweight (11). While landing the aircraft, the flight (15).
base would undergo large deformation, hence the thickness After successful PID tuning of the HV power supply, we
of the lower part of the storage system is more. The base would be able to achieve navigation and control for the drone.
is designed with the consideration of weight of 2 kg and a The throttle of the drone can be controlled by regulating the
minimum vertical velocity of approximately 1.5 m/s. power supply. The complete navigation of the drone can be
(4) Structural analysis of airframe achieved by thorough tuning of roll, pitch, and yaw (16).
(a) EHD thruster
The EHD thruster consists of aluminum foil, copper wire,
and epoxy sheets. The initial step in FEA (finite element
analysis) is to construct the geometry. The geometry of
5. The ion propulsion drone
EHD thruster is generated by the computer-aided program The conceptual design of the drone is shown in Figure 14.
called solidworks and simulated in solidworks simulation.
The dimensions and overall estimated weight of the drone are
Furthermore, a grid was created for FEA analysis using the
70 cm × 70 cm and 2.5 kg, respectively. The configuration
design. The FEA model of the EHD thruster is depicted in
of the drone is quite identical to a quadcopter, but the
Figure 11.
motors are replaced by EHD thrusters. The changes can be
A static structure analysis was carried out. A von Mises
made to the design in order to improve its sustainability
criterion was used in order to evaluate the stress failure in
in the environment. Unlike the multirotor, this drone will
the structure (12). Two load conditions were applied for the
have voltage regulators instead of electronic speed controllers
analysis that are shown in Table 2; it also includes analysis
(ESC), which will give the desired voltage to EHD thrusters as
results for the given load conditions.
per the input given.
The analysis showed that the structure was able to sustain
To give desired inputs to the EHD thrusters, the tuning
the load under the given load conditions. The analysis index
of thrusters with autopilot is the key (17). The thrust of
for EHD thruster is shown in Figure 12.
EHD systems can be controlled by giving appropriate PWM
(b) Power supply and avionics equipment (PSAE) storage
(pulse width modulation) inputs from the autopilot to the
system
voltage regulator.
The Solidworks software was used for static analysis of
the PSAE storage system. The geometry was used for FEA
analysis under a gravity load. The FEA model for the PSAE
system is shown in Figure 13. 5.1. Mathematical model
Table 3 shows the static analysis results for the
PSAE storage system. The efficiency of the EHD thruster solely depends on the
amount of thrust produced by the EHD thruster. In order
to make the mathematical model, we need to make some
assumptions, which are listed below, in order to analyze
4. Performance optimization of thrust created by the EHD thruster.
high-voltage power supply (a) The earth’s atmosphere has an abundance of N2 , and
its atomic number is 7; hence, nitrogen is the ideal fuel for
(a) Frequency variation the EHD thruster.
The system demands a high voltage from the power supply; (b) The acceleration of ionized molecules is independent
the output voltage in PZT varies with frequency of current of the collision of other molecules.
(13). According to the experimental analysis, PZT works best (c) The thrust generated by EHD thrusters is a function of
when the resonance frequency is in between 45 and 46 kHz. transfer of momentum caused by repulsion between emitter
30 Rushikesh et al.

and collector.

dp
T = (5)
dt

The momentum that takes place due to repulsion between

emitter and collector is a function of kinetic energy (J), which
yields the potential difference between emitter and collector,
which is assumed to be 40 keV in this case:
m
J = (6)
2v2
FIGURE 14 | Conceptual design of ion propulsion drone.

2J
v2 = (7)
m

Here, we need to calculate the mass of N2

E
mass of N 2 = 2 × atomic mass of N2 ×
c2

(2 × 14.0067 × 931 × 106 )

=
(3 × 108 )2

v = 2.9 × 10−7 kg ≈ 4.65 × 10−26 amu

FIGURE 15 | Experimental setup.

r
2 × 40000 5.2. Experimental setup
∴v =
2.9 × 10−7
A single-stage ion thruster was designed in order to get the
experimental results. The experimental setup is shown in
v = 5.25 × 105 Figure 15. A high-voltage DC supply was provided to the
circuit in order to achieve a potential difference of 10–40 kV
By Newton’s second law, we can get a certain number of between the electrodes. To calculate the thrust, we used the
ions flowing per second due to ionization. The value of 1C at formula T = Am a2 , where A is the air mass flowing through
1A current flowing per second is 6.241 × 1018 . area a.
Hence, from equation 5.1, The experimental results are given in Table 4. By
experimental analysis, we can see that increase in voltage and
T = mass of N2 × flow velocity × current × charge current results in an increment in thrust.

