An advanced particle-in-cell (PIC) approach for electrospray simulation in a colloid thruster using molecular dynamics simulation results

In the present work, a parallel Particle-in-Cell (PIC) code is developed to simulate a plasma without the consideration of particle collisions. The PIC solver is based on Poisson's equation and the assumption of no magnetic fields. The Poisson equation is discretized by the finite difference method and the corresponding linear equations are solved within the framework of PETSc. The PIC solver is used to carry out an electrospray simulation of a colloid thruster. Molecular dynamics simulation results of the EMIM⁺ and BF^-₄ ionic liquid extrusion are used as an inlet source in the PIC simulations. Number density distributions of species, thrust and specific impulse are computed for the electrospray. Particle collisions will be considered in our future work for an accurate quantification of contamination, erosion and spacecraft charging.