6. Conclusion
= 4.65 × 10−26 × 5.25 × 105 × 1 × 6.241 × 1018
Ion propulsion technology has a lot of potential for use
in UAVs in the coming years. The project being developed
by Undefined Technologies shows its robustness in the
= 0.152 N atmosphere. The complete design of the EHD system and
power supply, along with the airframe design, is thoroughly
The thrust created by the ionic thruster would be presented in this article. The performance optimization of
0.152 N. An increase in current will result in thrust high-voltage power supply and its PID tuning are essential for
augmentation, which means the current applied is directly the navigation and endurance of the drone in the atmosphere,
proportional to the thrust. which is the subject of this article. Despite the fact that this
10.54646/bjmse.2023.05 31

article presents a theoretical and an experimental analysis of 10. Park S, Yang J, Rivas-Davila J. A hybrid cockcroft-walton/dickson
the EHD thruster, it provides a clear view of ion propulsion multiplier for high voltage generation. IEEE Trans Power Electron.
(2020) 35:2714–23. doi: 10.1109/TPEL.2019.2929167
in the atmosphere.
11. Park Y, Nguyen K, Kweon J, Choi J. Structural analysis of a composite
target-drone. Int J Aeronaut Space Sci. (2011) 12:84–91. doi: 10.5139/
IJASS.2011.12.1.84
References 12. Groh R. A Tailored Nonlinear Slat-Cove Filler for Airframe Noise
Reduction. Conference on smart materials, adaptive structures and
1. NASA. NASA-Ion propulsion. (2016). Available online at: https://www. intelligent systems SMASIS2018. San Antonio, TX: American Society of
nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/fs21grc.html (accessed on 07 Jan, 2023). Mechanical Engineers (2018). doi: 10.1115/SMASIS2018-8079
2. Guan Y, Vaddi RS, Aliseda A, Novosselov I. Analytical model of 13. Tempo Automation. Using piezoelectric transformers in power electronics
electro-hydrodynamic flow in corona discharge. Phys Plasmas. (2018) systems. (2023). Available online at: https://www.tempoautomation.
25:083507. doi: 10.1063/1.5029403 com/blog/using-piezoelectric-transformers-in-power-electronics-
3. Chu J. MIT Engineers fly first-ever plane with no moving parts. (2018). systems/ (accessed on 01 Jan, 2023).
Available online at: https://news.mit.edu/2018/first-ionic-wind-plane- 14. Vlsi Universe. Duty cycle variation of inter-clock timing paths. (2023).
no-moving-parts-1121 (acessed on 09 Jan, 2023). Available online at: https://vlsiuniverse.blogspot.com/2017/10/duty-
4. Undefined Technologies. Next generation silent drone. (2023). Available cycle-variation.html#:~{}:text=Duty%20cycle%20variation%20is%
online at: https://www.undefinedtechnologies.com/ (accessed on 12 Jan, 20always,certain%20fixed%20point%20of%20time (accessed on 04 Jan,
2023). 2023).
5. Ye D, Li J, Tang J. Jet propulsion by microwave air plasma in the 15. Ardupilo. Pitch and yaw controller tuning. (2023). Available online
atmosphere Jet propulsion by microwave air plasma in the atmosphere. at: https://ardupilot.org/plane/docs/roll-pitch-controller-tuning.html
AIP Adv. (2020) 10:055002. doi: 10.1063/5.0005814 (accessed on 05 Jan, 2023).
6. Romano F, Herdrich G, Crisp NH, Edmondson S, Haigh S, Oiko VTA, 16. Rice RC. PID tuning guide. (2010). Available online at: https:
et al. Design of an intake and a thruster for an atmosphere-breathing //docs.px4.io/main/en/config_mc/pid_tuning_guide_multicopter.html
electric propulsion system. CEAS Space J. (2022) 14:707–15. (accessed on 09 Feb, 2023).
7. Rushikesh P. Design of power supply and EHD system for ion- 17. Ardupilot. Advanced tuning. (2022). Available online at: https://
propulsion drone. (2022) 1:35–8. doi: 10.54646/bije.007 ardupilot.org/copter/docs/tuning.html (accessed on 13 Feb, 2023).
8. Nagel L. A Guide to lithium polymer batteries for drones. (2021). 18. Poon HS, Lam MKK, Chow M, Li WJ. Noiseless and vibration-free ionic
Available online at: https://www.tytorobotics.com/blogs/articles/a- propulsion technology for indoor surveillance blimps. 2009 Proceedings
guide-to-lithium-polymer-batteries-for-drones (accessed on 15 Jan, - IEEE international conference on robotics and automation. Kobe: IEEE
2023). (2009). p. 2891–6. doi: 10.1109/ROBOT.2009.5152843
9. Vazquez Carazo A. Piezoelectric transformers: an historical review. 19. Parekh J. The thrust generated by DIY ion thruster. Int J Adv Res Ideas
Actuators. (2016) 5:12. doi: 10.3390/act5020012 Innov Technol. (2020) 6:1064–8.